Hellobee Boards

My best advice would be to make sure you contractor prices everything for you upfront. Anything that gets added later will cost you double (or more.) Also, try to have all of your material decisions made up front. You don't want to be stuck waiting on marble and have you subs with no work to do. I've found that if they leave your job it's almost impossible to get them back.
And check what permits you'll need with your local building department. I've had clients whose home have had non-permitted renovations before and find out that it's not up to code and that they are legally and financially liable for bringing it to compliance.
And (sorry for the novel) get receipts for everything. Don't pay by cash to save a few bucks - if your new faucet breaks after two months and you don't have any paperwork from your contractor - he's not coming back to fix it.

For what it's worth, I'm an Architect and my practice is in custom home renovation.

i did some minor renovations with my now rental house. had to fix the kitchen floors because my dog messed it up. we bought the materials, the guys just put it on. it's definitely cheaper if you get the materials yourself - that way, you know they aren't charging you extra. my bro did some major renovations (kitchen and bathroom) with his new place, and he bought all (?) the materials from home depot and costco and just hired a contractor to actually do the labor.

also, he used a chinese company. he said they were much cheaper.

there are also some things you may be able to do yourselves. for example, my bro did all the crown molding in his place. with our parents home, he did all the varnishing and all of the wood floors - just depends on what your hubby could do.

We’re getting ready to build a new home, but haven’t done any renovations to our current place. I would echo others who said get everything in writing. I don’t know if you are planning on DIY renovations or hiring someone – so my only advice is for if you will hire someone.

With our builder, everything we do that varies from our original build contract at all (even if it doesn’t involve a price change or money) has a formal Change Order, signed by both parties. Don’t be scared to enter into contracts with whomever you hire – to protect yourself if nothing else. You can contract for the renovation completion time (with financial penalties if they don’t meet it), so you are not stuck with no bathrooms 6 months later when the guy you hired got a bigger job. I would interview several contractors/tradespeople before hiring one – see what they can offer you, and at what price. Don’t be afraid to negotiate. See if your state keeps a list of contractor (or other tradesperson) complaints, and make sure the person you will hire doesn’t have outstanding lawsuits or complaints filed against them. We also required proof of current license and adequate insurance (works comp and liability), to make sure we wouldn’t be legally responsible for anything that might happen on our property. See if you can buy the materials yourself – save overhead. Don't financially overextend yourself because additional costs will crop up.