Page 4 of 8
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:10 pm
by davelad
It's a relatively small job I think compared to some - about 52 square meters, 21 of those are the indian stone part and the rest is block paving paths (not a drive). I had several quotes ranging from £1100 to over £3000 for the same specs, so I went for someone that I had seen a completed job from, and that was local and kind of middle of the road price - total price is £1550.
The back looks quite level, although they've been rained off today again and they were going to finish that this afternoon. They've been putting the edgings in for the block paving today and they are coming back Monday to finish up. The blocks that they've put in do look pretty neat and tidy, but if we get a break in the weather, I'll do some more photos and you can all slag it off lol 
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:17 pm
by davelad
Speaking of deposits - I was recently trying to get a front door sorted and try as I may, it was a nightmare trying to find a decent joiner round here...anyway, one bloke came and said he wanted a £382 deposit before he could start, the job was only £470 and he never got back to me with a quote, same for about 5 other berks, they didn't get back to me and it was a straight forward door and frame replacement.
Can't remember if I mentioned it, but one of the more ropey paving firms that came round, tried to give me the hard sell and came out with the old, "I've got to ring my boss", then "Yes, my boss says, if you give us a deposit and have the job done on Monday, we can do it for £1400, but you need to agree today". I then got 4 texts and several answer phone messages and then a call each morning and afternoon for the next week trying to get me to have the job done.
This current lot, I knew something was up on day one when I caught one of them asleep in a wheelbarrow at the side of my house and another peeing up my outside kitchen wall.
Laxatives in his tea on the final day for him.
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:38 pm
by mcelec
davelad wrote:Speaking of deposits - I was recently trying to get a front door sorted and try as I may, it was a nightmare trying to find a decent joiner round here...anyway, one bloke came and said he wanted a £382 deposit before he could start, the job was only £470 and he never got back to me with a quote, same for about 5 other berks, they didn't get back to me and it was a straight forward door and frame replacement.
Can't remember if I mentioned it, but one of the more ropey paving firms that came round, tried to give me the hard sell and came out with the old, "I've got to ring my boss", then "Yes, my boss says, if you give us a deposit and have the job done on Monday, we can do it for £1400, but you need to agree today". I then got 4 texts and several answer phone messages and then a call each morning and afternoon for the next week trying to get me to have the job done.
This current lot, I knew something was up on day one when I caught one of them asleep in a wheelbarrow at the side of my house and another peeing up my outside kitchen wall.
Laxatives in his tea on the final day for him.
catching half hour in the barrow i could overlook and possibly even find funny! having a pee against my house and i would seriously think that they where taking the piss! everyone gets caught short and fair enough you probably wouldnt want to let him in to your house full off mud, but while i wouldnt want someone peeing in a bush in my garden i would see it as the less of two evils! really he should of jumped in his van and gone the local bookies or pub or mcdonalds or somewhere!
i would give the laxitives in his tea a miss or you might end up with more than pee up your wall....you might end up with some brown pebble dashing! :p
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:44 pm
by rab1
Sack the Idiots and get in a proper contractor, Ambients in your area, at least that way you can sleep at night.
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:38 pm
by davelad
I should point out that I was joking about the laxatives. 
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:57 pm
by DNgroundworks
They pissed on your house - id of slapped the guy, could he not of knocked on your door and asked to use your toilet and taken his boots off?
Sound like a right rum lot lol
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 12:04 am
by MBPM
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 12:16 am
by Pablo
Ha Ha very good. Dave just be careful about letting your dog stand in any kind of cement it can cause nasty burns to their paws I know from experience.
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 1:26 am
by davelad
Really?..we were both covered in it, as are all my floors inside the house. I'll have a look at her paws and see if there's anything there, thanks for the heads up
Love the picture by the way
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:00 am
by Rich H
jay-manor: I've never had a bad reaction. When the customer calls to book the job, I give them a provisional start date and explain that I'll need a deposit equivalent to the materials and plant booked before starting, payable at site-setup.
It could be that all my work comes from word-of-mouth recommendation, so perhaps they're a bit less wary than if they'd contact me from yell.com or a newspaper ad.
davelad, that price is amazingly cheap. I'd be looking at very very roughly £80/m for the indian stone and then £60/m for non-vehicular block paving: £3500 or so. Of course it depends on access, waste disposal volume, current conditions, etc. £1100 isn't possible!! The stone should be about £420 and the block paving £310 = £730. MOT @ £18/t x 50mm (that's not really enough) x 52m2 = £108 + 5t sand @ £25/t = £125. Cement @ £4/bag x 20 = £80. So just the basic materials = £1043
That doesn't include waste disposal (skips, etc), plant hire, labour or profit!!!
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 12:32 pm
by GB_Groundworks
i'm quietly confident with proper supervision my 8 year old nephew could lay those flags better than that.
always 25% deposits up front i could be putting 100k of plant on site i want something to establish a bond of trust first. yeah some jobs its ok to do they get paid after finishing but anything over a week etc i want a deposit, we've all been stung by bad/late payers.
Edited By GB_Groundworks on 1245497700
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 1:02 pm
by davelad
Rich H wrote:davelad, that price is amazingly cheap. I'd be looking at very very roughly £80/m for the indian stone and then £60/m for non-vehicular block paving: £3500 or so. Of course it depends on access, waste disposal volume, current conditions, etc. £1100 isn't possible!! The stone should be about £420 and the block paving £310 = £730. MOT @ £18/t x 50mm (that's not really enough) x 52m2 = £108 + 5t sand @ £25/t = £125. Cement @ £4/bag x 20 = £80. So just the basic materials = £1043
That doesn't include waste disposal (skips, etc), plant hire, labour or profit!!!
The going rate round here seems to be around £35 per square metre for block paving - Originally he priced the job up at £1350 including a step at the front door and that was block paving right the way through, including the patio, so I asked how much extra it would be to have the patio area done in Indian stone and he said £200 extra on top, so £1550 all in.
One odd thing that I found when I was getting quote was that they all said that the digging out was the big part of the labour, yet when I suggested that I do the digging out and removal of all the old flags/cinders etc, the price only came down by £200 tops.
Another thing I've just spotted under the tarpauling was some of the stones have large green fossils on...I was a bit horrified at first, but i quite like them now...one other odd thing was that a few of the stones looked to be stained with white emulsion, but I'm happy to say that this all came off with a stiff brush and water.
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 4:58 pm
by jay-Manor Driveways
i like the fossils on the slabs i think it gives a bit of caractor as long as its matching in with the others
as for deposit mayby ill start doing that , although never been knocked ive had a few late payers which is slightly annoying
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 5:26 pm
by GB_Groundworks
sure this has been covered on the main site but they aren't fossils they are iron staining, looks like a fossilsed plant or leaf.
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:11 pm
by jay-Manor Driveways
learn something new every day
