Just say we are stunned. Here is the quote for putting in the driveway:
Driveway quote – OMG!
🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
The first time I had spoken to Peter, last fall after we closed on the lot, the price was much less and the proposed building site was on the other side of the lot! We had come up with the $5,000.00 number based on his rate of $1,500.00 per day plus materials, guessing 3 days of equipment work. The quote above includes 12.5 days of equipment work. Are you kidding?
Guess the river rock is out.
On to the next plan…I’ve asked Peter what he can do in a couple day’s work just to get the drive built from Sanderling Court up into the first 200 feet or so, which would get us up to the start of the big curve. That would, at least, allow us to get onto the lot proper. And, more importantly, that would allow us to meet the County specifications on slope and entrance to the drive, things I probably cannot do myself. The upper part of the drive, and curve, will just have to be done later with rental gear. We will have to start looking at alternate retaining wall materials.
Speaking of the driveway, here is a bit from the notes on the permit:
Notes from driveway permit.
As you can see, the County is very particular about the entrance to the driveway. If Peter can do this bit I can probably handle the rest of the construction, which aside from setting up the retaining wall, is mostly digging. I can rent a blade for the back of the 8N for leveling and grading if it comes to that.
I am bummed out, and cannot believe that $25,000.00 quote. We looked at lots where the drive would have been much harder to build; I wonder what one of those drives would have cost? Really, we were going on our conversation from last fall, and this quote has really blindsided us. 5 times our expectations. Oh well, we’ll just move on to an alternate plan.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
whoa boy – now you guys are nauseous. FIVE times the expected price? oh Mylanta…
What would we do without the Plan Bs in our lives? Perhaps Plan B will even be better {?}
I am very sorry to hear this news-kinda takes the wind out of a person’s sails, but I’ve no doubt you’ll come up with something more affordable.
OMG is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
did you ask Peter how is price became 5x higher than last years guesstimate?
That is crazy
and a terrible awful surprise!
can you get other bids to see if they can do better?
I’m sorry
Very bad news.
But…it’ll work out somehow–and be worth it!
Noted that the estimate is “time & materials” rather than fixed cost — no doubt there are plenty of cost-overruns, fuel surcharges, transport costs, etc yet to be penciled in…
Your estimate was 2-3 days — Peter’s looking at the best part of a month.
For that price, you could rent a Bobcat skid steer loader for 2 years or more, easily calculate cubic yard costs for graveling, and build your own retaining walls via block or poured mold.
Looking at a summer spent riding a Bobcat (definitely a “big boy toy”) isn’t all that appealing — I’d bet it wouldn’t take much more than a week on a Bobcat to do a majority of the work, with the 8N blade for final leveling and gravel spreading.
At minimum, you now have a very good perspective on what needs to be done, and what the county ordinances are. That alone takes you much farther than you were — you can actually plan (C, D, etc) knowing what the end-product needs to be.
No need to be disheartened — you’ve received the “high ball” estimate, up to you to plan a “low ball” approach…