Measure the square footage of the area that needs sod. Factor in your cost of sod and soil. Don't forget to get a little bit extra sod.

 

I guess its not complicated. Just like you said. Measure the area to see how much I'll need. Include soil and fertilizers. And include my time and labor. Thats about it then.

How much do you guys mark up your supplies like sod.
I mark up my supplies about 10-15% usually.

 

when ordering sod this is what i do, i hope this helps.

There are 9 square feet in a "yard" of sod, so if you have 3,500 square feet of lawn area to plant you will need to order at least 388 yards of sod. 3,500 / 9 = 388. Many companies only sell sod in units of 50 yards per pallet.
3500 / 9 = 388yards divide by 50 (1pallet) = 7.76 pallets or 8 pallets

Example – 22ft x 15ft= 330ft
330ft divided by 9sqft = 36.666666 or 37yards
So you would need 1 pallet of sod (pallets come in 50yards)

 

We do large jobs for around $3.25 a yard if all the prep work is done, if not it's an extra $1.00 per yard. We pay about 1.25 to 1.50 per yard for sod.

 

A simple way to price it is to figure how much it will cost you and double it. I did my first couple of sod jobs this way. Can't really go wrong. After you figure out the top soil situation, then the rest is just the sod cost and labor. Measure the property and get the the total area (sq. ft.) A pallet of sod here usually covers 500 sq. ft. Check with your local sod company before you bid, and get the actual cost per pallet and the sq. ft. per pallet. Actual cost per pallet depends on the type of grass. Just don't forget to figure in extra money for delivery fees the sod company charges. I usually charge $100/pallet for the labor to lay it (plus cost and delivery.) I may go a little less per pallet if the property needs 18-20 pallets or more. Now that is no grading, just laying sod. Hope this helps some.

 

Thank you all of this helps.

 

We buy sod for anywhere 12.5 cents to 19.5 cents (delivered) a square foot. We charge around 40 to 55 cents to lay the sod. The prep work is usually done or we charge $55 an hour with a min of 2 hrs. It is sold by the square foot here not square yard. Sod companies put 500 sq ft on a pallet and can deliver as much as 10,000 sq ft at one time.

 

new horizon do you charge 40-55 total or plus the cost of the sod?

 

Total. We are higher than most contractors. Most are between 30 and 35.

 

Total. We are higher than most contractors. Most are between 30 and 35.

Oh....I'm glad you clarified that....I thought you meant you charged 40-55 plus the cost of the sod. That would be some major $$$ if that was just labor. So that is close to the same as I charge, like I stated earlier in this thread.

 

A simple way to price it is to figure how much it will cost you and double it.

Does this price include prep work, grading, and sod installation?

 

This is what I got so far:
area to be sodded about 3100sqft on a slight grade
sod is .32 sqft delivered
600 sq ft. on a pallet
they give me the fertililzer free
50lb bag of lime is 9.25 - i need 3

Its a brand new house with another one almost finshed next store. He wants a quote on the whole install. Plants, trees, bark, topsoil, rock, etc. I never had to bid on a brand new house for a developer and its stressing me out. For some reason I'm having a hard time coming up with a bid. Its not a big job. Its actually pretty small. I'd like to get it though. One of my customers recommended me to him. So if I get this one I might get my foot in the door to do some more. I trying to make sure I give him a good bid.

 

Well you should give this one thought because of the prospect of more work. You may want to give him a motivated price. Price out all your mats and figure how much time it will take you to do it. Make sure to leave some fudge factor room in your est. One thing you don't want to do is go to low because he will be wanting that kind of pricing on all his projects. Developers and Property Managers are ones you need to be careful with they can be cheap and some will try to take advantage of a newby. Make sure to have proper doc and a drawn plan. A lot of these guys are looking for a bid they can mark up and make money on.

 

Does this price include prep work, grading, and sod installation?

Just the sod installation. So if the sod cost was $500 I would charge $1000 for the cost and labor to lay only (I didn't double the delivery fee.) I don't really do that now, but when I first started landscaping it worked out well for me. Grading can be a little more difficult to price.

 

I thought that price sounded low at least for the process I do when installing sod. My process is a bit expensive maybe take a look and see if there areas you would streamline.
Process after design. Total kill of anything growing in install area using round up. Top scrape of all dead stuff after kill. Amend soil and till in. I till in amendments because our soil is clay and if you just top soil and grade without mixing it in topsoil breaks down and lawn will become uneven. Grade and roll soil, install sod, water sod well, take half the weight off roller and roll sod to force ground contact with sod.

 

Yeah I'm having a difficult time with this one. I probably should have had it turned in to him by now. I went out there on Monday. I know how to do most of the work. I just having a tough time bidding it.
Its already graded.
What are Mats? gerrits says price all your mats.
I don't have any equipment to scrape off the top layer. I'm only 25. No big equipment yet.
Its overgrown with grass and its all clay. I figured just put topsoil over the top after I kill it and cut it down. About 3-4 inches of top soil. Thats not going to work out for me though? These are some nice houses. lots of masonry work around them. I want to do it right. So I don't have to redo it and can do more work for him. I'll try to put some pics up of it.

 

Oh, he wants you to bid on top soil too? Well, I guess 3100 sq. ft. will not be too bad, but your best bet is to find someone with a dump truck that can bring enough top soil. You could spread it by hand, but that will take forever. If someone has a dump truck and a tractor or bob cat that can spread it for you that will help. You can just do a final rake by hand. Plants will be no huge deal. See what he wants. Try to find someone in your area that will let you have them for wholesale price. If you can get 3 gallon shrubs for $8 charge about $20 (materials and labor per shrub). Don't forget some compost and/or garden soil for the holes, and add extra for that.

Price for just the sod plus delivery and labor to lay it would be about $1600 for me. Maybe this will help some.

 

Yes it does. That what I was figuring. about 1600. The sod costs are about 1000 and i was thinking 650 for install. I've already priced plants but I just priced 1 gal. because its only a total of about 10 plants and the areas they are going are small. Only 2 small beds. There is another house next door already complete with landscaping by the same developer. So I was kind of using that as my example. Its all really easy to do. Like I say just the pricing. But I'm getting it. He's at around $3000 for materials so far. (sod,top soil,bark,plants,bark)
I've always redone peoples landscapes not installed fresh ones.
Its $413 for 20 yards of 3 way topsoil delivered. When I use the top soil calculator. It comes up with 3100sq ft @ 4 inches thick = about 40 yards. Thats alot of dirt to move with no equipment. Its gonna take forever. I'll probably hire two guys if I need to. And Its up a steep driveway.

 

I can't the get pics to post of the area. But I got the sod price figured for laying it.

 

2000 for sod with minimal prep

 

Mats is short for materials. As for will just putting topsoil 3-4 inches work I don't know if it will for you our soil is adobe this crap cracks and can shift quite a bit it will cause cement to crack and lift. If you till the topsoil in it breaks down the adobe and the lawn stays nice for years. If you put topsoil on top of it the lawn will be nice for a while but the adobe under it pits and dips and the lawn becomes uneven.