When Pam Loya and her husband Roy prepared to open bids from general contractors for a major renovation of their historic Monkton home, Pam had her camera ready. As Roy opened and read the first bid, Pam snapped the photo that froze his expression. Roy's face showed the emotions of a man being simultaneously electrocuted, beaten, and robbed.

"I expected that kind of face," she said. "But it was even higher than I was thought it would be. I was unpleasantly surprised."

While not every bid for a renovation project induces such a strong reaction, homeowners dealing with stratospheric costs may be tempted to try anything to save some money. Their plan: Bypass the builder or general contractor, handle the subcontractors and purchase construction materials themselves. Doing that, they figure, can save from 10 percent of the cost of building a house to more than 60 percent of a small remodeling project.

However, the lure of saving thousands of dollars may lead them, through lack of knowledge and inexperience, into construction mistakes that end up costing thousands extra.

"If you have the time to invest in that and coordinate all of the different contractors, more power to you," said Jay Van Deusen, of Van Deusen Construction Company Inc. "But I don't go out and represent myself in court because I think there are people a lot more qualified to do that, people who do that every day. I don't operate on myself; there are people more qualified."

While homeowners who act as their own general contractors have total control over what construction materials are used and the subcontractors involved, they also must be prepared to deal with a multitude of problems. For example, if the tank of a new toilet sits too close to the wall, a new one must be specially ordered. "Then it comes in the wrong color, and you got two toilets [you] can't use," Van Deusen said. "Those headaches you can make somebody else's problem. Make one person solely accountable for this, someone who does this every day."

The following stories examine the experiences of the Loyas and three other Baltimore-area homeowners who ventured into the world of major renovation or home construction with or without the benefit of a contractor.

Using a contractor

Fortunately, the bid that warped Roy Loya's face turned out to be substantially higher than the bid the couple eventually accepted. When they bought the house in December 1986, the couple knew that they were committing to years of renovation work on the home, which was built in the 1820s. When Pam Loya's mother first saw the house, she said, "My God, honey, you bought Tara after the Civil War."

The Loyas decided in 1987 to renovate the kitchen and family room first. "It was dark. It was dreary. It was '70s. It was unacceptable," Pam Loya said.

The nearly yearlong, $100,000 project included tearing out the kitchen and other parts of the house, adding a fireplace and putting on a new roof. The result is a warm, open space for the kitchen and living room where the couple and their two children spend much of their time.

This year they're gearing up for another major renovation -- replacing the plumbing, heating system and probably the wiring, plus repainting the exterior.

Good experiences

Pam Loya, who previously renovated two homes in Federal Hill, has had good experiences with general contractors and wouldn't consider handling the general contracting herself. "I find it challenging enough to pick a general contractor," she said. "If someone put a gun to my head, I've got brains, I could do it, but my life would be a living hell."

Selection of the general contractor is key to a successful project, according to Loya. "You have to pick someone who not only does good work and you trust, but a person with whom you have a special chemistry, because basically you're marrying them for the duration of the project," she said. "It's an intense personal relationship."

People should spend time with a few contractors before deciding which one would be best suited for the job, according to Van Deusen. "I had a friend who once compared it to brain surgery while someone is awake," he said. "You move into their personal zone."

Losing a contractor

Marci Kirejczyk learned how important the selection process is when the man she and her husband hired to build a $25,000 deck around three sides of their house disappeared before the job was complete. She describes the worker, who also designed the deck, as a free spirit who brought his dog to work despite being told not to.

"He was really regular to start with, but then he'd work a couple days and we might not see him for a week," she said.

As his schedule became more erratic, the Kirejczyks once had to track him down through a member of his family and persuade him to come back to work. When he made plans to go to Florida, he promised to finish the job first. But then he just left.

"It was kind of a sad experience," she said. "We did have a contract. Then everything got wishy-washy."

Marci Kirejczyk recruited Van Deusen, a neighbor, to finish the job. Van Deusen discovered that the man hadn't gotten the required county building permits. A Harford County inspector discovered "all kinds of things wrong," Kirejczyk said, noting that parts of the deck had to be ripped up and done again.

Most professionals advise homeowners to hire remodelers licensed by the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. Homeowners should investigate whether contractors have liens or judgments filed against them, if they are active in their trade association and if they've won any awards. Homeowners also should check a contractor's references.

Hiring and firing

In late 1997, Rita Jamieson-Gray was ready to build her home on a piece of land in Annapolis. She knew about building materials, had architectural plans for the custom house, good credit and a co-general contractor to help her. She needed all of them except the general contractor.

They had divided the responsibilities: He would supervise the day-to-day construction while she managed the materials and finances.

Construction, which started at the end of March 1998, immediately ran into delays because of a rainy spring and a building boom that made quality workers scarce and led her co-general contractor to take on other jobs.

