Should You Hire a Home Improvement Company or Be Your Own Contractor?
This is a question that many home owners who plan to undertake a home improvement VA project are asking themselves. Home improvement services come with the promise of quality, but they might seem expensive, which is why some home owners prefer instead to act as their own contractor and hire subcontractors.
Here’s a brief look at the advantages and disadvantages of being your own contractor.
Money
You cut some costs because you don’t have to pay for the home improvement services rendered to you by the contractor. On the other hand, almost all subcontractors have two different price schemes, one for contractors, and one for direct customers. Which do you think is more expensive? That for direct customers of course. Subcontractors have long-term partnerships with contractors, to whom they offer lower prices as well as discounts.
Time
Supervising the people you hire to do home improvements for you takes time. You will have to set schedules, talk to foremen and inspectors, deal with suppliers, handle payments, solve problems directly, and so on. This sounds already like plenty of work, and if you have a full-time job it will be challenging for you to find the time to manage the building site.
Quality
You don’t really need to be a remodeling expert to improve your home. Subcontractors will do all the specialized work for you. When a licensed contractor handles everything, the renovation or remodeling will be top notch, regardless of your participation in the project.
Conclusion
Being your own contractor for a home improvement VA project only makes sense if you can save a significant amount of money that otherwise would have went to the contractor. That said, the contractor’s fee is typically less than 15% of the total cost of the project. And even if you avoid this one you will likely have to pay higher prices for the materials provided by subcontractors. So unless you’re an expert builder, nine times out of ten it’s probably better to hire a home remodeling contractor than to act as your own contractor.
