Lawn Ren Question

[GreenerSideLC]

I have a customer that wants me to seed an area 10500 sqft. Im not sure if my price is in the ball park let me know.
Using my JRCO thatching rake it should only take about 3 hrs to do everything
the area is mostly dirt very few rocks. I ll scratch up the area apply seed, fert and mulch
3hrs @ $45/hr =$135
seed @ 8lbs per 1000 = $147
starter fert. = $67
starter mulch 50 lb bags=$ 290
TOTAL =$639 I make an extra $60 on the materials

Note: this customer is looking to just get something growing as they plan to sell the house in the near future.

Any comment would be helpful

[echovalley]

I have a customer that wants me to seed an area 10500 sqft. Im not sure if my price is in the ball park let me know.
Using my JRCO thatching rake it should only take about 3 hrs to do everything
the area is mostly dirt very few rocks. I ll scratch up the area apply seed, fert and mulch
3hrs @ $45/hr =$135
seed @ 8lbs per 1000 = $147
starter fert. = $67
starter mulch 50 lb bags=$ 290
TOTAL =$639 I make an extra $60 on the materials

Note: this customer is looking to just get something growing as they plan to sell the house in the near future.

Any comment would be helpful
I look at things different then others.You are making $135 for the day[that sucks]even though it is only taking you about 1/2 a day to do the job.If you don't have another job lined up that day you only worked 1/2 a day.Correct me if im wrong but your basically installing a 1/4 acre lawn for $639 bucks[please stay out in eastern CT,don't come my way LOL]If you don't have anything lined up for the rest of the day your looking at grossing $16.87 per hr[8hr day]

[MJM landscaping]

I would be at least $.10/sq ft. That would be no grading at all. Seed/fert/mulch.

[GreenerSideLC]

thanks for the replies. I primarily do maintenance: mow, clean-ups. fertilizing, etc etc. Im trying to get this pricing stuff down. I would actually be making $195 for 3hrs I dont give my customers my discounts for supplies so I would make a little money there. As far as it being my only job in a day, not likely. I ll schedule more work in on that day to keep me busy. Id rather take the day off then get all my equipment ready for a 3hr day. Hey echovalley since your in CT rouighly what would you charge. I want my prices competitive not Low-ball

[indysoccer16]

at least you are smart enough to say you want your prices to be competitive and not low ball. Where I am at there are a couple companies with new sales people who are whoreing the price down. sorry for the language but thats the best way to describe it. They are beyond low balling, we bidded out two jobs and they were 60% cheaper than we were. For us to the job at the price they gave them we would be making literlaly no money at all. Might even lose when insurance and everything figured in. But every job that we lose we usually have back within 3 months. We dont do residential either, just estate homes, and commerical mowing.

[steve in Pa.]

Thats some cheap seeding indy!!!!:cry: Do you want to do any subbing for me in Pa. I would get anywhere from 2000.00 -3000.00 that would include prep, seed, fert, and straw.

[GreenerSideLC]

Steve what does you prep include? are you using a tractor w/ a power rake?
cause if you get $2000-3000 for 10k then Im gettin myself a tractor :drinkup:

[steve in Pa.]

skid steer with rockhound, fine raking, if they would need topsoil that would be extra. There isn't alot of competition in this area for lawn installs, nobody likes to do it so we can get a higher price, I usually figure .10 sq ft. to prep, 15-.20 to seed.

[ga250]

Down South we average a dime for prep and 6-8 cents for seeding. The average size lots down here are 8-10k sqft. I hydro-seed and make great profit with it.

[RockSet N' Grade]

I look at every job as though it is going to be my only job for the day and have a set minimum for that. Most times I schedual 2 small jobs for one day, my buddy, Murphy's law, comes to visit. Where I have been hurt in the past, is thinking small jobs have the smaller prices.......I have changed my thinking and now approach them and charge more than I would a larger job.
If the client moans, that's ok......build a reputation built on quality and service and clients that are bottom feeders with all the "poor me" stories in the world will shed away.....and you will still be in business! "Grinders" are always out there, but isn't it interesting that these folks will flip the house and make solid bank no matter what your price may be? Sell your jobs on quality and service with price being the secondary issue......it works in the long run!

[CutRight]

I just sent a customer an estimate two days ago for a roughly 10,000sf lawn renovation. I'm bringing in 6 yards of topsoil to fill in some low spots and to mix into the soil in some areas. then seeding, start fert, and straw.

6 yds topsoil $16/yd + 100% markup $216
seed (good stuff, landscapers mix) $83.75
17 straw bales 8.75/bale $148.75
Renovation .15/sf 9900 sq ft. $1485.00
Sales Tax $116.01
Total $2049.51

just an example for you.
I did the numbers from memory, but thats just about right on. just an example for you, i did not include the starting fertilizer because hes got a dog and small children so im going to avoid fertilzers for his sake. the grass will still come up fine.

