ᐅ Is this landscaping contractor’s quote reasonable or way too expensive?
Created on: 15 Sep 2018 17:40
R
R.Hotzenplotz
Hi!
I received a quote from a landscape contractor and I’m curious to know if you think it’s reasonable or excessively high. I knew from the start that it wouldn’t be the cheapest, but it would still be interesting to get your take on it.
It’s a bit disappointing that he initially said he could complete everything for €125,000 (around $135,000), including even a pool and lighting package, but now many things aren’t included at all—no lighting, no irrigation system, etc.
Unfortunately, in this area, there aren’t many alternative quotes available. If you don’t plan from the beginning and are ready to proceed, it’s hard to get other options offered.
I received a quote from a landscape contractor and I’m curious to know if you think it’s reasonable or excessively high. I knew from the start that it wouldn’t be the cheapest, but it would still be interesting to get your take on it.
It’s a bit disappointing that he initially said he could complete everything for €125,000 (around $135,000), including even a pool and lighting package, but now many things aren’t included at all—no lighting, no irrigation system, etc.
Unfortunately, in this area, there aren’t many alternative quotes available. If you don’t plan from the beginning and are ready to proceed, it’s hard to get other options offered.
One could agree that everyone here has different expectations.
We don’t have artworks that need special lighting, so for example, having a ceiling outlet above the coffee table and dining table in the living room is sufficient for us. There won’t be a ceiling lamp directly over the coffee table at first, but the option needs to be there. Instead, we have several power outlets everywhere where smaller lamps can be placed. Some of these outlets are connected to a switch by the door.
I can decide for myself—I don’t need to pay a planner for that. If this is not enough for someone else, well, they just pay more—that’s perfectly fine if they have the means and want to spend it (no judgment intended!).
Oh, and since we’re in the garden thread... the same applies to the garden of course.
I only have professional help for tasks I can’t physically manage. For example, digging over the soil now after it has compacted from construction, delivering and planting larger shrubs, and possibly building a dry stone wall.
Everything else I want to do myself, but:
I enjoy it. I like doing it and certainly won’t act completely inexperienced.
If that weren’t the case, we would also pay someone to design the garden in a low-maintenance way for us.
We don’t have artworks that need special lighting, so for example, having a ceiling outlet above the coffee table and dining table in the living room is sufficient for us. There won’t be a ceiling lamp directly over the coffee table at first, but the option needs to be there. Instead, we have several power outlets everywhere where smaller lamps can be placed. Some of these outlets are connected to a switch by the door.
I can decide for myself—I don’t need to pay a planner for that. If this is not enough for someone else, well, they just pay more—that’s perfectly fine if they have the means and want to spend it (no judgment intended!).
Oh, and since we’re in the garden thread... the same applies to the garden of course.
I only have professional help for tasks I can’t physically manage. For example, digging over the soil now after it has compacted from construction, delivering and planting larger shrubs, and possibly building a dry stone wall.
Everything else I want to do myself, but:
I enjoy it. I like doing it and certainly won’t act completely inexperienced.
If that weren’t the case, we would also pay someone to design the garden in a low-maintenance way for us.
C
chand198623 Sep 2018 21:25Good heavens.
Dear robber: Being an expert in one field (running your company) does not exempt you from gaining some competence in other areas.
This may sound terribly arrogant, but that is not my intention. Your approach of applying methods that you have found effective in company management to the organization of a construction project is completely fruitless.
Please stop making excuses here, pick up a tool at some point, and do something yourself. A rotary hammer drill. Make a hole. Insert an anchor. Move forward.
Not because it will be better. Not because you originally want to do it. But because a successful project (even if you only screw a lamp to the ceiling) benefits your psyche. It does good. And because you could develop a basic understanding of things you currently have none of.
This does not mean that the general contractor does not make real mistakes. But your obsessive expert mentality (everything I cannot do has to be evaluated, certified, or handled by other "experts") is driving you to the brink of madness.
