Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 28, 2009 2:49 pm Hi Fu and others I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on our landscaping quote. Is the pricing fair? What could you suggest different? The following is an example of a quote we had done: Decking: -Front porch - 90mm merbau timber to a total of 4.5sqm installed over existing concrete slab - $700 -Alfresco decking - 90mm merbau installed over existing concrete slab 18sqm - $4200 -Side decking - Construction of new decking no exisiting concrete at side of house to continue from alfresco 26sqm - $6200 Front Garden: -Install 6m3 of lawn blend soil, drip irrigation and 55sqm of buffalo (I did mention Empire ) to front yard $1910 - Excavate existing garden bed areas (7sqm) to 300mm, install new soil and dripline irrigation o garden beds $1710 Back Yard: - Excavate existing soil to 100mm, installation of new soil, dripline irrigation and buffalo turf (55sqm) - $6280 - Construct garden bed around perimeter with steel edging to define garden beds from lawn. Dripline irrigation, new soil $4974 Planting: -Supply and installation of plants to front and back yard consisting of yuccas, cordylines, agaves, strlitzia and cycad for front yard and weeping lily pillies in pots in the back yard around perimeter - $2500 There are a few smaller things added to the quote - all up it came to just under $30,000. Now we have budgeted $15,000 cash - so can save on the gst/tax side of things. Could we achieve something similar for our budget. The front decking and alfresco needs to stay, DH things he could do it because it only needs to be applied to existing concrete and doesn't need a whole base constructed, but I am not so sure he could do it It would be about a total of 23sqm so I'm trying to figure how much materials alone would cost for an area of that size? The front and back lawn are also certainly something we want so I'm not sure we can save on cost here. I'm thinking or replacing the side decking area with pavers instead as I am assuming 26sqm of paving would be cheaper than decking? I'm wondering if we should just delete the rear garden beds and weeping lily pillies and just have the alfresco decking, side paving and the rest of the garden grass. The main purpose will be to have a trampoline and cubby/swings for the kids but I was worried without any other plants and just the grass it may look bare? Does $2500 sound right for plants? I was thinking we could just get someone in to do the front garden bed preperation and then buy and plant the yuccas etc on our own? A note should be made that - we are not keen gardeners, we want something low maintenance and hard wearing. We like a simple modern look. Some pics for help One of the front Garden beds Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The backyard - concrete slab is where we want decking, to the left hand side is where we were going to continue paving/decking. With the rest of the area being grassed, or perhaps a garden bed around the perimeter? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is the side where we were going to either continue decking or pave - note a new side fence has been installed Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A shot of the front yard we want grassed Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Phew! That's it, so what do you think? My karma ran over your dogma Re: Landscaping Quote 2Aug 28, 2009 7:02 pm DECKING IS OVER PRICED FOR 90 MM MERABU, WOR KOUT THE SQ MTR RATE FOR INSTALL ON EXISTING CONC AND FOR COM-LETE SUBFLOOR NOT MUCH DIFFRENCE. FRONT YARD AND BACKYARD LAWN SAME SQ MTR AREA BUT HUGE PRICE DIFFRENCE. gOING OFF THE INCONSISTENCY OF THE PRICING I WOULD GET 2 X MORE QUOTES. yOU CAN DO ALOT YOUR SELF BUT TO DO IT RIGHT AND HAVE IT LATS 20 + YEARS IS WHY QUALIFIED CONTRACTORS ARE EMPLOYED. iF YOUR HANDY WITH TOOLS ETC THEN MAYBE GET A PLAN DRAW WITH STRUCTURAL COMPUTATIONS AND CROSS SECTIONAL DRAWINGS THIS WILL SAVE YOU ALOT OF GUESS WORK. Da Vinci Outdoor Living Architectural landscaping http://www.davincioutdoor.com Re: Landscaping Quote 3Aug 28, 2009 7:18 pm Well give the lawn quote and irrigation quote a miss. If they are installing subsurface underlawn at that price, they don't know what they are doing and the system will fail in time. I couldn't even get the parts for the subsurface for anywhere near that whole price that includes the netafim. Especially considering you will need an RPZ valve and they are $$$$ chick-ching!. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is absolutely vital that they are used when installing subsurface under turf. These must be installed by a licensed plumber. At least $100 for the filter that goes in the line as well. