How to bid a Paver Patio

So, in another video, you saw me teach you how to install a paving project like this. In this, we will conduct several lessons on the board, and I will teach you how to calculate and evaluate such a project. Now this option is not quite the usual cobblestone patio. in the video on how to install them. If you notice, we came to this area , we had 8 or maybe 10 inches of standing water that we had to pump out. Then we and after that we had to do a minor soil correction. We're going to use a little trick. I'm going to show you this trick right now. We lay the road geotextile , and then deepen the base material itself. So what you see here is a 5th grade, about 10 inches thick. And then we had to make a bridge, bringing in stones, laying down fabric. Today I will teach you how to evaluate all of this. So come back to the other video if you want to learn how to install this. This will teach you how to calculate the cost . Okay, let's move on to estimating the value of this object. This is really what you are here for. I'm actually going to walk you through the actual bill that I'll be submitting to this client. And, um, there are a few things I want to point out. The numbers I'm going to give you for estimating a paver patio, uh, how much to charge, are only applicable to Minneapolis, Minnesota. In this part of the country, our prices are so high compared to other parts of the country. I want you to understand where the prices come from and how you can adapt them for your region. Because it all comes down to competitiveness . And a good example is that in these parts there is such a shortage of labor right now that to get at least one decent employee, I have to pay $20 an hour and promise to bake them cookies every day . So, it's probably not the same thing you're facing where you are. Now, regarding the paving stones themselves, I want to break it down in detail. This was a residential area, not a commercial property. The prices I will give you will not work for a commercial property. If you bid the way I'm going to tell you to for a commercial property, you'll probably never get the job. Commercial properties have a very specific way of calculating rates, and I'll talk about that in the next video. But for today—only residential buildings. You've seen this project. It wasn't a very big project. It came out to be about 344.5 square feet or something like that. The first thing I'll tell you: market price is the most important thing. Of course? Remember this. In the Twin Cities metropolis, the average price is between $18 and $23 per square foot. This is the market price. Of course? If you charge less, you are simply giving away your work for free. If you charge more than $23 per foot, you will have fewer orders because your competitors will charge between $ 18 and $23. It is important to find out the market price in your area because that will determine where your cost estimates should be . Find this range. OK. Now I want to digress a bit , because I just mentioned it. I want to teach you how to measure these areas because this is something that almost every contractor gets wrong. They come, take a tape measure before starting work, and measure the area. And then they take a tape measure after work and measure the area again. Let me show you why you shouldn't do that. I'll check if I'm writing with a marker. This is important. Therefore. On a semi-elliptical object like ours. This work was essentially a semicircle. Of course? I break all my tasks into squares. I measure in squares because I'm not smart enough to calculate the radius of a semicircle at an angle of 33 degrees on an object. But I'm smart enough to figure out: side times side is going to give you the area in square feet. Of course? So if I measure a 5 by 3 square, I know that it contains 15 square feet. And then I say: you know what? There is something superfluous here. I'll reduce it to nine or seven. At this stage, I'm estimating roughly because I don't need precision for the initial measurement. I need to be approximate. I do n't have to be precise. So I go through and measure the entire project with squares. But in the end, it will ruin you. You don't want to measure with squares at the end. So, to give you a better idea, when I first meet with a client and I need to figure out how many square feet their project is, I break their work down into squares. In this case we have 1, 2, 3, four squares. Each square has, well, let's say, 15, 9, and 9. This one is nine. This one is also nine. So, 35. 39, 48 square feet—that will be the project area. This is just an example. Good. Just an example : at the end of the job, if I leave now, the client pays, let's say, $20 per square foot. They will want to know exactly how many square feet are in this property. They're going to want to know this very precisely because it's costing them $20 per square foot. So you are obligated to get the correct number at the end of the work. I hope I didn't confuse you too much. If so, write to me and I will explain in more detail. At the beginning of the job, I get a rough figure to give them an estimate. At the end of the work, instead of re-measuring , because this is where you can make a mistake. Let's say this is the end of the work, I have the same semicircle, and I'm taking measurements. It so happens that I don't include this area here, and that's right, because there's no patio there. But to make these semicircular cuts, I have to cut all these paving stones. I have to cut all these blocks, I throw them away, and they are no longer on the site. You can't measure them anymore. I still had to buy them as a contractor. I still had to deliver them to the facility. I still had to cut them up and then physically throw away the leftovers, and they were no longer there to be measured. Good. So how to overcome this? You ask the supplier, whoever he is, to keep records. And I know you're thinking, "What?" No. The supplier will invoice you for the materials. You have a bill to pay. When you buy this paving stone, you have an invoice to pay. You ask the supplier to break down this bill into the number of square feet purchased and the cost per square foot. This will be the most accurate because when you do a return, you will return the entire cobblestone. So, you'll have five or six pieces left, let's say, on a construction site. You will return them to the supplier and they will deduct them from your bill. You will not return the clippings. Of course? They will go in the trash. But you still bought these trimmings for the supplier . So they remain on your bill from the supplier. Therefore, you cannot take measurements on site at the end of the job, because that does not take into account every brick that had to be cut and thrown away. But a spreadsheet from the vendor ensures that you won't be left behind . Now let's take a closer look at pricing and how you break down each component. We started with the