Rough cost for garden landscaping

Slattsy

Evening,

Would love to get someone out to do some landscaping out the back garden.

Currently there is a load of old cobblelock down (from previous owner) but i could take them out myself.

For your bog standard 3 bed semi in Dublin could anyone give me an idea what i'd be looking at to get some raised flower beds (around the walls). some new grass laid, some stones (tonne or 2?) down and finally wooden fencing around the walls?
I know the above is somewhat vague but if anyone got something similar done i'd really appreciate if you could give me a rough guide on what i can expect €€€€ wise.

Tia.

Wailin

Have similar sized back garden and got a quote for €2200 for it to be landscaped, including removal of shrubs and soil, laying new turf, small footpath to shed, bark on one side and a bed on the other. Got a bit of a shock really at the cost.

Sonnenblumen

Wailin wrote: »

Have similar sized back garden and got a quote for €2200 for it to be landscaped, including removal of shrubs and soil, laying new turf, small footpath to shed, bark on one side and a bed on the other. Got a bit of a shock really at the cost.

That is a shocking price indeed. I just wonder what kind of garden one could reasonably expect for € 2.2k?

Slattsy

Wow wasnt expecting anything close to 2k.

Have a budget of about 1k, which i thought would suffice. Give or take a few bob either side.

Sam Kade

Wailin wrote: »

Have similar sized back garden and got a quote for €2200 for it to be landscaped, including removal of shrubs and soil, laying new turf, small footpath to shed, bark on one side and a bed on the other. Got a bit of a shock really at the cost.

That would be around the price alright.

Wailin

Sam Kade wrote: »

That would be around the price alright.

It seems so but when you take in the fact that it's just two days work then it appears very expensive.

redser7

I don't understand how they were going to do all that work in a couple of days? Surely the labour would be more than that? Cost is relative. 2 grand for a Ferrari is a bargain. 2 grand for a loaf of bread is a crime. I don't think 2 grand for landscaping, laying new turf, path, labour etc. is much.

Carlosthejakal

2000 is not that much depending on what is included.
Nearly finished mine. Spent
600 on decking 36sq mtrs
600 on grass and topsoil.
1100 on 70sq mtrs fencing.
300 on lights
180 on 1 tonne of beach pebble
280 on paint

Did the work when I was off, took a lot longer than having pros do it but think it turned out well.

mloc123

Materials are expensive. I have carried out a lot of work on our back garden in the last month or two and on wood, stains, topsoil, mulch and plants alone have probably spent up against 1000... maybe more if I was not afraid to add it all up.

prospect

Lets see,

Cost of probably a minimum of 2 people for 2 (long) days = 4 days labour
+
Cost of owning, running and maintaining a van and/or trailer and/or truck
+
Cost of owning running and maintaining equipment (consaws, chainsaws, rotovators, minidiggers (hire or owning), cement moxers and so on)
+
Cost of moving and dumping old soil and rubble
+
Cost of materials, plants, sleepers, cobble, pebble, weed membranes, fencing, decorative pieces, top soil.
+
Cost of time sourcing, collecting & delivering those materials
+
Cost of doing design & planning & pricing work
+
Cost of Insurances and permits (permit required to move soil etc)
+
Cost of training and obligatory H&S requirements
+
Cost of running a business, Phones, possibly websites, possibly advertising, Accountants, bank charges, CRO & Revenue charges
+
Profit


It is hardly a handy €2.2K on the contractors arse pocket now, is it?

Wailin

prospect wrote: »

Lets see,

Cost of probably a minimum of 2 people for 2 (long) days = 4 days labour
+
Cost of owning, running and maintaining a van and/or trailer and/or truck
+
Cost of owning running and maintaining equipment (consaws, chainsaws, rotovators, minidiggers (hire or owning), cement moxers and so on)
+
Cost of moving and dumping old soil and rubble
+
Cost of materials, plants, sleepers, cobble, pebble, weed membranes, fencing, decorative pieces, top soil.
+
Cost of time sourcing, collecting & delivering those materials
+
Cost of doing design & planning & pricing work
+
Cost of Insurances and permits (permit required to move soil etc)
+
Cost of training and obligatory H&S requirements
+
Cost of running a business, Phones, possibly websites, possibly advertising, Accountants, bank charges, CRO & Revenue charges
+
Profit


It is hardly a handy €2.2K on the contractors arse pocket now, is it?

Slightly annoyed are we? I didn't ask for your input, and yes, €2200 is a lot for 2 days work, most normal people would agree. End of argument. Sorry OP, was just giving you an idea of the cost and seem to have got under the skin of one or two people.

beertons

I'm pricing mine at the moment, and my bill came in just under yours. Get a few quotes though. The first one I got was just 800, but she wasn't really a landscaper.

prospect

Wailin wrote: »

Slightly annoyed are we? I didn't ask for your input, and yes, €2200 is a lot for 2 days work, most normal people would agree. End of argument. Sorry OP, was just giving you an idea of the cost and seem to have got under the skin of one or two people.

Not in the slightest, and correct me if I'm wrong but I don't require your permission to post here.

I am just illustrating that there are a lot of expenses anyone in business has that are not usually considered when people look at an estimate.

chopper6

prospect wrote: »

I am just illustrating that there are a lot of expenses anyone in business has that are not usually considered when people look at an estimate.

Well if i seek a quote for somebody to come and lay a path i'm asking them how much do they charge to come and lay a path...i dont want the cost of thier website and thier mobile phone bills worked into the final price.

I'm willing to pay for labour+materials...thats it.

