As Zembruski learned during the redo of his house, remodeling pros are just like office workers: There are aspects of the job that they don't love. Demolition can be dirty, boring work; do it yourself and you'll notice a more energetic spring in your GC's step. Then there's the unpleasant business of getting down on one's hands and knees in a small place. "Our crawl space is about 3 feet high," Zembruski says of the area under his kitchen. "It's dark in there, and there are spiders and bugs." So before he called in his electrician, he roughed out the wiring down below. As for his much-in-demand plumber, "he doesn't want to be in the sink cabinet knocking over the soap—he's a big guy!" says Zembruski, who clears the way before he picks up the phone. One time he took apart a leaky faucet before the plumber got there. In return, the guy did him the ultimate favor: making his house the first stop on a very busy day.