Indian Sandstone Patio cost.

MarinaTrench

Hi ,
     I'm redoing my small back garden which is 40sqm in total.
Of this 24sqm will be paved. The rest will be turfed.
I have been quoted ranging from 3300 to 4800 pounds for doing the job.
I have taken about 5 quotes and the cheapest quote is :-
Cost of Materials = 1300 pounds. (They say the will use stone which will be approx. £26 per sqm)
Skip hire = 250 pounds. 
Labour = 1750 pounds (for two days work). (Two people working)

Most of the work is laying removal and clearing is minimal.
Is this reasonable? 

Thanks,
Marina

Doozergirl

You think one person is going to prep and lay 24 square metres of patio in a day?  The going rate for labour is not £875 a day, so you've got some more homework to do.  

Go back and ask all of them what is involved in laying a patio correctly and how many people will be working on it.   Here's an idea of the work involved:  https://youtu.be/KztEIEgiYrI

If that quote is genuinely for one man for two days, I'd turn it down on the basis of it not even being a proper job.  That's your cheapest quote, so I'm not sure that your first assumption should be that the cheapest day rate for a landscaper is £875.  You are, however,  underestimating the value of a good job. 

MarinaTrench

@Doozegirl:  You are right, I guess I do not fully understand the effort it takes to build a Patio. I had been told by the tradesmen that it will roughly take 2 days. I assumed it will be himself and a helper helping him.
I take it from you comment that the quote is fair.

Doozergirl

MarinaTrench said:

@Doozegirl:  You are right, I guess I do not fully understand the effort it takes to build a Patio. I had been told by the tradesmen that it will roughly take 2 days. I assumed it will be himself and a helper helping him.
I take it from you comment that the quote is fair.

I'm not in a position to say whether it's fair as I do not know what is included or what his standard of work is.  

If it were him and a helper, then his day rate was never £875 a day?  

Please check what is entailed in each of these quotes and get references!   Focus on that instead of purely the cost.  

Nearlyold

As a guide we paid £108 sqm to have around 43sqm of Indian Sandstone laid, we used a guy that we used previously to lay a block paved drive. He has a top notch reputation in the area, however because of this he's always booked up about 8 months ahead.

To compare quotes you should establish, local reputation, quality of stone to be used - is it the budget stuff or the thicker calibrated quality, how deep will the base be dug, full mortar bed or just dabbed (the latter increases the chance of the slabs moving).

Our neighbours patio was laid on dabs and it's all coming loose, they asked our guy to quote to fix it, he declined and said he could only sort it by taking it all up and starting again or if they wanted he could charge a day rate to just fix down the loose slabs but couldn't give any guarantee they wouldn't come loose again as the base was too shallow

FreeBear

Two days to lay just the slabs is kinda OK... But to prepare the area properly would add another day at least. At a minimum, I would expect the area to be dug out to a depth of 200mm and then have 150mm of hardcore (either crushed rubble or MOT1) compacted. A days work for two with a minidigger & dump truck, and certainly more than just one skip required.

The slabs should (must) be laid on a full bed of mortar with a gap between each slab, being careful not to stain the top surface - You also need to leave a gap between the slabs and the house. 200mm or so and filled with gravel. Make sure that the finished level of the patio is around 150mm below any DPC and it slopes away from the property.

stuart45

The full bed as stated above is important. Don't let them spot bed the slabs.

bouicca21

I had a patio laid about 5 years ago. Digging out to the right depth, laying the base, removing waste, ensuring proper drainage took a couple of workmen nearly a week.  I did have much cheaper quotes; on investigation they were cheaper because they weren’t going to dig out to the right depth or ensure proper drainage.

redmalc

I had a similar size patio laid last May and it took two experienced guy three days to lay porcelain tiles. Materials £2100 and  Labour  £875

ka7e

20 sq m for £1940. Work included drilling out part of old path to make level and tidying around a manhole cover.They also used old patio slabs to form a shed base. 2 men took 3 days.