My mother was recently quoted 400 to remove some ivy from a wall in her garden and that didnt include taking it away...there's some people taking the piss when it comes to quoting for "work".

redser7

I guess all the 'over-heads' are what go into the cost of labour.
It's a funny industry easily populated by a wide range of people from labourers to experienced and qualified landscape designers and gardeners. So it is easy for chancers to sneak in and pass themselves off as experts. Every garden is different and what clients want will be different. So it is very hard to standardise costs to 'do up the garden'. Best way to proceed is to try get personal recommendations and also get several quotes to find a reasonable and trust-worthy middle-ground on cost.

melon_collie

Where in Dublin are you based?

Slattsy

I'd still love to get someone out and at least get a quote or 2.

Can anyone recommend someone in Dublin that they found useful?

redser7

To prevent things getting messy, please send any recommendations via private message. Thanks

Slattsy

Yeah sorry Redser7, i should have said that

Sonnenblumen

chopper6 wrote: »

Well if i seek a quote for somebody to come and lay a path i'm asking them how much do they charge to come and lay a path...i dont want the cost of thier website and thier mobile phone bills worked into the final price.

I'm willing to pay for labour+materials...thats it.

My mother was recently quoted 400 to remove some ivy from a wall in her garden and that didnt include taking it away...there's some people taking the piss when it comes to quoting for "work".

You are familiar with business overheads? How a(ny) legitimate business would calculate rates for services? Yes or no?? It's as simple as that.

ProudDUB

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

You are familiar with business overheads? How a(ny) legitimate business would calculate rates for services? Yes or no?? It's as simple as that.

Agreed. How is any business supposed to just break even, never mind make a profit, if they can't cover their overheads? There is a lot more to over heads than just the cost of materials and labour. Any customer who expects to pay for materials and labour and nothing else, is being very unrealistic as to how companies operate.

mad m

Had a landscaper come out to mine recently, got a recommendation on here to get him. He came out, gave us some ideas. He measured up and said we should go online and pick a few pictures of what we would like, etc...water feature, raised beds etc.

That was a month ago, sent him off pictures and got a quote of 340+vat to get a design drawn up and half of that we would get off build if we went with him. So asked him to do plans. Didnt hear back from him so we said he might be busy, so rang him last week and once he heard wifes name he hung up. I said his phone may of went dead so she texted him, heard nothing back since. Assumed he doesnt want job.

We had a budget of 3k (which he knew from day one) but there was movement on this. Garden not that big also.

chopper6

mad m wrote: »

Had a landscaper come out to mine recently, got a recommendation on here to get him. He came out, gave us some ideas. He measured up and said we should go online and pick a few pictures of what we would like, etc...water feature, raised beds etc.

That was a month ago, sent him off pictures and got a quote of 340+vat to get a design drawn up and half of that we would get off build if we went with him. So asked him to do plans. Didnt hear back from him so we said he might be busy, so rang him last week and once he heard wifes name he hung up. I said his phone may of went dead so she texted him, heard nothing back since. Assumed he doesnt want job.

We had a budget of 3k (which he knew from day one) but there was movement on this. Garden not that big also.

Dunno how some of these clowns stay in business.

I agreed a price with a bloke to cut my hedge and after failing to show up three times i just gave up and did it myself.

monkeynuz

chopper6 wrote: »

Well if i seek a quote for somebody to come and lay a path i'm asking them how much do they charge to come and lay a path...i dont want the cost of thier website and thier mobile phone bills worked into the final price.

I'm willing to pay for labour+materials...thats it.

My mother was recently quoted 400 to remove some ivy from a wall in her garden and that didnt include taking it away...there's some people taking the piss when it comes to quoting for "work".

It's called the charge out rate, that any business calculates to then work out an hourly or daily figure that they need to charge to cover over heads and make a profit so that includes hourly cost of diesel, petrol, insurance etc. Or to out it another way work all your costs over a year and divide it by the number of hours you expect to work then divide one by the other then add on what you would like as a wage after all those costs. I know a tree surgeon who calculates €800 per day and he has himself and 2 ground crew to pay as well as vehicle and chainsaws and rigging gear to pay for.

wildlifeboy

2000 for a decent finish on a standard suburban 3 bed semi is in fact reasonable. the people here moaning thats its too expensive dont know what they're talking about.

rje66

prospect wrote: »

Lets see,

Cost of probably a minimum of 2 people for 2 (long) days = 4 days labour
+
Cost of owning, running and maintaining a van and/or trailer and/or truck
+
Cost of owning running and maintaining equipment (consaws, chainsaws, rotovators, minidiggers (hire or owning), cement moxers and so on)
+
Cost of moving and dumping old soil and rubble
+
Cost of materials, plants, sleepers, cobble, pebble, weed membranes, fencing, decorative pieces, top soil.
+
Cost of time sourcing, collecting & delivering those materials
+
Cost of doing design & planning & pricing work
+
Cost of Insurances and permits (permit required to move soil etc)
+
Cost of training and obligatory H&S requirements
+
Cost of running a business, Phones, possibly websites, possibly advertising, Accountants, bank charges, CRO & Revenue charges
+
Profit


It is hardly a handy €2.2K on the contractors arse pocket now, is it?

You forgot rent a yard/shed
Vehicle depreciation. ........

prospect

rje66 wrote: »

You forgot rent a yard/shed
Vehicle depreciation. ........

rje66 wrote: »

You forgot rent a yard/shed
Vehicle depreciation. ........

rje66 wrote: »

You forgot rent a yard/shed
Vehicle depreciation. ........

rje66 wrote: »

You forgot rent a yard/shed
Vehicle depreciation. ........

Well, I'm not going to forget it anymore

Wonda-Boy

Would love to get some work done myself with a newly levelled back garden. Its a total blank canvas that would be perfect for a project with nothing to move or dump.

Where do you start....lol.

redser7

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