One Contractor or Several Trades? How to Decide

On any project involving more than one trade, you face a choice: hire a general contractor to run it, or hire each trade yourself and coordinate them.

Both are legitimate. The wrong choice costs real money and, more often, real time.

What a general contractor is actually paid for

People assume they are paying a markup on subcontractors. Some of that is true. What the fee actually buys:

• Sequencing. Knowing that electrical rough-in happens before insulation, insulation before drywall, and that the tile guy cannot start until the plumber has set the pan. Getting this wrong means demolishing finished work.
• Scheduling. Trades have their own calendars. Coordinating five of them so nobody arrives to a site that is not ready is a job.
• Accountability. One person responsible for the outcome. When the tile does not meet the trim correctly, there is no argument about whose fault it is.
• Permits and inspections. Pulling them, scheduling inspectors, being present, handling corrections.
• Problem solving. Something unexpected is found behind every wall. Somebody has to decide what to do about it quickly.
• Access to trades. Established contractors get subs to show up. Homeowners frequently cannot.
• Warranty. One point of contact if something fails afterward.

When to hire a general contractor

• Three or more trades are involved. This is roughly the threshold where coordination becomes the hard part.
• Structural work. Anything involving beams, load paths or engineering.
• Permits and inspections are required.
• You are not available during the day to make decisions, answer questions and let people in.
• Anything with a deadline — a move-in date, an event, a sale.
• Kitchens and bathrooms, which are the two most sequence-sensitive rooms in a house.
• Additions and conversions.

When to hire trades directly

• A single trade job. Replacing a water heater does not need a GC.
• Work in sequence, not in parallel. Painting this month, flooring next month, with no interaction between them.
• You have the time and the temperament to project manage, and you are home during the day.
• You already have trusted trades you have used before.
• Small budgets where a management fee is a meaningful share of the total.

Where self-managed projects go wrong

• Sequencing errors. Flooring installed before the trim, tile before the shower valve is set, cabinets before the electrical rough-in.
• Gaps in scope. Each trade quotes their piece and nobody quotes the bit in between. That bit becomes your problem mid-project.
• Scheduling collapse. One trade runs late, the next has moved to another job, and a two-week project becomes six weeks.
• Blame. When something does not fit, two trades each say it is the other's problem and you are in the middle.
• Permit responsibility. Homeowners can pull permits in many cases, which also makes them responsible for the work passing inspection.
• Insurance gaps. Every trade you hire directly needs verifying separately. See our guide on how to vet a contractor.

The middle option

A multi-trade contractor who self-performs most of the work is often the best value on mid-sized projects. Fewer handoffs, no coordination gap, and no fee for managing subs who are not there.

That is what a general home repair and remodeling company is — plumbing, carpentry, electrical fixtures, drywall, paint and finish handled by one crew, with specialists brought in only where genuinely required.

Questions to ask either way

1. 1Who is actually doing the work — your crew or subs?
2. 2Who pulls the permits?
3. 3What is explicitly not in this scope?
4. 4What is the sequence and roughly what is the schedule?
5. 5Who do I call when something comes up?
6. 6How are change orders handled and priced? Our guide on change orders covers this.
7. 7What happens if something is found behind the wall?
8. 8What is the warranty and who honours it?

One call for the whole list

Wright Way Services self-performs handyman, remodeling, plumbing, painting and finish work across Newnan, Peachtree City, Sharpsburg, Senoia, Tyrone and Fayetteville — which means one crew, one schedule and one person responsible. Call (770) 301-4638.