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is a brown disc filter that has a herbicide impregnated in the plastic. This prevents the fine roots of the turf from intruding on the drippers. I would suggest using MP rotators on the turf instead. These are very water efficient and will keep the costs down. Re: Landscaping Quote 4Aug 28, 2009 7:24 pm Also find out what brand of drip line they intend using. The answer you want to here is TechlineAS by Netafim or better still is the KISSS product. If they put something in the rest of the garden that looks like a snake that has swallowed a rat, I would question why they are using it in a domestic landscape. (not suitable for domestic use) Re: Landscaping Quote 5Aug 28, 2009 7:37 pm The plants quote is pretty cheap. I would be finding out what brand potting mix they are intending on using. Don't want a great plant in a flash pot in a 2 cent soil. You will get a two cent plant later Re: Landscaping Quote 7Aug 28, 2009 8:51 pm Hmmmm Boy am I glad I dared to ask here. We got the quote from a friend of a friend who was going to 'look after us' - doesn't seem likely after reading the replies, so thank-you so much for your honesty guys Ok so a few questions - 1) Do I need an irrigation set up with the lawn. Would proper preperation and constant maintenance do the job or is an irrigation system a must? We don't have a rain tank. 2) If the plants quote is cheap, I'm guessing it wouldn't be worth me trying to do that side of things myself? 3) I thought the same re the inconsistancies in decking/grass quotes. As a guide for my next quote what should I expect to pay per sqm for supply and install of decking/paving/grass (say buffalo/empire) Thanks guys, it has been an eye opener My karma ran over your dogma Re: Landscaping Quote 8Aug 28, 2009 9:02 pm haywgl 1) Do I need an irrigation set up with the lawn. Would proper preperation and constant maintenance do the job or is an irrigation system a must? We don't have a rain tank. You aren't allowed to water any lawn with mains water anymore. I plan to do drop irrigation for mine from mostly grey water (washing machine) and also tank water and drip irrigation is the most effective when it's laid on top of the soil but under the rolled out turf. 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Landscaping Quote 9Aug 28, 2009 9:11 pm Thanks for that Lisanne I should have been more clear when I meant maintenance I meant using grey water and watering cans etc - hard work but if the dripline irrigation system was going to be out of my price range it was my only option My karma ran over your dogma Re: Landscaping Quote 10Aug 28, 2009 9:49 pm haywgl Thanks for that Lisanne I should have been more clear when I meant maintenance I meant using grey water and watering cans etc - hard work but if the dripline irrigation system was going to be out of my price range it was my only option Ahhh Well I only discovered this last week! If it helps at all, I'm going to be getting one of these to use for the lawn irrigation http://www.greywatergator.com.au/ you can connect it to drip irrigation or have a watering nose thingy on it 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Landscaping Quote 11Aug 28, 2009 10:38 pm Quote: Decking: -Front porch - 90mm merbau timber to a total of 4.5sqm installed over existing concrete slab - $700 -Alfresco decking - 90mm merbau installed over existing concrete slab 18sqm - $4200 -Side decking - Construction of new decking no exisiting concrete at side of house to continue from alfresco 26sqm - $6200 WAY WAY TOO EXPENSIVE Here you are up for around 540-550 lineal metres of merbau, at a cost of approx $5 pm, = $2750. Add bearers and joists its around the $120 per mete in materials. = say $6000 in materials. $5k in labour? hmmm Quote: Front Garden: -Install 6m3 of lawn blend soil, drip irrigation and 55sqm of buffalo (I did mention Empire ) to front yard $1910 Buffalo is about $10 pm2 so $550 plus delivery. Soil mix is about $60 for good stuff, so $360. Drip system, you can do yourself if u ask a lot of questions. Our yard is 18*3 = 54m2 so they are about the same. Our pop up cost about $150-200 in parts. $900 in labour??? a BBQ is cheaper. I moved 4m2 of topsoil in 2 hrs by barrow. My wife my B and SIL and I installed 55m2 grass in about an hour. Quote: - Excavate existing garden bed areas (7sqm) to 300mm, install new soil and dripline irrigation o garden beds $1710 Not sure, bit of excavation and soil removal here tho Quote: Back Yard: - Excavate existing soil to 100mm, installation of new soil, dripline irrigation and buffalo turf (55sqm) - $6280 - Construct garden bed around perimeter with steel edging to define garden beds from lawn. Dripline irrigation, new soil $4974 I think this is excessive. Ring around for a bob cat hire guy, and ask for an hourly and daily rate, plus removal fees. Quote: Planting: -Supply and installation of plants to front and back yard consisting of yuccas, cordylines, agaves, strlitzia and cycad for front yard and weeping lily pillies in pots in the back yard around perimeter - $2500 Fu is best on these, but go to your local nursery and price different sizes of each. Lets talk decking. If you have good help from someone who is handy, are commited to some hard work, you have a brain, and use it, and ask a heap of questions, and have access to the right tools you can do it yourself. The issue here is preparation, design and sourcing materials. But at the same time a lot of people can do some of these things themselves and do a good job at it. They just need the right tools and think things thru. BTW Its fun. and when you finish it, jeez it feels good that