[CutRight]

i forgot to mention there is hardly anything there for lawn, it is mostly just dirt from his kid ripping it up with a quad, they had just moved in and were in process of cleaning the place up. so there is not much work for prep besides raking it out with the tractor and leveling it out.

[GreenerSideLC]

Thanks for all the help . Ive adjusted my prices to $70 per 1000 after looking over the numbers. Cutright how much are you paying for seed? I get my at Lesco and theres no way I could get seed for that cheap. are you applying 8lbs per 1000?

[chriscraft]

I just sent a customer an estimate two days ago for a roughly 10,000sf lawn renovation. I'm bringing in 6 yards of topsoil to fill in some low spots and to mix into the soil in some areas. then seeding, start fert, and straw.

6 yds topsoil $16/yd + 100% markup $216
seed (good stuff, landscapers mix) $83.75
17 straw bales 8.75/bale $148.75
Renovation .15/sf 9900 sq ft. $1485.00
Sales Tax $116.01
Total $2049.51

just an example for you.
I did the numbers from memory, but thats just about right on. just an example for you, i did not include the starting fertilizer because hes got a dog and small children so im going to avoid fertilzers for his sake. the grass will still come up fine.
Landscapers mix is generally really bad, check the ingredients , you might be surprised at the noxious weed seeds, crop seeds, and inert matter, not to mention 20% is probabally annual rye

[CutRight]

its a mix i get from a supplier in Watertown, CT. Planter's Choice, LLC.

i dont know too much about grass species, im currently in school for it so im looking to learn. but this is the mixture
Landscapers Mix 40% creeping red fescue, 20% annual rye, 25% aquerus perrenial rye, 15% kentucky blue
and this 50 lb bag is supposed to cover 12,500 sf, i usually only apply it to 10,000 sf., i havent gotten any input from others, but its what i have success with growing lawns in my area.
how does that look for quality? i just assumed it was better than their contractors mix which is mostly annuals and much cheaper in price. they have other more expensive mixes that im sure are better.

I have bought seed and fertilizers from lesco before, but Planters' Choice is a lot better to deal with, closer to my house, and definatly cheaper on their prices. they mix their own seeds and fertilizers, and they obviously grow all their own nursery stock.

[chriscraft]

well if you plant 80 lbs of seed , 16lbs is annual rye, so 20% of the new growth will be dead next year, because annual rye is just that an annual , it lives for 1 season. as for the red fescue it will do well in the shade, and the perennial rye and the blue do well in the sun. You really need to know the conditions sun shade to dictate the mix you are going to use. But very important is to read the fine print on the bottom of the cert sheet, specifically the % of crop seed , inert matter and noxious weed seeds. post back with those % also. there should be 0% crop seed, 0% noxious weed seeds and maybe 1-2% inert matter (dust). Some seeds have up to 1% crop seed (corn , barley , alfalfa etc. 1% means 1 lb of crops seeds per 100 lb of seed lol thats a lot of corn groin in his yard so check the cert sheet 1st. you can always custom mix the seed, and actually making the consumer aware of this will make you highly respected by him. He will be sure you are trying to give him the best quality lawn. We have been using custom blends for years. It takes a little more time to apply but well worth it.

[CutRight]

yea i understand all that basic stuff. (annuals, sun, shade) iv installed plenty of lawns with this blend and havent had any problems. but ill look into some other mixes. I trust the blends that this company makes, its a smaller local company and i deal with the owner and a few other employees so i trust their products. but ill look into it.

i got those percentages out of their catalogue and thats all that is posted for this blend.

this lawn gets about an even mix of sun and shade so i figure a mix of the fescue and ryes and blues will also do alright. i dont know about the crop mixtures, ill have to look into it.

and correct me if im wrong but my perception of having annual ryes in the mix was for their quick germination for a quick lawn establishment while all the other species germinated, and once it died after the winter the other grasses would take over. is that any way true. thats just my own extrapolation of the situation. but i could be completely wrong.

[Runner]

Without any grading or leveling, we get $70 per 100 sq. ft. This is renovation price like for slitseeding. It applies to doing it with the JRCO rake also, though.

[GreenerSideLC]

Runner thats my plans to use the JRCO rake to rough up the area and create some kind of workable seed bed. I dont have a tractor so I really cant charge for it. Do any of you use the Seed starter mulch or pennmulch? what do ya think of it?

[chriscraft]

We use organic compost and a turfco topdresser if the customer can afford it . But that rund 75.00 extra per 1000