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A concrete pad should be sufficient for the summerhouse to sit on , unless there's also a terraced open area to the front that might look better paved.
I'd advise charging a fixed price; work out all your costs, estimate roughly how long it should take, how much the job is worth to you, and price accordingly.
It is very difficult estimating when you start out, but agreeing an hourly rate might prove a problem for the customer if you're inexperienced and the job lags somewhat, unless you're really cheap. Be prepared to lose out on early jobs though, it's all part of the learning process! I'm still learning too.
Good luck!
Only 6 sq m.... hope you are digging out by hand and not giving yourself all the hassle of a digger. Remove c1 1/2 tonnes, say 20 barrow loads and bring in the same of blinding, or whatever local term is. Plate vibrator and then lay 16 no 60x60 concrete pavers....again, for the size, less hassle than concrete. Your main problem is transport if you haven't got a trailer. Pavers £40, plate vibrato £40, blinding £30, mixer and mortar materials £80....£600 and you will be smiling.
Then...having done such a good job, .. you talk them into relaying those existing pavers in a proper random pattern (they look really anal at the moment) and you can price that knowing what the friction of the job is (Access, customer breathing down neck, Excessive number of tea breaks etc, etc) and you will have found out what they are laid on and have an idea of what is involved.
Assuming you have the technical skills, but given they know you are a student, I reckon you should not be embarrassed to plan to make £120 for each day's work...and if you make profit on top well done
Now, watch me being shot down in flames!
Thanks for all the replys guys, thats really helped.
I visited her today to claify a few things and she said about installing a path in block paving and the rest of the space filled with mediterranean style/ dry plants, seems simple enough!
She said she had a previous qoute a while back for £5000 which seems abit excessive to me? Would I be under cutting myself saying between £1500 - £2000? (thats including plants, paths, clearing the area and paving + foundations).
i'm guessing you are keen to get a 'price' but I am not sure I could provide one and have it make a profit for you.
There's a lot of unknown variables, your work rate, costs, how much profit you want, but think you need to give the client a fixed cost for piece of mind.
It's right, it's a learning exercise and on some you will loose, some make.
Use a spreadsheet, collect all the costs (not forgetting time spent running around) and play about in Excel until it 'looks right'.
A blatant plug, but what about investing in some relevant reading matter (on here, and perhaps Phil's Book,. advertised in Margins ? All about setting up and running a new business - Could be a good few quid spent ?
16 pavers for £40 where do you get them from im luck to get them for £80 from local builders merchant
John Baker said:
Hi Calum
Welcome to LJN:)
"She said she had a previous qoute a while back for £5000 which seems abit excessive to me? Would I be under cutting myself saying between £1500 - £2000? "
It's almost better that you didn't know about the previous quote. You need to quote for this work with a view to make a profit for you. To do that you need to work out all of your material and any machinery costs (these are the costs of sales) and then, the tricky bit, work out what you need as a wage to cover all of your hidden expenses (overheads: rent, fuel,food, clothing, holiday divided by the hours you can work a year) plus a profit to re-invest in your future.
Of course, having said that you need to be competitive too.
There's a great deal of good advice above from the others...hope you find it useful.
Calum Sawyer said:
Haven't bought 600x600mm pavers for a while, but checked today and £2.80 + vat retail from builders merchants here which is about £55. i have 3 quarries within 3 miles, and a couple of concrete plants etc, so know I can get them for about £2 - £2.50 all in, but will end up paying more for something else not so easily available here. 1 1/2 tonnes of blinding (Crusher Run/ 1" down/ various names elewhere) collected from quarry would set me back £10 and i might even have enough change for a pint if they deem it something or other that is not eligible for aggregate levy.
Obviously research is needed for local prices, delivery etc, but my point is that £400 in costs seems unnecessasrily high and is money in someone else's pocket.
Brian Fleming said:
Hello Calum,
Without going into the how's and why's of doing the job(many ways to skin a cat, and only time will give you the best judgement), I'll give my 10 cents on the pricing.
Rule 1- The company has to pay for itself! We're not in business to do people favours, but to create great gardens, and make a bit of profit. You will soon find yourself in deep water if you are only charging for labour. Just wait until you get a bill for several hundred pounds for a vehicle repair! You need to think about transport costs, insurances, premises for storage, tool investment/repair, blah, blah blah.
The reason that the cowboys can do it so cheap is that they are missing out the things that the rest of us are obliged to pay.