you did it yourself. Search for my posts and you will see the decks I have built, inc on concrete. Its not hard. Fu and Da Vinci are spot on when they talk about quality and durability. My FIL is a very handy person, and I continue to learn alot about his skills. FIND SOMEONE LIKE THIS!!!!. The work that Davinci does is just beautiful and he has a market that he caters for very well. He also has obviously got excellent contractors and great ability and generously shares his knowledge on this forum. Use his and Fu's wisdom, see what you can come up with plan wise and show us.Through this forum I had 1 contractor come in to do the front garden, and that was to kids moving rock on a dingo, all provided by the developer. From THIS forum, I have learnt to lay pavers, lay granite, install irrigation, retaining walls, grass, a water feature and plant. Hope I havent crapped on too much but I think a lot of people sell themselves short, and pay for it through excessive quotes and charges. There are jobs that I would not do myself, and would call in a professional. Adrian B Re: Landscaping Quote 12Aug 29, 2009 10:02 am As mentioned there are some inconsistencies with the quotation. Decking laid on conc over the existing alfresco rate front porch vs back has a considerable difference. The rate for the rest, depends on the attention to detail with the design- will there be a border with mitred corners, side boards to cover sides, 2 coats of oil. Going rates for quality decks done by qualified contractors can vary $200-250/m² according to design principles, heights, timbers etc. The front yard vs back yard the rear yard does need more excavation, removal of more spoil than the front area to get to a level to allow for topsoil plus turf. There will probably be 7m3 of soil to come out, to allow for the 100mm excavation + expansion of soil once excavated (ie not compacted anymore). Even so, the price listed is way too high for what it is, even with the sub surface drip and turf + sand to spread over the top Plant prices can vary considerably according to size. Get a specified planting pot size listed and you can save considerable $$ here by buying smaller plants, but be aware that you will wait longer for the fuller look with more mature plants. Also check what mulch has been used in quote, there will be a big difference between bark mulch and river pebbles. Re: Landscaping Quote 13Aug 29, 2009 11:10 am Quote: 1) Do I need an irrigation set up with the lawn. Would proper preperation and constant maintenance do the job or is an irrigation system a must? We don't have a rain tank. Under turf grey water is very effective when installed correctly. I would strongly recommend it. With grey water the expensive RPZ valve is not required. You must use the purple/lavender pipe though which is designed to handle the larger particles found in grey water. The pop up MP rotators "may" not work as well with grey water, although I am sure someone can find a good working example. PM sent re plants Re: Landscaping Quote 14Aug 29, 2009 12:09 pm sub surface irrigation also promotes good vigour and health long term, while also saving water. Because the water seeps from the pipes underneath, it saves evaporation and promotes the root growth to go down, instead of hanging around the surface if pop up sprinklers were used. Cheaper too. If the roots go down, it can get to moisture saved within the soil and potentially reducing your watering. It's recommended to keep your drip lines to a maximum total length in 1 station to 100Lm, depending on your pump size and the level of the land. It's a good idea to install a flush valve at the end of the line or lowest point to flush out any silt/dirt etc each time the system is turned on. Re: Landscaping Quote 15Aug 29, 2009 12:35 pm Thank-you for the replies guys - greatly appreciated I know exactly what you mean about finding a good friend who is handy....that was my Dad He could do everything and anything - plumbing, electrical, carpentry - he built our family home from scratch, and would you believe he was working as a landscape gardener before he died last year at 54 If Dad was here I would never have needed to hire a professional, but unfortunately my DH is not very handy nor does he have alot of time on his hands to do such things. But we have had a long discussion and I think he is going to give the decking a go He will get some help from my brother So we should save a good $5000 there. The lawn/irrigation/excavation I think we will need the professionals so I think we are going to lose some money there. Would it be cheaper to do it in stages - hire one person to excavate another to do the lawn? So for a dripline irrigation system, excavation and laying lawn what should I expect to pay? Fu - I didn't get your Pm My karma ran over your dogma They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5879 hey there! 😊 so, it’s kinda common for standard drawer depths to be around 500mm since most cabinets use this size to fit the usual runners… 3 20909 I was being kind to the builder. With the amount charged for the upgrade the builder is probably charging closer to 100% margin. There are a few variables as I… 5 14314 |