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Help with front garden quote

Hello!

We live in a terraced house, which was inherited with a wall-less front garden (I say garden, it's very small) we would like to get all of it redone and a wall erected. We have been quote just under £11k for the following:

  • To build single skinned wall using reclaimed multi London stocks ( 2.7 x 0.9 ) with two piers
  • To lay victorian tiles from pavement to front door (approx 2m2) 
  • To lay paving to left in remaining area 5m2 
  • To install bin store using shiplap panelling 1.5w x 1.2h x 0.9d 
  • To install gulleys around air bricks at front of house x 3 
  •  Metal gate required for front ( 0.9 x 0.9 ) 
  • Remove rose from left hand corner
It feels a lot for such a small space - is it too much or is this the going rate?

Thanks in advance

Comments

  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 17,271 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    £11K does sound quite a lot....
    With more than 5m² of hard paving, and a bin store, you may need planning permission for both. Check with your local council before doing anything.
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  • How long did the builder say it would take?
  • Eldi_Dos
    Eldi_Dos Posts: 2,049 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    @bulf28
    In the quote it mentions constructing gullys (Bunds) around airbricks which would suggest to me that they are proposing to raise the ground level.This is not normally a good idea and something you may wish to reconsider when getting the work carried out.

  • caprikid1
    caprikid1 Posts: 2,345 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    • To build single skinned wall using reclaimed multi London stocks ( 2.7 x 0.9 ) with two piers
    • To lay victorian tiles from pavement to front door (approx 2m2) 
    Neither of these is cheap, check out the price of reclaimed bricks and consider the amount that will be garbage (Broken , chipped not suited for visual work).

    When this is finished if done to a high standard it will totally transform the front space and add more than 11K to the value of your house I suspect, you could always ask for a breakdown of the costs. The victorian tiling is not cheap though nor those bricks.
  • How long did the builder say it would take?
    They said it would take 2 weeks!
  • caprikid1 said:
    • To build single skinned wall using reclaimed multi London stocks ( 2.7 x 0.9 ) with two piers
    • To lay victorian tiles from pavement to front door (approx 2m2) 
    Neither of these is cheap, check out the price of reclaimed bricks and consider the amount that will be garbage (Broken , chipped not suited for visual work).

    When this is finished if done to a high standard it will totally transform the front space and add more than 11K to the value of your house I suspect, you could always ask for a breakdown of the costs. The victorian tiling is not cheap though nor those bricks.
    To be fair, they've provided an itemisation of it all. So if we wanted different tiling that's an option. The bulk of the cost is £6k in labour fees. Removing a few of the things (or amending) whilst would bring the quote down a little or wouldn't be significant. 

    Thank you for the insight, really helpful! 
  • Albermarle
    Albermarle Posts: 25,951 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Sixth Anniversary Name Dropper
    bulf28 said:
    How long did the builder say it would take?
    They said it would take 2 weeks!
    £11K does seem a  lot, even for London
    In my limited  experience for these types of non structural/garden/landscaping jobs, they often overestimate how long it will take. Maybe out of habit, or just a way of getting the bill higher.
    Two weeks seems excessive for the work, even for just one person.
    Assuming they do not work weekends, they would be paying themselves nearly £100 an hour.

    If the work took say 7 working days at £70 an hour, then the labour bill would be £3.5K.

    You need to get some alternative quotes.
  • Could always give it a go yourself places like polhill.co.uk have everything you need to get started. It's amazing how quickly you learn as you're doing it. I tried tiling for the first time this week :)
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