Patio Job

[Uprising74]

Need help in estimating what to charge for a patio job, i live in the central new jersey area. Customer is providing the pavers. I will provide stone and sand. Its a total of 1600 square foot to be paved. He is using tumlbed pavers that measure 3 different sizes which are 1'x1', 4"x8", and 4"x4". Its a 75ft long x
21ft wide patio in back of his house. If you need additional info i will gladly provide it. Need help as early as possible. thanks.

[DJJS]

What's your materials cost? How many guys are going to be on the job and how much expierence do you have with pavers? Who handles the permit? It's hard to answer without knowing any of this.

[Uprising74]

Ok, the thing is that this was going to be a do it yourself but i guess he realized the amount of ork was going to be overwhelming for him. All he is asking is for, is for me to get the stone dust and dirt stone priced at $27.00 each per ton. I will use my trailer to deliver it and will charge $50.00 for delivery (for every 2tons). Man power will involve me my two helpers and him. He will be running a gas line for a bbq pit and an electrical line for a light post. He is taking care of all permits that are required for the job. He has some knowledge about the job too, all he is asking from me is to give some assistance in the hard labor and to input some landscape design ideas. I am thinking i will just charge by hour ($30.00 per man)
maybe this will be easier for both of us. I have never been involved in something like this, so i was thinking of just quoting a price, and do the whole job for him so he doesn't have to be involved. He has already bought 20 pallets of the pavers. I know this might be a strange situation, and would appreciate some advice too. thanks

[MarkintheGarden]

Yes, it sounds strange, but no reason this cannot go well for both of you.
The site condition as it is now, and all the details about it, are what would be needed to estimate a job like this.

If you had done this kind of work before, then I doubt that you would be asking these questions. If the worksite is ideal for the proposed construction, then I estimate that a skilled paver installer would require approximately forty man hours labor to complete the pavers only. The other things such as utility lines, steps, lights, etc, would require more time.

If you have any aptitude for this kind of construction work, but not experience, then I think you are looking at about sixty man hours labor.

Unless you really have a good gut feeling about this, then maybe you should pass. There are many potential problems, when coordinating work with other contractors, when trying to coordinate work with customers, it can be much worse. On the other hand it can go great, and you might have a new friend and long term customer.

[Uprising74]

Thanks marksinthegarden, i will look forward to the task with a whole new outlook. I might have found a new long term client.