Working Smarter:
What is your time worth? What will the cost savings be and what will you gain by doing the work yourself? (Knowledge, financial gain and equity, confidence, etc.)
When I take on a larger project, I try to think of the cost savings by not hiring a contractor as an opportunity to upgrade or add to my tools. Of all the things that can make a project drag on or not turn out how you hoped, it's not having the right tools for the job.
Also, take time to think about which parts of the project you really don’t want to do or that might be more trouble than it's worth and get pricing to hire it out. I personally don’t like working with insulation and I'm not very fast at mud and tape work so I personally try to hire those pieces out.
Home projects almost always cost more than you think. Either your finishes and fixtures turned out to be more expensive than you thought or when you opened up the walls, you found something you needed to fix that was not planned for. There will always be something, so make sure to leave a little extra room in the budget for the unexpected.
PRO TIP: It can seem time consuming, but make sure to get more than one bid for the work you plan to hire out. Snagging 3 bids minimum is ideal.
Take time to price out lumber packages from lumber distributors, not just the big box hardware stores. The lumber distributors can design floors, calculate beam sizes and sometimes source out trusses. Plus, they're a wealth of knowledge and a good resource for you.
Visit the contractor’s desk at the big box hardware stores and ask them if there are any discounts for buying in bulk or opening an account. You may be surprised by the savings you can get if you just ask.
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