So I sold my house and bought some land just down the road. I want to build a steel frame house and rock the exterior. Anyone ever took on the general contractor role on their house being built?

So far I have the floor plan and going to meet with the building inspector next week to go over the whats allowed and not!!

No but I have a good one. Ken Frisby 214-801-5233

Tell him Mike Holeyfield sent you his way. He will not let any subs short cut you in any way.

built my own fort when i was little...the inspector (my dad) made me take it down before it killed somebody...he then took over the gc role...

...i always wondered why he never built our house himself...he said that there are a lot of tiny little flaws in houses...most of them you only know about when you do it yourself...he didn't want to know about them...

I would not suggest it. You'll usually save the money that the GC costs if he has good subs. Subs will price things much lower for a GC they know and trust than they will for some John Doe that walks into their door. It's hard to work for someone who might change their mind 10 times and doesn't understand how to have realistic expectations. I'm not saying you're that way or anything. Just that they know what they're getting with a good GC and price accordingly.

Find one who will price the project out at cost plus a reasonable fee for his time/effort. My FIL is doing this right now and it's working out great. He used to be a builder and now he's just doing the GC side because his financing guy got out of the construction industry when the market collapsed in 2008.

www.ubuildit.com

I know nothing about these guys but they have been around for a few yrs. call them and see what they can do for you.

I would NOT take on the gc roll on the first house without someone or something to help guide me.
I was a builder/gc in colorado and there are just too many little things that you will not know without experience.

if you want to do it find a gc/builder that you can trust, pay him a consulting fee (this will be much cheaper than just hiring him) to guide you through the process.

do you know how to schedule your subs?
when to call in inspections?
how many subs do you know?
how are you going to get the word out that you are hiring and need subs?
do you know what to look for on a preinspection so you will pass the first or second time?
etc. etc. and on.

I built my own house, and would do it again. I knew a good framer and electrician, and only used local subs that they recommended. I did have my house bid out by 2 local General Contractors and they both wanted $140 per square foot. I built the same house for just over $100 per square foot. I did loose a little bit of hair in the process but saved over $100k.

I had relatively little construction experience before this. It all about finding good subs.

Over seeing the project can definitely cause you headaches, but it is pretty easy as long as you are able to manage a budget and individual subs. Your budget needs to reflect every aspect of the home from framing to door knobs. You can provide a copy of your plans to get competitive bids for framing, plumbing, electrical etc. I would go to Kennedale City Hall and request a copy of residential building requirements, or get a copy on line. This should lay out everything from the required permits and inform you of the required inspections. When you file for a building permit application you will need to provide things such as: a set of plans, soil tests, specifications of materials, copy of the plat. Each City has there own rules and regulations and builders are not required to be registered with the TRCC (the defunct Texas Residential Construction Commission)any longer. You may even ask the building inspector when you meet him about who are some of the more reputable builders in the area and go pick their brains a little. The whole process can provide headaches but you can also save some money as long as you do your research and have a solid budget established. Last thing, even though you own the lot the owner of the sub division if there is one, may have his own requirements and specs on what kind of structure is built....Good luck.

If you have access to good sub contractors, it is not difficult. I built my first house in 87. As an Architect, I got to know a lot of subs that had worked on houses I designed for others. Some tried to price their work higher than normal, since I was going to be a one time client. Lucky for me I had numerous contacts for most trades.

I would not do it now. The loss of time at the office could not be made up in the savings.

Nothing you can't learn from the Internet

This is what will happen on nearly every sub. They don't want to work with homeowners directly because homeowners are indecisive, uninformed and have unrealistic expectations. So they charge extra money to deal with that. Plus, they have no incentive to bid low since there's no follow-on work if you're happy with the job they did. One-time clients can be a gravy train for subs. Don't be one of those guys.

What you'll find is that a good GC with good subs will save you more than he costs you, and he'll make the whole process much smoother and easier.

Being a technically proficient Architect, the subs knew they had to do the work correctly and with good workmanship.

I accepted higher costs for the foundation and the framers, others trades I was able to get what I thought were appropriate prices for the work.

That's what I do for a living... Fun gig when times are good... Sucks when times are bad