New Lawn Installation

[qualitylandscaping]

Got a call from one of my commercial clients last week. The owners now want to renovate a 410'x450' parcel in the back of their office into lawn.

This is a fairly decent size job for us, and I'm not quite sure how to bid it. The weeds in the field are about 3-4' tall. I'm assuming it will need to be bush hogged, then tilled, then rockhounded?


Since its just over 4 acres, trucking in topsoil is not a costly option. Although, the existing soil is not the greatest.

Any ideas on price and what your method would be to tackle this thing.. It seems like it will take a while to do!

[qualitylandscaping]

Don't all speak up at once guys

Come on somebody has done a job like this before...

[bondman35a]

Bring in a Plow and a disc and then use a harley rake to finish it off. That is assuming you use a tractor and not a skid steer. Sounds like it is going to big money by the size of it.

[qualitylandscaping]

I'm in the $26,000 range right now, but want a few more opinions on exactly what should be done.. Altough I do have a pretty good idea what I want to do..

Just asking for a few more prof. opinions...

Thanks

[bondman35a]

What do you want to do

[dcpete]

Labor charge by the hour, hauling and dump fee.. 1.00 per sq ft to install sod is about what we would charge.

[impactlandscaping]

No way is someone going to pay over 185K to sod a 4+ acre lot...Steve, you need to factor in everything from the prep through the finish / followup. If the lot is over grown to 3-4', I would clear cut everything first ( burn on site if allowed), then follow up with a non-selective herbicide(after all the debris is raked off). Check the pH to make sure a lawn will survive in the soil in it's current state, if not, factor in all amendments as well as soil treatments. Then, I'd use a york rake over the lot, followed by the harley rake to finish prep and final regrade as needed. Get a reliable, quality minded hydroseed contractor to come in and do your seeding for you. www.hydroseedingexperts.com will point you in the right direction. Depending on the seed type, and lawn quality desired, expect around 7.5-10K for seeding(or higher in the NY market ,possibly) Sounds like a decent job to me...keep us posted

[qualitylandscaping]

No way is someone going to pay over 185K to sod a 4+ acre lot...Steve, you need to factor in everything from the prep through the finish / followup. If the lot is over grown to 3-4', I would clear cut everything first ( burn on site if allowed), then follow up with a non-selective herbicide(after all the debris is raked off). Check the pH to make sure a lawn will survive in the soil in it's current state, if not, factor in all amendments as well as soil treatments. Then, I'd use a york rake over the lot, followed by the harley rake to finish prep and final regrade as needed. Get a reliable, quality minded hydroseed contractor to come in and do your seeding for you. www.hydroseedingexperts.com will point you in the right direction. Depending on the seed type, and lawn quality desired, expect around 7.5-10K for seeding(or higher in the NY market ,possibly) Sounds like a decent job to me...keep us posted

Impact,

Sounds like exactly what I quoted..

1) Brush Hog Entire Lot now
2) Spray Lot with Weed Killer (sub to Lawn Doctor) Round-Up
3) York Rake/ Tiller
4) Harley Rake/ Rock Hound
5) Hydroseed

Will hopefully be hydroseeded and complete by September 15th.. Want to wait until seed has a better chance to grow. Too hot now!

Quoted $26,500.00.... I'll let you know how it goes

[NNJLandman]

why sub any of your work out, you cant send a couple of guys around with back pack sprayers with weed killer to kill all the weeds n what not off?

Jeff

[impactlandscaping]

How long do you think it would take 2 guys with 3-4 gallon backpacks to mix and spray 577 gallons of solution ? That's why everyone has their area of expertise, Jeff. Let the right people with the right equipment/licenses/permits do what they do best. Make your margins,make money on another job while the subs work for you, come in and do what you need to do, and everyone is happy..and hopefully profits nicely from it.. :D

[qualitylandscaping]

How long do you think it would take 2 guys with 3-4 gallon backpacks to mix and spray 577 gallons of solution ? That's why everyone has their area of expertise, Jeff. Let the right people with the right equipment/licenses/permits do what they do best. Make your margins,make money on another job while the subs work for you, come in and do what you need to do, and everyone is happy..and hopefully profits nicely from it.. :D

Thats right.. I sub-contracted the spraying to Lawn Doctor because we don't have a business spray license.. I have employees with individual certifications, but have not registered the "business".

I'm charging $1,550 for the spraying.. Lawn Doctor is charging $695 + tax.. I usually throw him alittle extra b/c they do great work and always get my work finished on time or ahead..

[turfcobob]

Here in Nebraska we would plant it to native grass and let the cows eat it!

Give it the ole Pete Dye approach...

Sell then on the idea of the native look...Plant it to tall fescue, even ole K-31 and let it grow to full height and blow in the wind. We have alot of office areas that do that around here for the "Natural Look"...That way prep is zilch.

[sidebuz]

I have to agree, sell the "Native" look to them. Who wants to pay to have four acres of lawn kept up? Especially on the backside of a building? But you are on the right track in attacking this monster. Bush hog, spraying it, etc.

I have just one question for impactlandscaping, how in the world did you come up with 577 gallons of water to be sprayed with R-Up!?! Or did I misread something. I could spray that four acres with 40-45 gallons of water and the correct rate of R-UP and have a good kill!

[qualitylandscaping]

The owner of the the company and several of the employees are big golf fanatics.. They want a "driving range" of sorts to be able to go out and hit on lunch break.. Also say they will put in a volleyball court at some point in time..

They want it to be a leisure area for employees and the owners basically.

