You may be asking yourself if you need a general contractor to manage your home addition. My husband and I considered GC'ing the project ourselves to save some money. My husband is very handy, as are my father and my father-in-law so we figured between the three of them and our contacts in the area we might be able to handle it. But after talking to a few others who done the general contracting themselves, we started to hear horror stories of only being able to get second rate subs, long delays, and extensive days off from work to deal with the problems on the project. After hearing a few too many of these stories, we began to wonder if we really would save money and whether our marriage would be worse for wear at the end of it all.
So, we decided to hire a general contractor. We actually decided this before we even hired our architect but the complexity of the project revealed itself as we went through the design process. This only confirmed our decision.
Another important reason to hire a general contractor is the type of financing you plan to use for your addition. If you plan to get a construction loan (basically, a loan based on the future value of your home), most lenders require that you hire a general contractor. If you plan to use other forms of financing, you should check with your lender to see what the requirements are for general contracting.
