Hire a contractor or self-manage project? Re-generate an old or tired space and give it a fresh breath of life. Click here for answers, information and tips

[Rufus77]

I’m hoping someone out there can give us some advice on our house refurb. We’ve moved into a house which needs a lot of work doing but as complete beginners, we don’t really know where to start. We’re currently trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to hire a contractor to just oversee the whole project or whether we should manage it ourselves. What are the pros and cons of hiring a contractor and can anyone give us a rough idea of how much they charge (percentage-wise on top of the actual work cost)?

If we went it alone, what order should we do the following jobs in?:

Some roof work (we think the rear elevation of the roof might need to be replaced)
Fascias, soffits and guttering
New windows and doors
Electrics - rewire
New boiler and possibly radiators
Damp proofing
Plastering
New kitchen
New bathroom

Any tips and advice would be gratefully received.

[stoneyboy]

Hi rufus77
If you appoint a project manager to oversee the home improvements you are looking at anywhere between 10 and 25% on top of the work involved depending on where you live.
Your list of works looks to be in the correct order so you could try managing the roof and facia works yourselves and see how you get on. This would be a good project because the contractor(s) will not be in your home - something you will need to consider for later works.
The roofing contractor may have contacts for the other works.
Regards S