General Contractor

What is a General Contractor?

 A general contractor is someone who you hire to manage, coordinate and complete a new home build, rebuild or remodel. Often times a General Contractor will serve as a sort of “jack of all trades” with detailed knowledge of how to complete a project. Typically they are responsible for making sure that the project comes in on time and on budget, as well as hire and manage the various subcontractors, such as electricians, framers, painters, plumbers etc. Most of the time you will pay and direct the general contractor, who will in turn pay for materials and manage the sub-contractors.

Why Hire a General Contractor?

Legally as a homeowner in Santa Rosa, CA and throughout Sonoma County, you can act as your own General Contractor. An important factor to consider however when trying to serve as your own General Contractor is that it can often cost you a lot more than simply hiring one. There are a few reasons for this, one being that experienced General Contractors receive a significant discount from their sub-trades as well as their material suppliers. Sub Contractors will pass along a discount to a General Contractor that keeps them busy work wise and treats them good. A good General Contractor will, in turn, pass these savings along to the Homeowner when estimating the project so that their bid pricing can be competitive. Often times this alone will actually pay for the services of hiring a General to manage your project.

Another way of hiring a General Contractor can save money on your project is that almost every construction yard will offer a “Contractors Discount” for the repeat business they receive from Contractors. Again this discount is typically applied to the pricing most General Contractors in Santa Rosa will give you, usually offsetting their actual cost for managing your project.

Another way General Contractors will save you money is by shielding your project from countless costly mistakes. A lot of sub-trades out there will try and cut costly corners, especially if they determine that you as a homeowner might not know the difference. There are also many different ways each sub-trade can perform their work as well as what materials to use.

The City and County Permit office, however, will inspect all work performed on a jobsite, and if it isn’t done to their specifications, they will make you tear out the work you have done.We actually see this quite often on jobs where we are brought in after things started going wrong, unfortunately, though being brought in after the fact to correct mistakes always costs much more. An experienced GC will understand what permits need to be pulled and how to get code enforcement to approve the project. If you have never dealt with building codes and inspectors, this can be a MAJOR asset

Another important reason to hire a G.C. is a liability. Liability is often transferred to the general contractor if someone gets hurt. Any general contractor worth his salt will have worker’s comp insurance and thus protect you if someone falls off the roof or harms themselves in another manner.

Yet another good reason is TIME. Hiring a G.C. will free up countless hours over the span of your project so that you can focus on what you do best. Many homeowners haven’t thought about how stressful it can be to have to work their own full-time job, and then come home on lunches, days off, and evenings to try and manage their new home build or rebuild. Not to mention that much can go wrong with no one on site full time to properly manage sub trades.

Convinced yet? Just in case you’re not, having a warranty is another important reason. A lot of what makes a house function happens behind the walls. And most the time, when there has been an error in either plumbing or electrical, you won’t see the damage or results of that error for a while down the road or until those effects start to be seen in the drywall, flooring, or other finish materials. This is why a warranty is huge. Wine Country Custom Homes warranties all our work so that you can sleep easy.

Best General Contractors in Santa Rosa,CA:

If you’re convinced on why you should hire a General Contractor vs.acting as your own G.C., then your next step would be finding one. Our recommendation is finding one with a good reputation. In fact don't stop there, when building your dream home, why settle for anything less than the best? Here comes our pitch, chances are you stumbled across this page because you searched for Best General Contractors in SantaRosa, CA or Best General Contractor near Santa Rosa, CA. That alone shows what our reputation is. If you want to work with the Best General Contractor in Santa Rosa, CA then give us a call today.