Boundary Wall Cost - is this ok?

wowy

Neighbouring property is putting in a 1.8m boundary wall (cavity block) to the rear garden as part of their extension works. Currently there is a party wall approx 7m, and thereafter approx another 23m of leylandi.

This is the quote that the builder's QS sent me this morning; it seems quite high to me for 50% of a 30m boundary wall?

Total
Preliminaries €170.69

Remove trees & shrubs 23 m €40 €920.00
Excavate foundations 9 m3 16 €144.00
Cart away excavated material 9 m3 38 €342.00
Concrete to foundations 4.5 m3 118 €531.00
Reinforcement to foundations 15 m2 9.75 €146.25
215mm Block Work walls 52.5 m2 45 €2,362.50
Back fill to excavation 5 m3 45 €225.00
Temporary Screen 30 m 15 €450.00
Precast Capping 25 m 22.75 €568.75

Subtotal €5,690
Less 50% Cont from neighbour -€2,845

Sub-Total (ex-Vat) €2,844.75
€3,015.44

Overheads & profit 5.00% €150.77

€3,166.21
VAT 13.50% €427.44
€3,593.65

Gumbo

I priced getting a boundary wall done last year from a builder mate. Roughly 10.5m in length. About 2m high give or take. €1100.

Do you want the boundary wall?
Its a lot to hand over if you don't want the wall, although it would be much better.

wowy

Was that €1100 for each neighbour or €1100 for the full wall?

I want the wall, but I'm stuck with these lads doing it, so I just want to make sure I'm not being taken advantage of (given that they know that I can't get alternate quotes).

Gumbo

wowy wrote: »

Was that €1100 for each neighbour or €1100 for the full wall?

I want the wall, but I'm stuck with these lads doing it, so I just want to make sure I'm not being taken advantage of (given that they know that I can't get alternate quotes).

€1100 total, i was the one paying for it.
I should ad that it was in Dublin, so Dublin prices apply.

KenjiOdo

wowy wrote: »

Neighbouring property is putting in a 1.8m boundary wall (cavity block) to the rear garden as part of their extension works. Currently there is a party wall approx 7m, and thereafter approx another 23m of leylandi.

This is the quote that the builder's QS sent me this morning; it seems quite high to me for 50% of a 30m boundary wall?

Total
Preliminaries €170.69

Remove trees & shrubs 23 m €40 €920.00
Excavate foundations 9 m3 16 €144.00
Cart away excavated material 9 m3 38 €342.00
Concrete to foundations 4.5 m3 118 €531.00
Reinforcement to foundations 15 m2 9.75 €146.25
215mm Block Work walls 52.5 m2 45 €2,362.50
Back fill to excavation 5 m3 45 €225.00
Temporary Screen 30 m 15 €450.00
Precast Capping 25 m 22.75 €568.75

Subtotal €5,690
Less 50% Cont from neighbour -€2,845

Sub-Total (ex-Vat) €2,844.75
€3,015.44

Overheads & profit 5.00% €150.77

€3,166.21
VAT 13.50% €427.44
€3,593.65

Removal of trees/shrubs seem exorbitantly high (1 wks work for 2?). I'd also scrap the screening & capping if possible. Is there any way you can disagree with costs/company assigned to this? seems like your over a barrel?

If did some of the site prep yourself.. and declined on screening & capping you could save well over €1k

kieran.

Those prices are all reasonable realistic prices IMO except for the prep work

"Remove trees & shrubs + Excavate foundations+Cart away excavated material" should be about Half; basically €45 per hour for the digger + €30 per hour for the "Cart" x 8-10 hours plus say €100 for disposal.

I would expect the neighbour to absorb the full extent of the prelim's as its part of their larger project and would also question the need for a temporary screen @ €450

On final point if the wall is 30 metres you "MAY" need several piers + expansion joints it would worry me not to see these priced.

screamer

Was your builder mate doing that in as a nixer at that price I would guess so and in that case its not a like for like comparison. OP if that company has a qs then they have overheads that someone on a nixer doesn't. Also you should check into the home improvement grants if your contractor is vat registered then you might be able to avail of it.

Gumbo

screamer wrote: »

Was your builder mate doing that in as a nixer at that price I would guess so and in that case its not a like for like comparison. OP if that company has a qs then they have overheads that someone on a nixer doesn't. Also you should check into the home improvement grants if your contractor is vat registered then you might be able to avail of it.

As the original post states, it was a friends price through the books / His Registered Building Company.

I could offset the costs against my tax return as its a rental property.

wowy

KenjiOdo wrote: »

Removal of trees/shrubs seem exorbitantly high (1 wks work for 2?). I'd also scrap the screening & capping if possible. Is there any way you can disagree with costs/company assigned to this? seems like your over a barrel?

If did some of the site prep yourself.. and declined on screening & capping you could save well over €1k

kieran. wrote: »

Those prices are all reasonable realistic prices IMO except for the prep work

"Remove trees & shrubs + Excavate foundations+Cart away excavated material" should be about Half; basically €45 per hour for the digger + €30 per hour for the "Cart" x 8-10 hours plus say €100 for disposal.

I would expect the neighbour to absorb the full extent of the prelim's as its part of their larger project and would also question the need for a temporary screen @ €450

On final point if the wall is 30 metres you "MAY" need several piers + expansion joints it would worry me not to see these priced.

They're proposing using cavity blocks for the boundary wall, hence the requirement for capping, and also the absence of piers.

Yeah, I definitely thought that removal of trees/shrubs was high, especially as the foreman told me in passing that they can dispose of the trees cheaply....(I obviously didn't ask for details; ignorance is bliss....)

Yes, I felt preliminaries and profit should not be carried by me, as they should fall on the neighbour who's actually doing the main job. I didn't ask for screening, and it's an insurance thing for the builder to keep people out of the site, so I don't think I should have to cover those costs.

I'm very much over a barrel as they're already on-site. It's a messy situation as the house was vacant with no way of contacting owner, and both architect and main contractor are evasive, so I can only deal with foreman on the ground....

Gumbo

I'd tell him you haven't got the money to do the wall so your gona leave it for now. See if the other side come up with a more cost effective solution.

This a civil and legal matter, so you should be dealing with the owner directly.