Bill Weber built his home while serving as his own general contractor.

The dining table was fabricated by the contractor.

Requirements for licensed contractors depend on the scope of work and the location of the project.

Here's what you need to know before undergoing a building project with a contractor but no architect.

Always put contingencies aside. During any renovation, it is critical to set aside money for the "what if" or emergency scenarios. For example, there might be plumbing that you didn’t anticipate needing to replace. Conventional wisdom suggests adding 15 to 20 percent to your contractor’s renovation cost to safely consider these contingencies.

Their bathroom has walls of watertight Plexiglas. “They were so easy to set up,” John says, “the contractors installed all six bathrooms in one day.”

Questions from your contractor mean that they have taken the time to review the construction documents or drawings and scope of work.

You should be sure your contractor is planning to pull the necessary permits, complete required paperwork, and schedule inspections that align with the project timeline.

Homeowner Jay Longtin served as the general contractor and performed the majority of the remodel work, aside from the outdoor floors, concrete, and pool, which were done by Architectural Blue.

At the entrance, Bruce is joined by his son, Sozé, and dog, Izzy. The 1940s shingled cottage was renovated by architectural designer Randall Recinos, designer Brian Paquette, and contractor Dylan Conrad.

The couple’s contractor, Tim Schmidt, is an artist whose medium often involves steel fabrication. Tim custom-made the steel window frames and came up with the idea for the steel foundation.

The general contractor’s former office space was converted into a small apartment dwelling for the couple.

The house that Fleetwood Fernandez Architects designed for contractor Mehran Taslimi and his wife, Laila, embraces its surroundings. “They wanted doors that they could just throw open,” designer Hunter Fleetwood says of the retractable wall system from Vitrocsa.

In this project, the architects worked closely with the general contractor MW Construction to refine the details on site, often sketching on pieces of leftover sheetrock.

“We were researching places where we could get fake old beams, but at the last minute, the contractor found some from a barn that was coming down, - North Hatley, Quebec Dwell Magazine : July / August 2017

The daughter’s bedroom occupies the bay-windowed space that was once the living room. The custom bunkbed, painted in Spring Rain by Benjamin Moore, is by Myers Cabinetry. Dermot Barry was the project’s general contractor and architect Paul Endres was the structural engineer.

Hiring a general contractor (GC) may not be as exciting as picking an architect, but it’s definitely as important. After all, this is the person who will determine whether you’re sleeping in a beautiful new bedroom or a motel when your projected move-in date rolls around.

With the help of a local contractor, the Campbells ripped out drywall, reconfigured windows, and gave up a garage in the well-worn ranch house.

The Luberas didn’t use a general contractor or architect, but they did enlist the counsel of legendary Detroit designer Ruth Adler Schnee, who in 1964 helped Girard plan the color scheme for a streetscape in Columbus, Indiana. Window alignments create long views through the house and atrium.

Inspired by a photograph he spotted on how-to website Instructables and an idea from Adrian, Contractor Halit Dervishaj upcycled the scrap lumber into a large dining-room table, laminating together butternut, oak, and Plyboo for the tabletop and adding a simple metal base with legs that Adrian ordered online.

As the facade of a Bates Masi-designed home in Water Mill, New York, rises from eight to 14 feet high, the mahogany planks subtly widen. “It was quite a demand to make of the contractor,” architect Paul Masi says. “But the design was so much about traveling through the site and weaving [the house] together with the deck.”

A patio protected by a steel-and-cedar-slat trellis accommodates a meeting between (left to right) contractor Mark Farha, building owners and developers Brock Oaks and David Farha, and owner and contractor Ted Farha.

After the home was assembled, a local contractor built the outdoor concrete patio and barbecue on site.

The contractor installed the walnut trim, shelving, and cabinets sides and backing on site.

San Francisco–based architect Cary Bernstein has designed countless residential projects and worked with dozens of contractors. She knows well the difficulties of architect-contractor-client relationships, and she’s developed a pretty good system for making them work.

Left to right: General Contractor Peter DeMaria, Site Superintendant Rudy Perez, Designer Sebastian Mariscal and Project Manager Jeff Svitak.

Sheet Metal Contractor: Fine Metal Roof Tech

Cedar wood timber slate partition by the project's main contractor, Bhuva Construction.

Contractor Patrick O’Neil repaired the woven Douglas fir ceiling in the foyer.

This entire doorway was fabricated by the contractors—a true labor of love to match the rest of the millwork of the home.

Davis worked with contractor Ted Timmer to construct the playhouse on her family’s 30-acre property.

“In the living room,” Nelson explains, “we fell in love with the nail patterns in the floor and asked our contractor, John Hakewill, to follow the original pattern to a T. The floor was so well done originally, all the woodworkers would come in here and they couldn’t stop talking about how they hadn’t seen such a great floor—ever.”

“We worked with Turrell’s team and the contractor to bring this work of art to life,” explains Weigley.

Working as designer, contractor, and builder, Samantha Mink took an unremarkable structure built in the 1950s and transformed it into a home for herself and her dog, Winston. “Because of its location on the street, I kept a kind of stern exterior where you can’t really see into the house,” she says. She treated the Douglas fir with a natural mineral wash and an exterior stain to give the wood dimension.

Every mahogany wall was replaced with new ones, the contractor "painstakingly going through literally hundreds of panels over several days to find ones that matched," recalls Blaine. Since the quarter inch-round mahogany corners at the outside of the interior walls found in Eichler homes are no longer made, Blaine worked with the contractor to find a supplier of rounds that were then cut down to quarters.