OP
I don't really want to do them but the paver installers want about $12k for the job so....
Retaining walls and patio
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Deere Dude
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Nice job. You should be concrete handy right now so any other work should be a cinch.
I wanted a monster to me two story rocked double fireplace. A contractor in 1990 estimated $10 a square foot for the stonework. After considering placing 1 stone which was an average of 1 to 1.5 square foot and I could mortar and level one stone every 10 minutes, I decided to do it myself plus my wife of course and did save a ton. i think the same could be said for pavers and would be a lot easier that those wall behemoths.
OP
Every time I get a quote on this sort of work the labor rate comes out to over $100/hr per guy. That's a $200k per year earning pace so the way i see it is after taxes you need to earn about $150 for every hour you pay somebody $100 so now you're at a $300k per year earning level. There's definitely good money in hard work.
We need to bring in a skid steer next week for the back yard paver project. Ran out of energy this week.
MoKelly
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Very interesting. I’ve always assumed contractors charge about 3x what they actually pay laborers to cover their costs plus profit.
But, at $100/hour that would be more like 6x.
MoKelly
riptides
Super Member
100 bucks an hours sounds about right...but.. they probably are not working 5 days a week. It is project to project.
user.69169
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Don't forget to calculate in what contractor paying de insurance carrier per man hour, and politicians fer bein allowed to work, and cost of vehicles + insurance + fuel + inspections. Quick deduct out what costs contractor when somebody don't ppay him too. Even when don't get paid Insurance carrier wants his money.
OP
I believe going rate for day labor is about $200 around here. Haven't seen a handy man less than that recently.
mred2
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You will pay a handy man here less than $100 an hour for him and 2 helpers. And he provides the tools and nails. The problem here is he can't find helpers that want to work for any price. They get more money sitting on their back side. I found one that would work by himself, but the work was up high and I would not let him work by himself.
OP
Today we layed another 100 feet of 3" drain pipe going from the back of the house, down the side and to the front. Drainage is for a gutter downspout, utility drain near the hose bib, and a 20 foot channel drain on one end of the paver patio. One thing that backyard was sorely lacking was drainage so while this was a real pain to get a drain with some downward slope all the way back to the front, it was necessary for the longevity of the patio. I didn't take any photos of this stage just because I was too busy digging and gluing pipes together.
The good news is that I've got a pretty clear picture now of how much grading needs to be done for the pavers and it's not too bad. And by not too bad I mean no more than 10 yards of earth to move. Famous last words.
Once the 9 pallets of pavers arrive I'll order a skid steer rental so I can get all the heavy lifting done in one day:
- Grading
- Move and spread base material
- Move and spread paver sand
- Move all the pavers close to the work area as the delivery forklift is too wide to get the pallets in the back
The good news is that I've got a pretty clear picture now of how much grading needs to be done for the pavers and it's not too bad. And by not too bad I mean no more than 10 yards of earth to move. Famous last words.
Once the 9 pallets of pavers arrive I'll order a skid steer rental so I can get all the heavy lifting done in one day:
- Grading
- Move and spread base material
- Move and spread paver sand
- Move all the pavers close to the work area as the delivery forklift is too wide to get the pallets in the back