Decking and fencing quote, sanity check please

rousetafarian

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Help!

To supply and install Timber decking system and fence,I have the following quite for what on 1st impressions seems like a reasonable family business to deal with;
*
​​​Deck area:​​18 m2 @ £1440.00 *
Cladding:​£60.00
Skirting:​NA
Steps:​​​£90.00​​
Baluster:​7 Lm @ £420.00

Planter: ​NA
Gate:​NA
Screen:​NA
Bench System:​NA
Fence:​10 Lm with trellis top system @ £800.00. Without trellis @ £600.00
Boarder:​NA
Delivery:​NA
Treatment: ​NA
Substructure:​Tanalised C16 Timber ​
Fixing method:​Support posts attached with self drive and coach bolts, deck boards are screwed.
*
Total = £2810.00 inc
.

I know nothing about this kind of thing so am I being overcharged? We may consider not choosing the fence as it's not our property to replace and go for raised planters which was suggested would cost the same.

Cheers
 
seems a lot compared to when i did mine at last house. the thing is though, that timber price has gone through the roof, so you never know.

i would get a few quotes in first anyway. remember about half of that will be labour anyway. not sure why all tradies think they are worth £1k a week.

you could do it yourself. its not very hard.
 
better off asking a local handyman how much..I find they do a better job, stick by their work and if they give a price they stick to it. My one is quality and works his back side off!
 
seems a lot compared to when i did mine at last house. the thing is though, that timber price has gone through the roof, so you never know.

i would get a few quotes in first anyway. remember about half of that will be labour anyway. not sure why all tradies think they are worth £1k a week.

you could do it yourself. its not very hard.

I have seen printed evidence of the jobs he has been accredited with in trade publications and they look good (but don't they always?). He is the cheapest of the two quotes received so far and I get a good vibe from him, and he is very local.

We don't want to spend a fortune, in case we emigrate but I guess it can't do anything but add value to the property. It still leaves roughly the same amount of lawn for potential buyers who still like greenery
 
i guess we dont know your location. london will be more expensive etc.
 
I have seen printed evidence of the jobs he has been accredited with in trade publications and they look good (but don't they always?). He is the cheapest of the two quotes received so far and I get a good vibe from him, and he is very local.

We don't want to spend a fortune, in case we emigrate but I guess it can't do anything but add value to the property. It still leaves roughly the same amount of lawn for potential buyers who still like greenery

decking wouldnt really add value to a property
 
decking wouldnt really add value to a property

But if it turns an unsightly plain grass lawn into a more useable family space then surely that's not a bad thing. I've had success in the pat selling properties for more than neighbouring houses have and think that this will help......at least I hope so
 
decking wouldnt really add value to a property


if the garden looks a mess it would put people off though, a nice looking garden would at least make it more of an attractive proposition to a potential buyer. It wouldnt add any value though like you say but a bad garden could devalue it a little bit (though would have to be in quite a state and more than just cosmetic)
 
The fence price doesn't sound too bad, but the deking is on the expensive side in my opinion.

When I done my 15m2+ raised deck, which involved a lot of work, it came to under £500.

Now granted I didn't have any labour costs but my materials were what I would call 'expensive' as they were all sourced from a timber yard rather than your Wickes', Homebase etc.

If timer is what they do day in day out they won't be paying Joe Bloggs prices for their materials, so over £2k is bit much.

I would have thought £1440 all in for the decking would be more reasonable.
 
The fence price doesn't sound too bad, but the deking is on the expensive side in my opinion.

When I done my 15m2+ raised deck, which involved a lot of work, it came to under £500.

Now granted I didn't have any labour costs but my materials were what I would call 'expensive' as they were all sourced from a timber yard rather than your Wickes', Homebase etc.

If timer is what they do day in day out they won't be paying Joe Bloggs prices for their materials, so over £2k is bit much.

I would have thought £1440 all in for the decking would be more reasonable.

The area to be covered starts on the level and then drops off relatively steeply so I'm guessing the groundwork and levelling the frame will be time consuming. These guys aren't landscape gardeners but specialise in fencing and timber/composite decking....
 
decking wouldnt really add value to a property

I think it depends. If the garden is unusable as a social area, and by unusable I mean 100% grass from back from front, I definately think it would add value to have your rear entrance open out onto decking rather than grass.

However, if you already had something there, say a paved area, replacing it with decking wouldn't necessarily be the best idea in the world.
 
I'm guessing the groundwork and levelling the frame will be time consuming.

Not necessarily. I had to do the same - the ground at one end is 0.5m higher than the other. Framework was done in less than 2 days, easy.

