ᐅ Corner stones – Earthworks – Prices // Is the quote too expensive?

Hello everyone,

I need to have about 20 meters of corner stones installed.
Approximately 8 meters with a height of 2.50m (8 ft 2 in), then stepped down.
I was quite surprised at how expensive the material including foundation and other costs are.

Here are two examples: (Height x Width)
2.50m x 1m corner stones – €595 net including installation of the stone
2.00m x 1m corner stones – €476 net including installation of the stone, delivery, concrete base, and earthworks, 12cm (5 inches) thick corner stones.

My builder asked his building materials supplier and received the following material prices which he would pass on to me directly:
2.50m x 1m corner stones – €379 net (corner stone only)
2.00m x 1m corner stones – €219 net (corner stone only)

Is it normal to add €200-250 per linear meter for foundation and labor?
What has been your experience?

Additionally, I would like to know how you estimate the following prices:
- Drainage pipe made of KG pipe DN150, delivered and installed in a sand bed including fittings: €62.50 per linear meter
- Drainage pipe made of KG pipe DN125, delivered and installed in a sand bed including fittings: €51.00 per linear meter
- Excavation of trench for drainage pipe, soil stored beside the trench and replaced after installation: €42.50 per linear meter

I was able to negotiate a 5% discount on all the above prices.

I would appreciate your assessment of these prices.
I plan to visit again this evening to either place the order or negotiate the prices further.

Best regards,
Tito

Hello,

Depending on the local conditions, I consider it realistic. You need heavy machinery to move such L-shaped blocks. It’s not possible to do this manually. Renting heavy machinery as a private person costs around 60-70 € per hour (approximately 60-70 USD) just for the equipment. Even if a company owns such machinery, the investment has to pay off.

The filling and earthworks will also definitely be costly. Will the garden be landscaped afterward?

Our building materials supplier once told us that you should roughly budget 200 euros per square meter of wall for the materials, regardless of the type or manufacturing process. That seems about right.

The costs for installing the bricks and pipes feel relatively high to me. However, this always depends on the local conditions. How much soil still needs to be moved, and how is the backfilling done (compacted in layers)?

You should also consider getting a quote from another civil contractor as an alternative.

But always keep in mind: quality costs money.

Hello,
thank you for your assessment.
No garden landscaping will be done; I want to extend my building area because there is a 2.50 m (8 feet) drop from street level to garden level.
L-shaped retaining walls will be installed on the left and right at garden level, then backfilled and compacted.

I am paying 2,400 € for the backfilling and compaction. Originally, there were 360 m³ (470 cubic yards) of old cellar material. The demolition was carried out by the same company.
The roughly 240 m³ (310 cubic yards) still to be done will be provided at no additional cost, so a total of 600 m³ (785 cubic yards) of well-compacted material including compaction for 2,400 €.
That equals about 4 €/m³ (approximately 3.25 USD per cubic yard) including delivery, compaction, etc. If I had not combined demolition and earthworks, it would probably have cost around 20-30 €/m³ (16-24 USD per cubic yard).

Unfortunately, the prices are "normal."

You won’t have a chance to find cheaper L-shaped blocks. The manufacturers, as my supplier said, have a monopoly.

We paid about 4,000 euros for approximately 7 pieces, stepped down from 2.8 m (9.2 feet) to 2 m (6.6 feet), including installation.

To reduce the material cost, you can directly ask the concrete plant if they offer second-grade material.