[impactlandscaping]

Sidebuz-I was going at a 2% solution of 41% active, with two applications. I don't know what you can even legally apply in NY. It really isn't going to do much anyway, because after the ground is broken and turned over, there are going to be billions of dormant weed seeds emerging. The spray is a compulsory in all its' effectiveness. And as far as differing application rates, I know it could be sprayed with a 6% solution using an atomized sprayer setup with under 75 gallons, but the actual amount of live product delivered depends on differing factors like delivery system, height of weeds being treated, temperature, etc..I was only making an observation :D

[Pro-Scapes]

man i wouldnt wanna spray all that with backpacks. Your right subbing it out if your not equiped. I got a 3 point 10 ft boom sprayer i could knock that out quick with but at your profit I may even sub it out.

Your plan sounds right. We do some like that for new contruction.

[BSDeality]

i wouldnt even bother roundup'ing. like Impact said, there are going to be billions of seeds popping up to the surface when you disc/rototil it. but hell, if you're going to make $1100 on a phone call, go for it, it ain't your money.

[all ferris]

I think you are way overpriced. The seed and fert would only cost about $2000 (lesco transitions blend and lesco starter fert).

$2000 (max for seed and fert)
$200 for selective herbicide
$1500 - $2000 to rent the equipment needed to do the job for a week.
$600 for straw
So $4000-$5000 costs. That leaves $21000 for labor :dizzy:

If you get the job call me and I'll do it for $10000 if you supply the materials.

Unless the conditions are extreem this job should only take a few days.

[fcl01]

for about 18,500, (if no soil ammendments are needed) ill bring materials and equip. from ohio and knock that out in a week. including drive time. im in the wrong area! around here, you couldnt get more than 3k an acre for a field like that. ;) did a smaller one early this year, about 2 ac. same basic job, and was lucky to get 6k for it. took 2 guys two days.

good luck
Dan

[Pro-Scapes]

for about 18,500, (if no soil ammendments are needed) ill bring materials and equip. from ohio and knock that out in a week. including drive time. im in the wrong area! around here, you couldnt get more than 3k an acre for a field like that. ;) did a smaller one early this year, about 2 ac. same basic job, and was lucky to get 6k for it. took 2 guys two days.

good luck
Dan

bout the same here but it sounds like the owner is wanting it nice for the golf area. I couldnt get near what he is getting here... 4 acres would get me about 10-12 k max maybe 15 with material. Just depends on how bad the land is. 5 ft tiller would make short work of that tho but I wouldnt touch it without a healthy dose of killzall 1st cut and spray this week then start on it in 10 days or so.

[lawnkid]

I hope you guys are not serious about strawing that whole field. That would be a disaster and it would come up like S***. Hydroseeding is most likely the best method of doing such a large pice of property and having it actually come in full and thick not like seeding and strawing. It would turn out like the ledian strips along the highways. Full of weeds and very patchy. Charge extra and get the job done right the first time hydroseeding. I would personally waiit for a week of rain so it gets real moist. Good luck.

[fcl01]

I hope you guys are not serious about strawing that whole field. That would be a disaster and it would come up like S***. Hydroseeding is most likely the best method of doing such a large pice of property and having it actually come in full and thick not like seeding and strawing. It would turn out like the ledian strips along the highways. Full of weeds and very patchy. Charge extra and get the job done right the first time hydroseeding. I would personally waiit for a week of rain so it gets real moist. Good luck.


:dizzy: you are absolutely right. seed and straw could never produce a thick plush lawn. i dont know what we were thinking. im just glad a seasoned veteran of the industry like yourself could set me straight before i use seed and straw on another thousand or so properties.

[lawnkid]

Wow 6 years makes you a veteran too I'm guessing. :rolleyes: The company I do work with has been in business over 15 years and we do a lot of government work including landfills, schools and other large multi-acre properties as well as high-end residential dwellings. I love driving by properties that have been just strawed and come back a month later and see the same contractor there again because the customer is not satisfied with the bare patches covering their whole lawn. The only time I have seen that a hydroseeded lawn has not popped is because the lawn had not been properly watered and or in the summer months once in a while you will get some bare spots due to plithium, but usually not bigger than the hood of your car and can easily be repaired. If handseeding and strawing was such an effective way of establishing new grass, then why is hydroseeding on the rise even though it is more expensive. Every new neighborhood I drive through, everyone seems to have hydroseeding done or sod laid. We stand behind all of our work and guarantee for up to a year that the seeds will pop and your lawn will come in thick and beautiful. After that it is the responsibility of the homeowner or property manager to either maintain or hire a profeesional who is able to maintain the new lawn. I actually have a few pictures of lawns that we installed next to ones that have been strawed and the result is like apples to oranges.This is just my opinion and I'm sure we could go on for hours arguing but I think most guys would agree that they prefer hydroseeding over seeding by hand any day because of it's simplicity, versatility,and excellent results. If you would like to take a look at some of our work that Jason, Rick, and I have done, visit www.absolutegrass.com and see some of our work.

[DUSTYCEDAR]

i have done seeding for years and i have gotten great results with seed and various mulch covers that being said
if it was my job
i would just clear it do any gradeing aerate the daylights out of it and seed heavy with a light topping of straw
it would also say in the contract no water===no grass
i have run hydorseeders and they r nice and costly to have and the lawn can fail just the same without water

[start2finish]

I personally like to blow straw (60 bales/acre) and use 500lb# wood fiber with tack to coat my straw. The best of both worlds in my opinion. :blob3: