Stone side walk and more....

[diywill]

Hello.... I'm new here and this is first post. I am a homeowner who has always done most of his own remodeling including major stuff. I decided it is time to update the look of the front of my 100 year old house. I have no interest in doing this project myself so I had a landscape guy that had done work for a friend come out to work up a design and price. Since I usually do things myself I am not accustom to seeing proposals and price quotes that others have done and don't no how detailed and specific they should be. I basically have two questions, What kind of things should I look for in both the contract and the work to make sure this is a quality job and is the price quote of $ 10,000. in the ball park for the amount of work described below?

Scope of the work includes digging out about 6 large evergreen bushes and 45 feet of old sidewalk. Grading the slope of the yard and trimming some roots of a large sweet gum tree. Building a flag stone over concrete sidewalk averaging 5 feet wide and 30 feet long that curves with 3 large solid stone steps and about 2 by 20 feet of flag stone flat area with about a 2 foot to ground level dry stacked wall. About 20 feet of walkway of large flat stones over grass and then planting 11 boxwoods, 25 assorted thing like hastas and a 5-6 foot dogwood tree....... this is in the midwest.

Thank you for any help and advice.

[tthomass]

In my area, DC metro, that would be cheap.

Questions:
-How thick is the concrete? Fiber......I suggest fiber, its $10 more per yard and cheap insurance.
-Ask about the stone.....I see a lot of patios etc where people just grab whats on a pallet adn its got busted corners, rough edges, ridges and impressions.
-Warranty?........1yr is typical on plants but as I do it, does not warrant against a lack of care including watering, disease and insects.
-Seed or sod the graded area?
-Ask for watering instructions.
-What size and variety plants? Are the boxwoods American and overtake the area in a few years or smaller varieties?
-Will the masonry work be acid washed?

How was his work at your friends? Do they have anything to say?

It may sound like I'm tearing this guy apart but I'm not, this is very generic info. Also, deposit is typically 50% and 50% upon completion.

[diywill]

Thank you.... These are just the kind of questions I'll looking for because I would have never known to ask... Please keep them coming... ... Again Thank you TT.

[tthomass]

If you want the plants to stand out more get a black dyed mulch. Its not harmful, its a food grade dye but really makes things look nice. With regular mulch, you can't tell you did anything because in a month its gray and blah. They also have brown.

*Please don't do red ;)