And it wasn't even a straight dip - if you looked at the area from above, the ground dipped along both axis so each support had to be measured.

And I had 2 drain covers to navigate around, which meant more work provisioning access panels.
 
I'll attach the plan when I'm home but essentially we have a back door and 2 French doors leading onto a small raised patio area, that has railings and steps running down either side into the garden ( which is where the decking will start. Personally i cannot really visualise what the final design will be, I leave that to SWMBO
 
Perhaps because if they are really good, they deserve to earn the national wage at least, after deductions and costs?

£52k is the national wage? since when?

im not talking about the OP's tradies, im talking tradesmen in general, since that is what most seem to charge, if not more.
 
since that is what most seem to charge, if not more.

This is going OT but what you charge should depend on who you're doing the work for.

Decking for Joe Bloggs in a terraced 2 bed = £10 a day.
Decking for David Beckham, in his 27th 20 bed mansion = £1,000 a day.

Seriously. The more you earn the more tax you pay so why not pay more for labour?
 
The fence price doesn't sound too bad, but the deking is on the expensive side in my opinion.

When I done my 15m2+ raised deck, which involved a lot of work, it came to under £500.

Now granted I didn't have any labour costs but my materials were what I would call 'expensive' as they were all sourced from a timber yard rather than your Wickes', Homebase etc.

If timer is what they do day in day out they won't be paying Joe Bloggs prices for their materials, so over £2k is bit much.

I would have thought £1440 all in for the decking would be more reasonable.

It depends what you're doing to the deck. Mine is 20m2 with handrails/spindles, all timber was sourced as cheap as I could get it (Edecks + Arnold Lavers etc) and it cost over £1k in materials.

Put it this way, I wouldn't do a 15m2 deck for £1440 cash in hand never mind having to pay tax + NI on it as well.
 
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It depends what you're doing to the deck. Mine is 20m2 with handrails/spindles, all timber was sourced as cheap as I could get it (Edecks + Arnold Lavers etc) and it cost over £1k in materials.

And I see by looking at your pics you did a cracking job, DIY isn't my bag so I have no option but to pay a skilled tradesman
 
And I see by looking at your pics you did a cracking job, DIY isn't my bag so I have no option but to pay a skilled tradesman

I didn't realise the quote for the decking was split into seperate components, so you're looking at £2010 for the complete job?

It's hard to say if it's a decent price or not without knowing what balustrades etc they're quoting for, as there are big price differences in different handrails/spindle systems.

I'd say the price is split roughly 50/50 labour and materials, I don't know how long it will take as I did mine over a couple of weekends - I would guess they'd have the bare deck knocked up inside 2 days if there are 2 of them though, and the complete deck done in 3 days. It's not as if the guys are going to be stuffing £1k a day profit down their pants as some would have you believe. It's a decent earner sure, but they're not forcing anyone to pay it - i'd guess most quotes are going to be similar unless you get a suspiciously cheap one, it's worth getting one or two more though.

What kind of fencing is it?
 
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I didn't realise the quote for the decking was split into seperate components, so you're looking at £2010 for the complete job?

It's hard to say if it's a decent price or not without knowing what balustrades etc they're quoting for, as there are big price differences in different handrails/spindle systems.

I'd say the price is split roughly 50/50 labour and materials, I don't know how long it will take as I did mine over a couple of weekends - I would guess they'd have the bare deck knocked up inside 2 days if there are 2 of them though, and the complete deck done in 3 days. It's not as if the guys are going to be stuffing £1k a day profit down their pants as some would have you believe. It's a decent earner sure, but they're not forcing anyone to pay it - i'd guess most quotes are going to be similar unless you get a suspiciously cheap one, it's worth getting one or two more though.

What kind of fencing is it?


Yep, I asked him to split out the fence as it's not our property and belongs to the neighbour. The timber used will be Arbordeck, Timbertech or something similar I believe.

I would rather spend the fencing money on raised beds and cladding down be fence length the fill with shrubs etc
 
I've just had a quote from a local recommended guy, 33 sq mt of raised decking with steps at both ends, 15m of fencing (concrete base/kickboard and posts with wooden fence between) plus him laying new turf lawn of around 80 sq mt and a slight extension of our patio by a couple of foot, all came in at under just £3k, quite pleased.
 
£52k is the national wage? since when?

im not talking about the OP's tradies, im talking tradesmen in general, since that is what most seem to charge, if not more.

So the tradesman has no on-going costs? (Employers NI, van, business insurance, bank costs, training, time for writing estimates, care and maintenance of equipment etc etc etc ad infinitum)

If he/she generates £1000 pw they will realistically be able to take home half that,

From Wiki:
April 2010 median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £499
 

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