Price check please.

Feb 24, 2013 25 Replies

Me and my builder mate have just priced up a job. Currently it is a bare shell, a single pipe of cold water coming into the house. To be supplied and fitted: a very basic kitchen, comprising sink, 2 units and 3 metre worktop, outlet for washing machine. Upstairs, there is no bathroom, so a bedroom is being divided up with a stud wall, a shower, bog and sink being fitted. No holes in walls, so sewer pipe has to go through walls etc. and water supply taken up through floor. Rewire. Currently just 4 sockets in the house. Dead easy job, 3 rooms upstairs, 2 down, nothing fancy included, just supplies for 2 storage heaters, shower, and instant water heater in kitchen and bathroom, and 8 or so socket outlets.



We've worked it out, and can do it in 10 man days pretty easily.



Total inc. supplying everything above - £3350.



That is too much apparently.



I thought it was incredibly cheap. We were budgeting on £150/day each, and put 5.5 days down.



Any thoughts?


Tell them that is your best price, and the quote is good for 30 days, and then walk away...

They will be working on the basis that no matter what the price you can always take a bit more off...Dont budge, thats a very good price. Give them the 30 days good, I doubt if they will better that.

Indeed, and if someone is prepared to do it for less, then let them - sounds like they probably deserve each other!

Honestly, that's far too cheap. If I were you I'd pray they don't change their minds. Your contingency allowance is obviously £0. Just a few snags and you'll be working for nowt.

Bill

Someone we know has just had their drive which was gravel redone into paving blocks. Around 40 M2 in all. Cost just over 4K and it was 4 days work inc material and plant hire and skip 2 blokes doing the job.

Does anyone think that was a rip off or a bargain?..

Absolutely. Hell, are you anywhere near Gloucestershire?

:-)

In message , tony sayer writes

If it is still good in 5 years time then I would err on the side of bargain.

>

+1. It's a job which is hugely dependent on how well it's been done - you could have two brand-new identical-looking drives side by side, each looking fab; but a few years (months?) down the line, the one which has 9" too little hardcore underneath and wasn't compacted etc will be totally s**te.

Yes. As an informed punter usually disparaging about trade quotes, you sound like a charity.

Like the other posters said, you have quoted, walk away and let the ungrateful sods sink.

It is cheap. Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

Quite. I've been 'lucky' enough to get some work done for far less than I think I should have paid because they were simply priced too low. Gives me no pleasure.

Rob

Well it was on a rough concrete base that was in existence before they did that, seemed as if they did it how they should have done...

Did the contractor's van have a proper traceable company name and phone number or just a mobile? Did they visit all the neighbours to say "while we're in the area..."?

MBQ

If so that's probably the reason for the good price then; when we had our drive block-paved some years ago, the guys who did it took out what seemed to be a huge amount of earth and replaced it with hardcore - I guess there's a good chunk of the cost in that, which will have been avoided if there was already a solid foundation.

Yes, come do some work for me.

Mike

Neither...

No... But the did proffer me a card whilst talking to them...

Last year I did about 2.5 m2 by myself in about 6 hours so it appears to take them a long time. How much did they dig out and hardcore? How much drainage needed (it takes me quite a while if I have to do any)?

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