I have started a part-time lawn/landscape business, I have the weekly mowing bids down, anybody have good advice as to where to find information on landscape estimates/bids,...... a wedsite, book, formula?? that would include Block walls, new irragation, planting shrubbs, tree's, sod, wood chips. rocks .........etc. I know this is a very broad question?? any advice will be greatly appreciated Jeffrey.cordes@wdpi.com
Best advice I can give is to search this forum (and the maintenance and renovation forum). There is NO set "way" to figure estimates. Everyone does it differently. In basic terms, you need to figure what your materials will be, how long it will take, what equipment you will need. Then add your markup to materials, make sure your labor rate is high enough to cover overhead, don't forget about tax, and add in enough to make a decent profit. Ask a vague question, get a vague (but hopefully helpful!) answer. Do some searches though. I would advise you to learn about the methods, rather than the set dollar amounts. If you use the set dollar amounts, use them only as a guideline or starting point. REMEMBER- NO ONE has the same overhead as you do! Dan
a good rate is take the cost of materials, and that will be the cost of labor as well. so 2 x cost is final price.
