The Brew Cabin

IVE JUST HAD QUOTE FOR 58 SQ METRES OF PIC,£7,500.00,THATS ABOUT £130.00 PER SQ METRE WHICH SEEMS STEEP TO SAY THE LEAST.
THIS WAS FROM A NATIONAL COMPANY,BUT I'M GETTING THAT DOUBLE GLAZING SALESMAN ROUTINE.
ANY IDEAS FROM ANYBODY AT WHAT I SHOULD BE LOOKING TO PAY,FROM LOCAL GUYS TO BIG NATIONAL COMPANIES.....THANKS IN ADVANCE.
DAVE

You'd probably get a better price if you knocked off the Caps Lock key! Using all upper case typing is the 'net equivalent of SHOUTING!

130 quid per metre is their usual starting price. If you haggle, you can get that reduced by half. More importantly, you should always get at least 3 quotes.

Think about it - if they can afford to reduce their cost by half (often because "the boss is pressuring them", or "they're keen to have a show site in the area" ), why did they start at such a high price? Thieving gits, that's why! :(

..apologies for the caps lock,new to this forum lark and thanks for the advice,I have another 2 companies arriving to give quotes this weekend.
cheers tony,
dave

Dave, Did you manage to get the price down?

I've just had two quotes and it works out to be about £100 per square meter.

Is that reasonable?

Also one of the guy's who quoted (the slightly more expensive one) wanted a cash transaction because he doesn't want to pay VAT.
Dodgy or what?
Do you think I should ask him for more of a discount if it's going to be cash?

Cheers

Ian

Ian 007 its not him that would pay the vat it is you, if he offers a cash discount this is one thing if he requests it, it is another. Nb. you will not get a reciept with a cash job therefore no guarantee, avoid this unless it is a friend or someone you trust. Message to both have you thought about a natural stone instead of pic you could have it done for the same price or less and it will give you a better job in the long run. Alan D

Thanks for the reply Alan,
I realise that it would be me paying the VAT, but I would be paying it to the contractor who presumably would then pass it on.
The problem is that one contractor who is VAT registered quoted me £3200 inc VAT, the other who isn't VAT registered quoted £3400?
The contractor with the lower quote cannot do the job until the end of October yet the other one can do it straight away. I would like it done sooner rather than later, so do I ask the dearer contractor to drop his quote or wait until the end of October to have it done?

On your other comment what would be the price difference between PIC and stone? Which would add the most value to my property?

Cheers

Ian

Note that on a job of this size being vat registered or not will only have a small effect on the price not 17.5% as many peoplr think as you will be paying vat on the MATERIALS to the guy who is not vat reg anyway, the only difference is that you will pay vat on the LABOUR AND MATERIALS to the guy who is. This is probably only £200 and vat registration usually comes hand in hand with a reputable company.

As to you second question it would more than often be cheaper to pave the area than pic it, as to the question of value to property i dont think it would make much difference as it boils down to personal prefference.
Alan Ditchfield

hi,
now just having driveway done,37sqm for £2,100.00....gone for readypave.com,display at a couple of large garden centres and have seen some locally completed work,one was between 10-12yrs old..all excellent.
no stupid prices to start with.appear genuine.
thanks for all your replys
dave

Thanks guys,
Did a bit of haggling at the weekend, managed to get the price down to £60 square meter. Job should be completed by the end of this week.

Ian