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the landscaper goes to her house for the last 5 years on an hourly basis. I met her and she seemed evasive and defensive for no reason. I was helping my friend empty her shed of her junk and found that the floor needed to be replaced. When I spoke to the landscaper, she told me that her husband was contracted to do the job. After the job was done, I spoke to my friend and she told me she paid them 4000.00. I asked to see the receipt and it had one line item. Replace floor - 4000.00. I was told that he was there with a helper for 2 days.

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The cost for materials to build a pressure treated deck runs about $7.00 per square foot. To have a deck professionally built including materials starts around $15.00 a square foot, whereas an elaborately built deck using hardwoods or composite materials may cost as much as $35.00 per square foot. Add in the cost to demolish the old decking and haul it out. I think you got a fair price at $4K if they had to tear out the old, replace the joists and floor with pressure treated studs and exterior grade wood/plywood and be sure it is all level. 12 x24 is 288 sq ft, so $4000= $13.88 per sq ft
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What kind of advice do you want Realtor? If you are practicing in your friend's area you should know the cost of such work. Costs of labor vary greatly from area to area. I know pstegmsan is in western NY and her figures sound right for the area
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What kind of flooring? Wood or concrete? The shed in question is quite big compared to the average backyard sheds sold at the big hardware stores which are 7x7 or 12x12. The 12x24 is large enough to hold a automobile and then some.

I would ask for an itemized work order list. Hopefully on the list is a polythene vapor barrier weighted down with stone or concrete beneath the shed will provide a barrier to moisture and also prevent plant growth beneath the shed. And if insulation was installed between the floor joists depending on the future use of said shed.

If the owner is sharp at 90 years old, remember she gave authorization to do the work.
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dogwang, it could have been pored in concrete for 1500.00 .
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If there is removal of old concrete needed it is $6 to $8 . If there is no removal needed it is $4 to $6. Soo all the junk comes out, the floor comes out, you dig down 8", pour in gravel, level it, tamp it firm, the forms go in and you pour 4-6" of reinforced concrete. You wait 28 days for it to cure and then you pay to have all the junk put back in there. $8 per sq ft would be $2304 and that's just for the concrete work. HOWEVER, it is already DONE in WOOD. Water over the dam.
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Captain and Freqflyer, thanks for your helpful posts. 3/4" ply. No concrete. they t(2 people, 2 days) tore up the old plywood, replaced the joists, put down the new plywood.
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It could be that it's a fair price, but the invoice you saw was definitely inadequate. You could write a letter for your friend to the landscaper's husband asking for a proper invoice with full details of costs; at least she'd be able to see what he had to say for himself.

Is the contract with the landscaper ongoing, though? Don't spoil a good working relationship for the sake of it; but do use this as an opportunity to help your friend get rid of a parasite - provided, of course, that you have a better suggestion as to how she can look after her garden.
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Update on my friend. She got an itemized invoice. 700.00 for materials and 3300.00 for labor. 2 guys, 3 full days.
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All wood
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In your original post you said your friend told you two guys for 2 day but the invoice said 2 guys 3 days. I don't know the scope of the work but 2 guys for 3 days sounds as though they were very slow workers. I guess the lesson here is always to get an estimate but your friend had known the landscaper for five years and trusted him
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This sounds to me like they are ripping her off and they know it. Try contacting the Better Business Bureau about it. You might even let the company know, in writing, that you are not satisfied with the invoice or the price, and they are not welcome to come by and solicit for more work to do, or not welcome, period (cc BBB).
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So what's the market rate for (let's be generous) a skilled joiner in your neck of the woods? Allowing for a ten hour day (hem-hem) that still works out at $55 per hour, each. Sounds like plenty to me; but perhaps not outrageous enough to be worth starting a war over (especially not one that you won't personally be fighting).

Is your friend likely to want you to ring and ask them to justify the labour charge? I'd be surprised if she wanted the trouble. Unless she really can't afford to, it's probably better to chalk this one up to experience and counsel her to get written estimates in advance in future.
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Thank you for the responses to my post. I have parents who are both 82. They are proud people. They will be last people to tell you that they've been taken by a scam artist. There are many scam artists that prey on the elderly. It is our job to weed them out and bring them to justice. In this case, I will personally have the landscaper and her husband investigated. I will find out why the landscaper is charging by the hour, for the entire summer, purchasing mulch by the bag and charging mileage to and from her home for a job that could be done in 2 days. I will find out why her husband needed 3 full days at 1000.00/per day labor - $500.00 per man per day to replace a floor.
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ive known some expensive contractors too. construction fell in 07 and most were out of business by 08. i work for 20 bucks an hour and 12 bucks additional for my helper. we dont get rich but a great reputation precedes us before we even get to the job. when we pull up in a 51 chevy truck the homeowner already knows they wont be making 700.00 truck payments. its fair to assume the 51 has been paid off for many years. lol
idda still sawed the joists out and poured the floor. wood = bug food
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Ripping out joists is essentially re-building the shed - it's NOT an easy job. They had to stabilize the outside frame first as well. I'm also sure your 90 year old friend didn't clear out that big (and 12x24 is a BIG shed!) shed all by herself before the floor could be replaced. Did the labor include that also? And putting it all back when they were done? When you look at the WHOLE picture, it sounds like a fair price, honestly. You might want to tell her in the future that she should get 3 estimates from different people before she hires someone, if nothing else to compare prices. It doesn't sound like she was ripped off to me, but then again, I live in California...we're used to paying higher prices for everything. :/
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One thing some are forgetting is that the workers had to go to a hardware store or lumber yard to obtain the materials needed to do this project. Not knowing the location of the shed compared to the location of the venue, that in it self can be time consuming. That in it self can be a hour of time, if not more. And there could have been more than one trip.

I am curious, who is questioning the final cost? You or the owner? If the owner was initially fine with the cost, then it is a non-issue. I wouldn't put her through unwanted stress even if you think the cost was a bit high.
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It's not just the shed, though, is it? - it's the whole landscaper-in-cahoots-with-builder preying on vulnerable little old lady scenario. It does no harm for such people to know that they've come to the attention of would-be knights in shining armour - so long as the knights don't go charging in too zealously. Then, if it's all fair and square, there's no problem; but if anyone had any funny ideas of ripping her off they can go and have them somewhere else.

Good luck, realtor - just remember "discretion is the better part of valour..."
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