ᐅ Outdoor Area: Should You Hire the General Contractor or Contract Individual Trades?

Hello everyone,

We are in the final planning stage. We will be building a semi-detached house on a level, rectangular plot.
We are working with a general contractor to deliver a move-in ready home.
The current question is what external work to include with the general contractor and what to arrange later through separate providers.
Our thoughts are: construction will only start in 12 months – no one knows what will happen to prices by then, as they are currently rising significantly. If we reserve the current price with the general contractor now (even if it is somewhat more expensive), wouldn’t that be cheaper than hiring tradespeople later? Also, it might be better to have foundation work done by a civil engineer together with the basement, otherwise there will be extra effort with technical connections and integration with the house.

We would probably include a slab foundation for the garage, a foundation for the entrance platform as well as the platform itself, paving work at the entrance and garage, and possibly the terrace. Is there anything else we should consider?
How was it for you?

Thanks for your answers!

Best regards,
NilsHolgersson

Given the current situation, focus on the house. Once the house is finished and there is still money left, you can always arrange for paths, terrace, garage, and fence later and commission them on short notice. Keep the extra financial buffer in reserve.

We have allocated €25,000 for the landscaping in our budget. So far, we have contracted the following externally:
- Fence including electric gate, mailbox, and house number.
- Right side fence to the neighbor (73 m; double wire mesh panels)
- Terrace approximately 45 m² (484 ft²)

We will pay for the driveway out of our own funds.

These were the most important points for us. We will tackle the paving and garden once the house is built and we know how much money is left. This will probably be around September 😎

NilsHolgersson schrieb:

Hello everyone,

We are in the final planning stage. It will be a semi-detached house on a flat, rectangular plot.
We are building a turnkey home with a general contractor (GC).
The current question is what exterior work to include with the GC and what to hire separate contractors for later.
The thinking is: construction won’t start for another 12 months – and no one knows what will happen with prices by then, they are rising rapidly at the moment. If we reserve the current price with the GC now (even if it’s a bit more expensive), wouldn’t it be cheaper than hiring tradespeople later? Also, would it be better to have foundation work done by a specialist excavator together with the basement, otherwise there will be extra effort combining the technical parts and connecting it to the house.

We would probably include a slab foundation for the garage, a foundation for the entrance platform, as well as the platform and paving work at the entrance/garage, and possibly the terrace. Is there anything else we should consider?
How was it for you?
Thanks for your answers!

Best regards,
Nils

I would include it with the GC now. We did that and it worked out well. The pavers and landscapers here are really unreliable and extremely booked up. In the end, it wasn’t more expensive.
It’s hard to say what else might be missing... but if the crew is on site anyway, you can also sort some things on location. Maybe adding soil in the garden and leveling it? Foundation for a garden shed, digging and connecting any pipes, etc.