With just a little knowledge in multiple fields, you can save yourself a lot of expert posturing. And that makes you confident and relaxed. And you need that relaxation before you burn out.
Right now is a bad time. But after this project comes the next one.
Dear robber: Being an expert in one field (running your company) does not exempt you from gaining some competence in other areas.
This may sound terribly arrogant, but that is not my intention. Your approach of applying methods that you have found effective in company management to the organization of a construction project is completely fruitless.
Please stop making excuses here, pick up a tool at some point, and do something yourself. A rotary hammer drill. Make a hole. Insert an anchor. Move forward.
Not because it will be better. Not because you originally want to do it. But because a successful project (even if you only screw a lamp to the ceiling) benefits your psyche. It does good. And because you could develop a basic understanding of things you currently have none of.
This does not mean that the general contractor does not make real mistakes. But your obsessive expert mentality (everything I cannot do has to be evaluated, certified, or handled by other "experts") is driving you to the brink of madness.
With just a little knowledge in multiple fields, you can save yourself a lot of expert posturing. And that makes you confident and relaxed. And you need that relaxation before you burn out.
Right now is a bad time. But after this project comes the next one.
I find some of the statements here really presumptuous. Räuber doesn’t seem to be someone who needs advice on the “right” way to live.
From a neutral perspective, it makes much more sense how he organizes things: for tasks he can’t or doesn’t want to do himself, he outsources them. He can afford to do that. There’s nothing wrong or shameful about it. On the contrary, he provides others with income.
Just because some people clear their heads with gardening doesn’t mean it works for everyone. It wouldn’t for me either. I don’t like gardening.
By the way, there are studies showing that jogging actually helps you clear your mind completely. The body is so occupied that it basically has no time to think about anything other than jogging.
I’m telling you, changing car tires and working on motorcycles makes the soul happy. It also helps against burnout.
I don’t understand how anyone comes up with the idea to take those things to a workshop. Why do so many do that?
I see no difference to gardening. Or painting. Or roofing. Or cleaning. Or ironing. Some enjoy it, others don’t. Lucky are those who have the financial means to choose what they do themselves and what they don’t.
From a neutral perspective, it makes much more sense how he organizes things: for tasks he can’t or doesn’t want to do himself, he outsources them. He can afford to do that. There’s nothing wrong or shameful about it. On the contrary, he provides others with income.
Just because some people clear their heads with gardening doesn’t mean it works for everyone. It wouldn’t for me either. I don’t like gardening.
By the way, there are studies showing that jogging actually helps you clear your mind completely. The body is so occupied that it basically has no time to think about anything other than jogging.
I’m telling you, changing car tires and working on motorcycles makes the soul happy. It also helps against burnout.
I don’t understand how anyone comes up with the idea to take those things to a workshop. Why do so many do that?
I see no difference to gardening. Or painting. Or roofing. Or cleaning. Or ironing. Some enjoy it, others don’t. Lucky are those who have the financial means to choose what they do themselves and what they don’t.
In our house construction project, researching and carrying out the work ourselves was ALWAYS superior to relying on so-called experts. Too often, they acted carelessly and negligently. I fired the site manager after the shell construction because he was useless. The same often applies to surveyors as well.
The work I did myself was usually the cleanest. However, due to equipment, lack of time, or skill level, not everything can be done well by oneself.
Still, I agree with my predecessors.
The work I did myself was usually the cleanest. However, due to equipment, lack of time, or skill level, not everything can be done well by oneself.
Still, I agree with my predecessors.
This is not about creation, but preservation.
That aside, the fact remains that coordination or delegation simply do not produce the same effects in the body as creating something yourself.
After experiencing burnout, the person involved understands this better. Ignorance of this is actually what leads to burnout in the first place. But let it be as it is: at some point, you replay these words and sentences in your mind.
That aside, the fact remains that coordination or delegation simply do not produce the same effects in the body as creating something yourself.
After experiencing burnout, the person involved understands this better. Ignorance of this is actually what leads to burnout in the first place. But let it be as it is: at some point, you replay these words and sentences in your mind.