Driveway: quote questions

[SunnyUpNorth]

We are finally going ahead with redoing out driveway and have decided on a grey Indian stone.

We have quite a large drive, 118sqm. We have had a few quote over the last year and they have all come back between £9k and £11k ish.

We think we have decided on a local guy who seems good but I am not sure if the price he has given us is good or if I can negotiate at all.

His original quote was for about £9k. It looked like his labour charge was about £50psqm and I think off the top of my head the paving was about £29psqm.

He has re-jigged the quote after we got in touch to proceed as he hasn't allowed for some details such as a row of cobbles at the entrance to the drive and around the flower bed. The quote has suddenly jumped up to just over £10k.

I have had a look online and I can find quite a few places where the stone works out around £1k cheaper. From the description it sounds similar grade stone, same thickness etc. plus I assume he is getting a discount from his supplier but probably marking it up to us.

So I just wondered if those prices for labour and stone seem about right? I am rubbish at negotiating and his quote actually states that it is not negotiable. How would I approach negotiating?

The other thing that is a bit strange is that it says we would have to pay 50% 2 weeks in advance and then the final balance on the day the drive is completed.

I thought it was a big no no to pay in advance? I would say we aren't happy with that but just wanted to check again if that's normal or not. He lives near us and seems to do a fair bit of work locally so I don't think he is dodgy or going to disappear with our cash. But it is alot of money to hand over in advance.

Sorry for long winded post, any thoughts would be appreciated.

[SunnyUpNorth]

Hopeful bump!

[DoItTooJulia]

Sounds about right. DH is a landscaper and it always surprises us how little clients think these things cost.

The stone issue may be an ethical sourcing issue. I know DH can usually source stone that seems identical except its not. For example he has recently worked with a product that was to all intents and purposes a sandstone. Except the expensive stuff was all the same depth and the cheaper wasn't. Meaning it would cost extra labour to lay the cheaper stone level IYSWIM?

One option is to source the materials yourself? Of course, you won't get a trade discount, but at least you can control that price.

Fwiw customers that negotiate are usually considered nightmares to work with. Either you want this guy and his skills, or you don't.

I realise this is all a bit blunt, but I deal with this daily! I hope you get a good job.

[Foxred10]

I work in a landscaping / building related field and the Labour rate seems about right IMO - it is a skilled job. Be very very wary of trying to 'price match' online , there can be massive variation in quality in stone which makes some appear much cheaper (for example cheaper stone is often less thoroughly graded and will have bigger and more frequent variations in thickness across the tile, adding massively to the time it takes to lay) I think it seems like a reasonable quote. The reason for 50% deposit up front is so that he can order your stone - a small business may well struggle to lay out that much on your behalf.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

I think with the bigger jobs sometimes the contractors need some of the fee upfront to pay for some of the materials.

Also, make sure that VAT is included

[SunnyUpNorth]

Thanks all, the fact that the quotes were all similar made me think it was probably about right. But we have a friend who is in the industry and thought it seemed on the pricey side so wanted to check.

[SunnyUpNorth]

Ps any opinion on whether the cobble stones along the edges and at the entrance should be in the same or a contrasting colour? In veering towards contrast but not totally sure.

[DoItTooJulia]

The same colour!

Can't your friend do the job? Especially if he is cheaper!

[SunnyUpNorth]

Unfortunately he can't as we know him through my husbands work colleague so it would all get too political if for any reason there were any problems!! He lives around 30 miles from us too which it probably the reason for the price difference.