Is this silly money!!! - Advice on quotations received

[ArnoldAardvark]

Hi,
I would appreciate some advice. I am looking to get an area of 25 square metres paved in North London (North Finchley, N12). It is L-Shaped approximately 4.4m x 4.6m and 2m x 2.4m.

I have got 3 quotes, 2 from landscape gardeners who have been recommended by friends and 1 from the Thompson Local, which range from £4700 ex Vat to £2726 ex Vat. Given that the cost of the stone we are interested in can be obtained for £23.75 pm2 ex VAT for Pavestone Fossil i.e. £593.75 ex VAT (why is everything quoted ex-VAT!!!) for stone it seems a lot of money for such a small area even though there is some work to clear the existing garden.

One contractor (a recommendation) originally quoted £4700 ex VAT using Marshall Heritage Yorkstone in 450x450, 450x300 and 300x300 sizes. They rang to see if we received the quote and on informing them that it was too high came up with a quote of £2910 using Builder Center Salisbury in 600x600, 600x300 and 300x300 sizes when we told them our maximum budget (finger in the air job) was £3000 (this is inc VAT of course). Again they rang to see if we received the quote and again we told them the price was too high price at which point they came up with another figure which came to £3000 inc VAT by magic!! although we don't have this quote in writing.

I don't like being treated in the same way as a double glazing salesman i.e come in high and adjust the product to suit the required price as though I am being done a favour. I quizzed the company about how changing the size and manufacturer of the stone could miraculously reduce the price by £2000, after all the stone on like for like size comparison appears to be 35% less and can't come to more than £400 - £600 ex VAT based on Builder Center pricing for 300x300 sizes.

I was told that there is less pointing i.e labour involved and the stone cost was significantly less . Yet as I see it there is a big constant in that the clearance work and base laying is exactly the same whatever stone is used and there isn't a huge difference in the amount of materials or labour required to do the pointing. The guy did seem very knowledgable and was happy to provide me with details of reference sites and they are a member of BALI. They have also obtained a sample of the Salisbury stone in buff to see and its horrible.

My only other reasonable quote from a recommended company is £2726 ex Vat using 4 sizes of Desert Sandstone slabs but involves the installation of a lineage drainage gully system across the point where the two square shapes meet to make the L Shape, which would spoil the effect of the paving.

Any opinions on this and indication of reasonable prices for such a job would be appreciated. My thoughts are to try and find some more companies to quote.

Thanks
Arnold
???

[dig dug dan]

Hi

Is there parking? is it off road?
Is there access? (i.e. not trapsing through a house!)
can a skip be placed on site?
I assume there is some excavation to be done?
Why is a drainage channel needed? cant the patio slope away from the house onto the garden?

[rms]

If access is reasonable then £3000 including vat sounds about right. If extra clearance and drainage work is required then expect to pay another £1000 on top.

[Tony McC]

The difficulty all of us have in commenting on quoted prices is that we can't see the site. there can be factors that affect the price that you, as a civilian, might not appreciate, which is what Dan was getting at.

Only you can decide what is the most appropriate price and which contractor offers the best service. However, Switching from 25 quid per metre imported sandstone to 15 quid per metre Salisbury Shite on a 25 metre job does not account for two grand, and there is no real difference in the amount of pointing involved. I'd be wary of that crowd!