[fastrunner]

Hi, I need to give a bid by friday on a wall that is 4.5 ft high and 55 feet long.. It is currently a wall with rotted out landscaping timbers and it needs to be replaced.. the wall is straights. i would be using the rockwood classic 6" blocks. they are 18" wide, and 6" high. 56 lbs each. and are $5.88 each block... I need to know how many man hours this might take to construct with backfilling and tearing the old wall out and everything.. I came up with a total of $3980.00 for the job.. Does that sound ok?? $2000.00 for the blocks, 200 for the gravel, 100 for rental equipment like saw and compactor, and about 1600.00 labor.. please let me know what you think..

 

[Grassmechanic]

sounds too cheap.

 

[BRL]

Installing the new wall would be around 7 -8 grand around here. Getting rid of the old wall... Maybe 2-3 grand depending on the variables & equipment used.

 

[GLAN]

Your selling yourself short...............

At absolute minimum add 50% to what you have now for a total figure.

 

[Lombardi]

My labor rate just for the install would be 110% of the material costs.

 

[Mykster]

It may be different in other locations, but don't you need an engineer for anything over 4ft high? Might want to check it out.

 

[AGLA]

Price the wall at least $30/SF and charge time and dump fees for the demo and disposal of the ties. You may find that they are costly to dispose of. Put that in the contract and that any work not described in the contract is an extra.

 

[QuadRacer041]

Originally posted by Grassmechanic
sounds too cheap.

i agree

 

[fastrunner]

well, i redid the bid and kept all material prices the same, except i uped the labor hours.. I started out at 3900 for the bid, and i am now at $5100.00. I proposed the bid to him and i will let you guys know how it went. I kind of want this job as a good learning experience so i bid kinda low on purpose.. I read up on this rockwood system for a good couple nights, and i am pretty confident that i can put it together nicley.. thanks. jeff

 

[GLAN]

Good Luck !!!!

 

[paul]

Who is engineering the wall for you?
Is there any kind of load on this wall?

From my way of seeing it your still too low.

 

[fastrunner]

what do you mean engineering? the wall is about 4 feet high. and it is just retaining this guys lawn. he will be running his tractor over it? Im just going to put it together like the directions say for a 4 foot wall. 6 inch compacted gravel base.. then, compact and backfill after each course completed. let me know what you are thinking.

 

[DUSTYCEDAR]

rr ties are considered hazardous waste in some areas could cost u a fortune to dump check it out

 

[BRL]

In your original post you said the wall was 4.5', and now you say about 4'. All of the SRW's that I have used or researched require that any wall 4' or taller be designed by an engineer to ensure structural integrity. I looked at the Rockwood web site & their specifications are the least stringent that I've seen. Maybe their block is designed in a way that handles the load better than others?
From their site http://www.retainingwall.com/welcome.html :
"Critical retaining walls have at least one of these characteristics: (a) walls that are tall (over 4 feet), (b) walls with greater lateral pressures, (c) walls which have slopes behind them, (d) walls with surcharge loads, and (e) walls in critical locations or which have other design requirements...

A licensed engineer should be consulted when constructing critical walls requiring geogrid. "

The SRW manufacturers that I'm familiar with "require" that walls 4' or above be designed by an engineer.

Just saw this on their site, so my guess about their design was probably right:
"ROCKWOOD Retaining Walls prevent hydrostatic buildup behind the retaining wall by permitting water drainage. "

So maybe that wall won't fall over when the homeowner runs his lawnmower near the edge during a wet spring??

 

[mountain air]

ohh man dont do it for that cheep. i wood charge out the demo at cost plus. and the wall i wouldnt touch for unger 5500 and thats cheep.

 

[Mark Koenig]

It's already Friday so you probably bid by now...but it does seem like you came in a K or two low, that may not be bad if you get some experience or leverage more work from it...that kind of thing. If this is one of your first block walls, it just sounded like it may be..., ask the block distributer to help you with the geo-grid piece so you'll be certain you're ok since youy are over that 4 foot in height margin, and don't forget the drainage ...lot's of guys skimp on that.

 

[stxkyboy]

An engineer is definitly not required for a 4' or 5' wall. We have done 12' wall with double sets of geogrid fabric........as long as the base is solid and level precaste walls are pretty straight forward.

 

[paul]

And you have a structural engineering degree? You know all about shear and rotation and can figure load stress. Plus you have errors and omissions insurance.

 

[stxkyboy]

ummmmm no.....................but the walll is standing perfectly 7 yrs later retaining about 5000+ cubic yrds of dirt

 

[paul]

And YOU built it when you where 11 years old......................