Bids

[tadpole]

Originally Posted by DVS Hardscaper

Thanks for the reply! The correct term is "topic creator", as "original poster" refers to folks that posted back in the old daya when the forum was new. Derived from "original settlers".
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And you know this because.......

[Agape]

Lol
i think you are both correct but i did select: "create a new POST"

[DEPENDABLE LANDSCAPING]

All ferris and agape,
Your right. To answer the question i never will give a price on a project while initially viewing a job.
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[AztlanLC]

There is only few exception where I won't give an "estimate" on site I have prices for anything that I need in my ipad, I have excel worksheets that I can input the area for the project (retaining walls, patios, pool decks, etc.) answer few question and it would tell me all the amount of materials I need for such a project, including edge restrain, pool coping, geotxtile, etc. with labor for every task.
Why I do it? It's my business and only me knows my capabilities and limitations I know if I leave not giving out my printed or emailed estimate once I get to my office procastination will impede me to provide it.

[DVS Hardscaper]

Originally Posted by Agape

Lol
i think you are both correct but i did select: "create a new POST"

Hence - "topic creator"


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[DVS Hardscaper]

As far as giving on the spot pricing, there is no one answer.

XL spreadsheet or not, doesn't matter. With a laptop in your car or truck you can easily do a price in the driveway. That is for small simple jobs like a 17x24 patio. Scenarios like this is exactly why i have over 8 years of creating a super detailed job costing system.

For jobs that involve engineering, planning, designing, etc - then naturally you can't price it on the fly.

I think my comment here is the best comment yet. Welp,
We're off to the track on this awesome beautiful day to try out our brand new 65!

.
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[lukemelo216]

I agree with DVS on this. Certainly for a simple little project you could price on the spot, but I never do. I will give them a ball park range since I know what our price per square foot on our most common pavers are, however; that price is never the same. When I bid pavers and landscaping, I never use unit numbers. Its always bid per job.

Example, we did a 200SF walkway for a customer where everything could be accessed with our skid to bring materials etc. I was able to install that walkway for a hair under $15/SF with hollandstone. A week later I went and bid a patio extension using hollandstone where all the materials needed to be brought down by hand, no machine access what so ever. That one was closer to about $22/SF becasue of that. So certainly I will give a price range to a customer on the spot, generally its always about 1500-2000 higher and see how they react.

And I think its probably easier to say having more like 150-200k on a hardscaping job in equipment

Truck-50k
Trailer-7k
Skid Steer-60k
Saws-1k
Dump Truck and Trailer to move equipment/material 75-100k