Introduction

Honestly, we initially thought our carpenter was a general contractor. It wasn’t until after we read his contract that we realized what was and wasn’t in his scope of work. From there, I decided to project manage the renovation but underestimated how much coordination was involved.

I really thought it would be as easy as calling people to schedule when they were coming. I do that for our family all the time, so how hard could it be? I was terribly wrong. While running a home and child is its own brand of hard, managing a renovation definitely gave it a run for its money.

Read on to see how I did it—even after my plumber ran off—and whether I’d do it again.

Why We Renovated Without a General Contractor

We really didn’t intend to, but once we got started, I didn’t feel the need to hire one. For one, I’m a bit of a control freak about the things that matter to me. I can be completely nonchalant about a lighting fixture but would be upset if something outside of my control slowed down the renovation—which happened anyway— that’s just how my brain works!

Not having a GC meant I knew what was happening, when it was happening and who was responsible for what. I liked having that level of visibility and being able to communicate directly with each trade instead of having a middleman. 

At the time, it felt pretty straightforward: hire the right people, figure out the schedule and keep everything moving. What I didn’t fully understand was that coordinating all of those people was basically the job I had decided to take on.

What I Was Actually Responsible For

In short: making sure the wheels on the bus went round and round! For our kitchen renovation, we decided to paint the cabinets and update the hardware, get all new appliances, replace the countertops and add a backsplash. Seems pretty standard for a kitchen renovation, right?

But what I wasn’t accounting for were all the foundational pieces that needed to happen before the big items could be taken care of. For example, our island was two-tiered, and I wanted it completely flat. Our carpenter had to cut it down before the fabricators could install the new countertops. And even before that could happen, we had to pick out the material we wanted.

There was so much groundwork that needed to be laid before the actual work could get done, and I wasn’t anticipating that. Without a GC, it was my job to figure out what needed to happen, in what order and who needed to be there to make it happen.

What Was Harder Than I Expected

The hardest part was coordinating the trades and not for the reason you’d expect. Finding them was easy because we have a great realtor with a lot of connections. The hard part was scheduling them because they couldn’t be scheduled as a list; it was a chain. Trade person A had to finish their task before trade person B could start theirs.

Our carpenter started by painting the cabinets because it was the most time-consuming task. According to our carpenter, the primer really has to seep into the wood before the cabinets can actually be painted. Who knew? While that was happening, he started demoing the island. Shortly after, I had the electrician come in to help hook up the oven. Even though the stovetop was now going to be gas, there were still electrical components that needed to be dealt with. Next up was the fabricator for the countertops.

After the countertops were installed, we could finally get the plumber in. And we had a ton on his list—not just items for the kitchen. The sellers had made some plumbing-related concessions at closing, so we were taking care of those on top of the renovation work.

That was until our plumber went MIA.

And when I say MIA, I mean he would not pick up the phone. I even reached out to our realtor, and he couldn’t get in contact with him either. This man had already come to the house for a consultation and still ran off. 

So now, instead of moving on to the next step, I had to find another plumber. I got really lucky and found a company that was familiar with renovations, but we still lost a couple of days. The plumber needed to install the dishwasher, sink and soap dispenser, in addition to routing the gas for the stovetop, before the backsplash could be installed.

And that was the part I hadn’t anticipated: when one person in the chain fell through, I was responsible for figuring out how to get the entire thing moving again.

What I Would Do Differently

I would’ve definitely done some research. I was literally flying by the seat of my pants! I had no experience in renovating anything and yet, I decided to take on a major renovation in our home. I also would’ve had my husband create a project plan, emphasis on him creating it. I tend to be more execution focused, while he’s much more thoughtful.The project plan would detail the order of trades, dependencies and materials needed. So often, we were ordering things on the fly and paying extra to get it shipped or picking it up ourselves, when if I had a list in the beginning, I could have ordered it and had our carpenter pick it up with his truck and not my compact SUV. 

What to Know Before You Do It Yourself

The single most important question to ask yourself before playing GC is do you have the mental capacity to take it on? I feel like anyone can make time for anything they want but the real toll is the space the project takes up in your mind. I would be laying down and then remember I hadn’t paid someone yet! Or forgot to order something. If you were to ask me at the time if I had the mental space to take it over — my answer would’ve been no — and I did it anyway. But now you have me to help you with yours so it was worth it!

Would I Renovate Without a General Contractor Again?

Absolutely, I would. It’s hard to give up that control once you have it. Again, the great thing about putting on the mini GC hat is knowing what is happening at all times. A lot of times, it was just one phone call or a quick trip to the house to get an update about what is going on. It was also helpful to speak directly with contractors because you learn so much. Initially, we planned on our plumber fixing one of the upstairs toilets, but the new plumber explained that it would actually be cheaper to replace it rather than fix the current one. Unrelated to the kitchen renovation but I still learned something! So yes, I’d do it again—but next time with a plan and a backup plumber.