We find that a fair way to do it is to get out and find a decent builders suppliers that will give you an account (cash or credit) for which you will get a discount of about 20%. That means that you can charge the client the normal rate, so they are not upset, and you have a profit. Then you do the same with a hire company, and then go round every supplier you need and push for discount. And you can't get a discount on certain things, then still charge the client 10-20%, as that's what businesses do. Call it an arrangement fee. Think about any shop, cheap or not, and their pricing has a mark up, which is how they pay the bills. As you get bigger, you can push for better discounts, and either drop your own prices, or enjoy a good dividend while having your first holiday in years(I only graduated a couple of years ago so know what its like). Many will disagree with me, but think about it. Do you believe the big landscaping companies charge for labour only? Of course not, they mark up on everything.
Some smaller companies may well undercut you, but its all about quality, and a good name. We've had several customers telling us that we weren't the cheapest by a long shot, but still take us on because they trust us.
You will do much better in the long run! And you will be more likely to maintain your equipment and vans if you have a pot to pay for it, which always feels good!
I would also advise, as above, that you get some books on small business, and that you put everything on a spreadsheet. Makes it much easier!
Good luck, and don't lose faith. We're going into our third year of business, and its only starting to make us a decent income now, but the struggle has been worth it!
Steven
Hi Calum
looking at that row of conifers behind I would install that summerhouse on a descent concrete base not slabs because of the amount of ground movement the conifers may cause !
Option1: Raised base
Level and excavate area (By hand no digger required for such a small area) by approx 2 inchs and disperse soil around planting area if of good quality ? then Install 6 inch timber formwork around area to house concrete !
Tips ensure that Formwork is strong, dead level and square.
Install hardcore to excavated 2 inch base or use old path broken down, to save hauling more stuff ? Ensure you have the correct hight or you will use more concrete than required for the job ! and then get your local mixamate concrete provider (They mix it on site and you only pay for what you need) to provide ready mixed C20 concrete and wheel barrow into the timber form work, bring the concrete to the top of timber form and tamp and float as required !
Option 1: Costs
Ready mix concrete x 1m3 = £160
Hardcore (Type1) x 0.3 m3 = £50
Formwork timbers = £40
Labour x 1 man, 2 days work @ £200 per day = £400 (This would should be an appropriate charge to allow your self a wage and profit to cater for your overheads, tax etc)
Total = £650 (All in charge)
Option2: Sunken base (No step up)
Level and excavate area (By hand no digger required for such a small area) by 8 inchs and disperse soil around planting area if of good quality or Get skip on site ? Install stakes or rebar to the correct finished hight of concrete so that you know where the concrete is to be pored to and to ensure when set base is level !
Install hardcore to a 2 inch base or use old path broken down, to save hauling more stuff ? Ensure you have the correct hight or you will use more concrete than required for the job ! and then get your local mixamate concrete provider (They mix it on site and you only pay for what you need) to provide ready mixed C20 concrete and wheel barrow into area and bring to the hight of your stakes and tamp and float as required !
Option 2: Costs
Ready mix concrete x 1m3 = £160
Hardcore (Type1) x 0.3 m3 = £50
Staking timbers = £20
Skip = £200
Labour x 1 man, 3 days work @ £200 per day = £600 (This should be an appropriate charge to allow your self a wage and profit to cater for your overheads, tax etc)
Total = £1030 (All in charge)
Re: Block paving will be £75 - £95 per M2 dependent on type of paver this cost will include, labour excavation, Spoil away, membrane, base, concrete and haunch edgings, sand and paver
Re: Plants: Hope this helps but i dont know the size of area + Size, species and amount of plants will vary wildly in cost ! I would allow a budget of say £300 for the plants including planting compost etc and again £200 for a day of sourcing, supplying and installing then try and get the biggest, best and correct species that your budget will allow from your trade suppliers ! If its not enough then review the budget with your client and purchase accordingly !
For the future your pricing will be trial and error ! But you should monitor all your projects and take notes of how long it took you, material costs etc and if your daily rate is sufficient to cover your overheads and living expenses ! In time this will prove invaluable for pricing jobs as you will know your material costs allowed for and used and the time you have allowed for the labour and what it really took ! You can then price from former experience with confident you will not make a loss !
All the best if you need any more advice please fell free to message back
Torin
Midas Touch Landscapes
Callum
Think about preparing the ground by raking the cack off and levelling it, cutting a dpc to size atop, then making a formwork (in the rectangle you want, but 1" smaller all-round to allow water to shed to the soil, not the base) at 125mm deep, and barrowing readymix in at £100 a cubic meter ( n.b. plus del., any waiting and part-load charges) - you can tamp it off yourself as you've space around it.
Sure, the foundation is 5" in the air, but it''s strong, dry, the bearers won't rot in time (if summerhouse has them?) and if you leave the formwork on it looks 'pretty' and you get to make more money for less work and learn how to build a one-step step up !
Graham
If the ground's good you won't need any MoT type, but taht and a bit of a sand blinding under the dpc will never hurt...
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