antiriad 10 Posted October 18, 2020 We are in the process of getting quotes for doing our driveway with pavers. We had a contractor giving us a quote initially for about 15k for pavers and belgian blocks edges and then we asked for the option if we could use our preferred paver brand which was 20-30c per foot more expensive than the Cambridge brand he was using. Howerver after getting the second quote the price was increased to about 22k. He had left the driveway price pretty much at 15k but he quoted us 7.5k for 150 liner feet of Belgian block edging which we though was way more than double the usual price at 50 per linear foot. In addition I had meaured the edging with a measuring wheel and it was 120 feet and not 150 we were quoted. Also I used the google maps area meaurements to measure the actual driveway square footage where he came up with about 400 more square(actual driveway is 1,400sf )footage than the driveway actualy is. So it seems he added 20% more linear footage and 35% more square footage. Needless to say we are also looking for other quotes. Funny thing a few year ago we had gotten a quote for 30k from a different contractor. The "expensive" material we are considering was no more than 5.5k for everything. Any recommendations when dealing with this kind of projects? Do we tell them the actual footage or contractors have their own method of measuring. Thanks Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tunaman 538 Posted October 18, 2020 call Edwin at Lagoons Construction. They did a lot of pavers for me and are good at what they do. I have the phone number if you want it PM me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JackDaWack 2,894 Posted October 18, 2020 Same advice for any house project, get multiple quotes from reputable companies, and get referrals from prior customers. If they cant even take basic measurements i would run fast. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bomber 1,089 Posted October 18, 2020 11 minutes ago, JackDaWack said: Same advice for any house project, get multiple quotes from reputable companies, and get referrals from prior customers. Yes, then use the low quotes as negotiation leverage. You'd be surprised how much they can drop their prices when there is competition. Although these days when everybody is going nuts with home improvements maybe not so much. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maintenanceguy 509 Posted October 19, 2020 Part of my job for the last 25 years has been hiring contractors for all sorts of projects. I've hired hundreds and hundreds of them. My advice: Find someone your neighbor or friend liked working with. Finding a quality contractor is the most important thing. Get 3 quotes. Throw out any that are low enough to worry you and any that are high enough to worry you. If all three are in the same neighborhood, you can trust the prices are good. Don't worry about the nuisances. Don't worry if the contractor thinks it's 150' vs. 120'. There is some number he needs to make to make your project worth his time. Doesn't matter how he gets to that price. You don't know how he's calculating workman's comp, equipment rental, benefits time, liability insurance, or 100 other things that are priced into your job. Worrying about 30' of edging misses 99.999% of what went into your quote. 1 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CMJeepster 2,766 Posted October 19, 2020 13 hours ago, maintenanceguy said: Part of my job for the last 25 years has been hiring contractors for all sorts of projects. I've hired hundreds and hundreds of them. My advice: Find someone your neighbor or friend liked working with. Finding a quality contractor is the most important thing. Get 3 quotes. Throw out any that are low enough to worry you and any that are high enough to worry you. If all three are in the same neighborhood, you can trust the prices are good. Don't worry about the nuisances. Don't worry if the contractor thinks it's 150' vs. 120'. There is some number he needs to make to make your project worth his time. Doesn't matter how he gets to that price. You don't know how he's calculating workman's comp, equipment rental, benefits time, liability insurance, or 100 other things that are priced into your job. Worrying about 30' of edging misses 99.999% of what went into your quote. This. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handyman 5,682 Posted October 20, 2020 Pro tip: don't hire the Irish guys that drive around in rented UHaul vans looking for business. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redlines 202 Posted October 21, 2020 Just do it yourself. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Golf battery 1,223 Posted October 23, 2020 Redlines. No. Just no. I would do a driveway with pavers for that sq footage for around 19$ a sq ft. Depending on accessibility Paver and pattern I only work within 20 mins of my shop. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
124gr9mm 857 Posted October 23, 2020 On 10/18/2020 at 8:08 PM, maintenanceguy said: Part of my job for the last 25 years has been hiring contractors for all sorts of projects. I've hired hundreds and hundreds of them. My advice: Find someone your neighbor or friend liked working with. Finding a quality contractor is the most important thing. Get 3 quotes. Throw out any that are low enough to worry you and any that are high enough to worry you. If all three are in the same neighborhood, you can trust the prices are good. Don't worry about the nuisances. Don't worry if the contractor thinks it's 150' vs. 120'. There is some number he needs to make to make your project worth his time. Doesn't matter how he gets to that price. You don't know how he's calculating workman's comp, equipment rental, benefits time, liability insurance, or 100 other things that are priced into your job. Worrying about 30' of edging misses 99.999% of what went into your quote. Agree Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JackDaWack 2,894 Posted October 23, 2020 On 10/18/2020 at 8:08 PM, maintenanceguy said: Don't worry about the nuisances. Don't worry if the contractor thinks it's 150' vs. 120'. There is some number he needs to make to make your project worth his time. Doesn't matter how he gets to that price. You don't know how he's calculating workman's comp, equipment rental, benefits time, liability insurance, or 100 other things that are priced into your job. Worrying about 30' of edging misses 99.999% of what went into your quote. Maybe its just me, and the accounting principles I have learned... but thats not acceptable in my mind. A contractor should be able to accurately determine how much each square foot costs his business, and how much he needs to charge to make a profit. Adding square footage to inflate a price makes zero sense to me and its an indicator the contractor hasn't created a cost structure. Square footage determines how much prep time is needed, how much material is needed, how much labor is required, and the time to run any machines.. adding footage that doesn't exist means you would be paying for things you're not receiving. I wouldnt request a 20x20 foot deck, and be ok with someone quoting me to build a 25x25 foot deck, but then only building it to 20x20 specs. I may not argue over a few feet for surplus materials if thats how its described, but 30 quare feet is not a small area to just pretend exists to make up shortcomings for price. If you want to charge more, raise your per foot price. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
siderman 1,132 Posted October 23, 2020 33 minutes ago, JackDaWack said: Maybe its just me, and the accounting principles I have learned... but thats not acceptable in my mind. A contractor should be able to accurately determine how much each square foot costs his business, and how much he needs to charge to make a profit. Adding square footage to inflate a price makes zero sense to me and its an indicator the contractor hasn't created a cost structure. Square footage determines how much prep time is needed, how much material is needed, how much labor is required, and the time to run any machines.. adding footage that doesn't exist means you would be paying for things you're not receiving. I wouldnt request a 20x20 foot deck, and be ok with someone quoting me to build a 25x25 foot deck, but then only building it to 20x20 specs. I may not argue over a few feet for surplus materials if thats how its described, but 30 quare feet is not a small area to just pretend exists to make up shortcomings for price. If you want to charge more, raise your per foot price. Agree. As someone who made a good living figuring square feet for a living there is one simple thing to remember. Numbers don't lie, there are what they are and if you fudge them beyond reasonable and a savvy homeowner breaks out his own ruler you lost. Keep the numbers real and apply any cost overages you need to the bottom line. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rifleman 90 Posted November 15, 2020 Its faster and better to waste material with pavers than using end cuts. His overage may account for that. If there is not material left over from a job, he didn't account for this. Save the extras cleanly, I guarantee you will need them someday. PM me if you need a guy in Brick, he has done work at my house 4x and I trust him 100%. I'm up to about $40,000 with him and never one question about the quality of his work. And I am a cheap MF that handles money for a living. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites