So, we have a small courtyard at the back of the house, and a smaller “garden” at the front.

The yard is flagged with the original yorkstone flags, though there are now several gaps and plenty of broken flags. We would like to have these relaid and the gaps filled with replacement flags.

Front conists of a path to the front door, and a small patch of, er, mud. We want to have the path relaid (together with some paving in front of the house), leaving a smaller patch of garden, which will be planted up.

Now, to be clear, I do not have the time (or skill) to do this work, so I’ve been asking for quotes.

Quotes have gone from being expensive to ridiculous.

So, does anyone know of any decent in the Manchester area who does this sort of work and/or have any pointers as to what I ought reasonably to be paying for labour per day?

Cheers

Tom

where nr manchester are you mate?

South (West Didsbury specifically).

Quotes are all coming in with the Didsbury premium – gotta love postcode pricing..!

Landscaping is always more expensive than most people think – fact. Sure you can always get a cheaper quote, but in general you’ll find that the cheaper quotes are cheap for a reason. Of course there are also ‘expensive’ contractors – but (the ones I’ve used anyway) have fantastic workmanship and the end product is of noticeably higher quality than some of the regular contractors that I, or more accurately my clients, usually select.

Don’t know what rates are up in Manchester but down here I usually work on a ballpark of 100/square metre for guesstimating costs. Cheapest is down around 75/m2, the most expensive I’ve done was over 300.

Maybe it’s expensive because they are planning to make a good job of it?

I don’t price work according to how rich I think people are, they will get a few quotes like anybody else. They are also invariably tighter and are horrified at the thought of a manual worker earning more than seventy pounds a day. 🙄

I’m nowhere near Manchester. Just seen/fixed/relaid/lifted plenty of cheap paving. It’s usually cheap for a reason.

Have a look here: http://www.whatprice.co.uk/prices/building/driveway.html

I wholeheartedly agree that a good job (and decent materials) is worth paying for. I do not regard lifting and relaying flags and laying new flags to be worth £800 a day in labour (highest quote was for three days work: £2,500 + materials). I suspoect the higher prices are because they don’t want the work.

Cheapest quote – I have seen local work, and like the look of the job there. Though my job is different.

£100 a sqm is intersting. I’ll measure up and see where we come in…!

Cheers all.

Tom

£800 a day in labour

😯

FFS – I paid £15 an hour less than a year ago (not much use I’m afraid, that was in Perth).

Depends on how many men are doing it……..usually three and I’d be expecting £500 per day labour only

Our man, let me just flag up a warning for you.

I fell into the trap a year or so back. Suffice to say it was a costly and stressful experience.

To avoid the traps and pitfalls, firstly research your subject and know what you are asking for. Bascially in principle it should be to clear existing, excate down, so that new surface comes to the same level as old. Depending on weight loading infill with 6 – 18″ of MOT Type 1 Crushed Stone, Wacker level, Top with Sand and wacker level, paying attention to levels and drainage, ensuring that the entire area drains readily, and that any areas adjacent to the property are draining away from it, and that the level of the finished surface is sufficently below the DPC to comply with building regs. Stones or Flags laid should be laid in a bonding pattern to avoid movement …. and so on and so forth.

You should check thoroughly at each stage that your specification has been complied with and that you do not pay in advance for any work.

You cannot and will not get value for money if you don’t know what you are asking for. Make sure your spec and the quote are in writing incidentally, and ask to see the fellas insurance cover. (Thats so you can make a claim if he demolishes your property acciedentally!!)

My mistake was in exasperation getting the cousin of a woman my Mrs worked with to do it. Nice Lad, hard worker, and been working for a marshalls approved contractor doing this for years….. apparently. Nect thing that happens is he rolls up and “excavates” a limited amount of material, then decides he is going to lay blocks on top of my existing path etc. I rejected his plan, then the next thing I know is I get home from work and my back garden is covered with a thin layer of concrete which he is proposing to lay block paving on top of. When I say thin I mean I could push my little finger through it when it was dry!

Luckily a very good riding mate who happens to be a freelance site manager and all round top fella arrived like the cavalry, destroyed the fella, (who by then I had realised was as thick as a set of spanners laid end to end), and sorted out someone else to do remedial work and then do a proper job, which now looks the nuts and has been done properly.

Might seem like a faff, but beleive me compared to the horror that awaits from cutting corners its a breeze!

OMITN – forgot to mention that if the area of paving in front of the house is more than 5m2 you need to think about how you’re getting rid of the rainwater. Changes to planning regs last year mean that if you’re just allowing it to run off your site you’ll need to apply for planning permission. Doesn’t sound like a problem for your job, but worth checking.

thepurist – am aware of that. It’s a pretty small area, so ought npt to be a problem.

G – you make some really good points. So far, I have simply asked for quotes for the job. Some have come back in writing, some verbally.

Thise in writing have tended to provide a breakdown of what is to be done – though (without checking) probably not in as much detail as you have set out.

Insurance is an excellent point.

Unfortunately for all tradesmen who enter my home to do a piece of work, I’m a PITA – i like a precise scope of work, timetable and a fixed price. Without those things, they don’t get the job. That’s because if I have to cost work for my clients, that’s exactly what I have to do.

Oh, and one of them has suggested an up front payment. I nearly fell off the chair laughing when he said that..!

Tom – I’m in a similar position getting our back garden in Manc done (probably not far from you!) – for raised beds and paving they quoted £1400 labour, for 7 days work.

Is it just me who finds getting tradesman sooo stressful?!

Does anyone know approximately, how much I should expect to pay for decking?
It’s a square area 5metres by 3metres. Our joiner neighbour gave me a price which made me fall off my chair. I’m a tradesperson too, who would never think of ripping people off though.

Sorry for the hijack.

I actually hate decking anyway, so am now costing up flagging.

let me have your e-mail and I’ll send you over some details

Carl

carlos – is that @ me or @ bunnyhop?

Ditto.

Sorry guys, suppose if your both around the south Manchester area, then both of you. He’s not a joiner so won’t do decking.

Tom – I’m in a similar position getting our back garden in Manc done (probably not far from you!) – for raised beds and paving they quoted £1400 labour, for 7 days work.

1400/7 = £200 per day. Is that a lot? It’s quite a bit more than I earn, true, but it’s a hell of a lot less than I’m charged out at.

365 (days per year) – 104 (52 weekends) – 20 (4 weeks holiday) = 241

241 * 200 = 48,200

from that, take out the costs of running a business like insurance, down days, tax etc etc, and suddnely you see that £200 per day is a reasonable amount to pay. Still moer than I can afford mind, but that’s a different matter