I acted as my own general contractor when I built my home back in 1982. I spent 8 hours a day on the job site and then went to work at 4 and stayed till 9. I didn't like the type of work the plumber was doing, so half way through the rough dwv, I fired him and finished that part of the job myself. The electrician did all the rough wiring, but decided that he didn't need the money as much as he needed his spare time and he never finished the job. He was doing it in his spare time after working a full time job. I finished that also. The mason was fitting in the brick work between other jobs and that dragged on for months. Everything was behind schedule, but at least it was being done the way I wanted it to be done. I was doing more of the work than I had originally anticipated on doing. The construction loan was stretched beyond the original terms, but the bank was going along with me on that part. The sheet rockers arrived when they were scheduled and so did the plasters. The next day, the kitchen cabinets arrived 2 weeks early. They had to go into the house, because there was no garage doors yet and the garage floor was dirt. Needless to say, the kitchen cabinet doors swelled up like balloons. The manufacturer replaced them all when I called, but that took another 6 months for them to arrive. In the mean time, the doors shrunk back into shape. I still have the "replacements". They didn't want them back. What ever could go wrong, went wrong. Windows that were ordered correctly were delivered incorrectly. At the time, I did it myself because I wanted the house to be built my way and there was a building boom going on in the area. All the builders that I had talked to didn't want to build the house the way that I wanted it built. I had enough experience to get it done, but it was difficult to get the trades people. Everyone had all the work that they needed or wanted. In the end, I enjoyed what I had done, but I wouldn't do it again. Leave it for the professional that does this every day. Sure they will make a profit on the job, but they will earn that money. That is what you do every day when you go to work. You earn money doing what you do best. Let them do what they do best and you both will be happy in the end. If it is a small job, then tackle it yourself if you like, but leave the major building jobs to the people that know how to do it properly. Just know what you want and how to communicate that to them in a nice way. They will listen and be willing to listen in return.