By July, the project was two months behind schedule. The back porch and deck had to be ripped out and redone. And there were problems with the framework of the home. She fired the general contractor and most of his subcontractors.

Jamieson-Gray slowly collected more dependable subcontractors and managed to finish construction of the three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath Cape Cod by year's end.

"I didn't save money because I put so much of my time into it. And time is money," Jamieson-Gray said. Still, she retained control and was able to specify the exact details down to what kind of roof, flooring, carpet and lighting would be in the house. "This is why anybody would do this: You get what you want. You don't get the cookie-cutter inside."

Martin P. Azola, president of the Home Builders Association of Maryland and owner of Azola and Associates, agrees that quality, not price, should be the top criterion for major jobs.

"Here's my motto: The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten," said Azola, who has done construction work in Baltimore for 25 years. Anyone out to save money in the short term will pay for it later, he warns.

First me, then you

Steve Workmeister had a plan for his Carney home's 1960s club cellar, which suffered from linoleum floors, old paneling and poor lighting. He envisioned a brick accent wall, a dropped ceiling, wet bar, custom wine rack, carpet, new cabinets, drywall and a new half-bathroom.

He also thought he could handle the non-trade work and save himself a bundle. "They would do skill work and charge me less money," he said. "That was my game plan, but it didn't work out that way."

The demolition work of pulling down the old paneling and ceiling was easy. Then things got more difficult.

To meet building codes, he had to move a toilet. The electrical box required more work. Then he discovered that a double-wide utility sink that a plumber had installed was going to be too big for the bathroom.

Trying to work on the project after his regular job and on weekends began to discourage him. Every door, door handle, bar top, faucet or batch of paint required a trip to the store or some catalog research, and a decision. Some weekends, he went to Home Depot four and five times.

"We're talking a project that started in September [1997] and ended in April [1998]. That's seven months of construction in the house, constant trips to the store, dirt and cleaning up," said Workmeister, who handed the work over to American Renovator Inc. when it was less than half done.

"If someone could have come in and got the job done in one month, then I'd have seven more months to start living in it and enjoying it vs. working every weekend and over Christmas holidays and the like," he said, estimating that he saved $2,000 to $3,000 on the $13,000 job.

The homeowner's goal of doing the work himself and saving money can quickly evaporate, warns Sandy Marenberg, of Marenberg Enterprises. "If you fail to do something and you have to rip out work or throw out materials, then whatever you've saved is down the tubes," Marenberg said, reciting common pitfalls. "If you hire the wrong subcontractors, they can do shabby work if they think you don't know the difference."

When he talks with people who are considering being their own general contractors, Marenberg asks them about their background and skills. "If they have no measure of experience, no measure of knowledge, then I challenge them, encourage them [to find an expert]; hopefully they understand this is not something they should be doing with their money."

However, people who want to manage their own project enjoy -- or suffer -- complete responsibility for the cost and quality of the work.

As Jamieson-Gray, who ended up managing her home's construction, said: "I think the real closure to this is that I'm in a great neighborhood in a great house, and the subcontractors whom I did finish with are still people I would call back and have work on my house. That's the best relationship you can hope to have with someone who works on your house."

Construction bargain strategies

High priority. Make saving money a high priority. Remember that savings in constructing your home are worth 10 times more to your wealth than salary dollars.

Take time. It takes time to find savings on anything. You need to research your buys. Give the most time to the biggest costs.

Know what things cost. By interviewing subcontractors and suppliers, you can get many early indications of what things cost. Keep good notes on your planned purchases. If you know prices, you can tell when you find a bargain.

Know what you want. By developing room-by-room descriptions you can make detailed choices about the individual components that will go in your home. Your budget gives you a picture of what the trade-offs are.

Get three or more bids. Sometimes you are sure of the sub-contractor or supplier you will choose for something well in advance. In those cases, it seems unnecessary to get a second or third bid. However, those additional bids may bring surprises in prices, valuable information or negotiating leverage with your chosen source.

Shop for quality. Think of cost over the life cycle of your purchase. It may cost more now, but the item will pay for itself in reduced operating cost or upon resale.

Question bottom-of-the-line products and bids. If you insist on bidding in detail, you have more assurance of getting what you expect from a very low bidder. The only reason to buy a bottom-of-the-line product is that you can't get a favorable price on an improved version. Keep trying.

Serendipity. You run into values by being at the right place at the right time. Be alert to unexpected opportunities.

Telephone comparison. Make a few quick phone calls to alternate sources to verify that you have found the best price and terms.

Long-distance shopping. Don't limit yourself to local sources. Extend your search for components and materials to other markets where different conditions might prevail.

SOURCE: The Owner-Builder Book: How You Can Save More Than $100,000 in the Construction of Your Custom Home.

Pub Date: 04/04/99