assumption that market price prevails, and that is true. Of course? You will get an average price in your area , and you know that it will dictate your costs, but that only applies to the patio itself. Let's assume, and I know that assumptions can lead to mistakes. But, you know, I've been called worse names my whole life. So, we assume that your pricing will fit within the market range, whatever it is. I will use my market range, which is an average of $18 to $23 per square foot. For this particular job, I charged him $19.70 per square foot. The reason I charged $19.70 per square foot is because it's right in the middle of my market range, a little closer to the lower end, and we did more work. Agreed, not a very scientific approach, right? But looking at 18, it wasn't a big job. If it were 500 to 1,000 square feet, I would take less. And if the work was less, I would take a little more. So I look at the scale of the work and think: yes, for large objects I can charge less. I need this object. I have a larger area to work on. Well, everything is different . For smaller objects. I also take into account the number of cuts I will have to make. Am I making a semicircle? Do I add an intricate pattern in the center? How much will you have to cut? So, when I look at the design and layout of the site itself, I always add a little more or a little less. If I create just one large box and use a brick pattern or wicker that fits easily, I will have to trim very little. Well, I don't need to take a lot of money. But this piece you saw earlier had a semi-circular edge, which meant I had to trim all of that, and then every other piece as well. So I can take a little more. So if a client asks me where my price comes from, I have a real justification. I have a specific reason that justifies the amount I can charge the client. Of course? You should take on such things knowing in advance what the end result of this work will be. We installed 10 inches of base material. Here we will approach the matter scientifically. Here we will break down the formula for you because there is no room for guesswork in this. Okay, six inches is the industry standard, right? Some might say four. I always say you need at least six. If you add more, then you are taking money out of your pocket because you may be charged for additional base material beyond 6 inches when needed. It was necessary at this facility. We installed 10 inches of base. Here's what we do : I have a formula because I get calls about it all the time . I get calls like, "Hey, can you come over and just prepare the base for me?" "I want to lay the paving stones myself." Well, that's terribly annoying. I'm sure you guys, as contractors , have received calls like this. I simply removed that annoyance and created a formula that works and makes me money. And I'm going to share it with you. This formula works at work, where I just go to prepare the base. I don't do anything anymore. I am not installing any brick patios. I don't do anything anymore. The formula is $1 per square foot per inch. OK. So, if I have 4 inches of base material that I have to install for a customer and I don't do anything else. So I need to dig a trench at his level. Then I have to pour four inches of base material in there. It will be $1, and let's say the area is 100 square feet. So that would be $1 per inch per square foot. So this is going to be 100 times 4, which is equal to what? $400 for preparing this area. I will list it again and get back to you with an answer. Hmm, well, here, yes, I checked the calculations , and they are correct. So, I want to transfer this formula to a real object and do a little comparison. OK. Now, if I were to prepare this area, this patio that I installed was 344 square feet. If he called me and I didn't do anything else but put in 4 inches of grade 5 crushed stone. You know, usually we put six, but in this case I want to stay at 4 inches so I don't get confused. If I were just putting 4 inches of grade 5 gravel on it and nothing else, without installing a patio or anything, I would take 344 times 4 because I'm putting 4 inches. Of course? So that would be $1,376. Here's what I would take from them. Let's say I was going to put down six inches of base material. Then that would be the size of the patio, 344 square feet multiplied by 6, and that gives me $2,064. And many of you will say, "Oh my god, you can't get those prices." Yes, I get it. Yes, I get it. But I'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota. You know, the prices here are high. So, on this particular object, you saw the filtration fabric and you saw 10 inches of the base. 6 inches came from the patio. The 4 inches were extra. Of course. So now I have a separate line item on my client invoice for this work. And it was $688. And that's how I came to this. Patio size, 344 times 4, which gives me my formula of $1,376, but I was already here at work. I'm installing a patio. I'm already doing other work. So I'll cut this price in half. Of course? This will cover my expenses. That will cover my materials. This will cover my work. This will give the customer a small discount. I'm not here to rip them off. Just because I'm on site doesn't mean I'll rip off the client for extra work, but I won't do it for free either. This is still an acceptable price for my company, but at the same time a fair price for the client. That's $688. OK. So, for this particular job, specifically the patio, I charged him $19.70 per square foot. I chose that price because the patio wasn't very big, so I raised it to the upper limit, between 18 and 23. And there was a whole side that had to be cut. But I also considered it against the background of the fact that we dismantled the pool. We covered it with black soil. We installed curbs. We completely transformed this man's backyard. The total amount of work was over $14,000 for just about everything we did there. So I wasn't going to, you know, put a maximum price on this patio. So in this video, you need to balance what you're going to set with the market price you can get, okay? Compared to how many cuts will have to be made, how much material will have to be thrown away. Make sure that at the end of the job you use the spreadsheet from your supplier for the final calculation of what you will charge the client. All my clients know this in advance. I am actually reporting that the table will be provided directly from the supplier and will list each block. Here's how I phrase it. I will provide you with a table that lists each block, the delivery day, the delivery time, who signed for the delivery. This will be your final bill for this work. We will be guided by this . We won't take a tape measure and measure how many square feet are actually installed. We will use what the supplier says was delivered to your site because that is what I, the contractor, have to pay for your materials. Now, in this table, I allow the customer to see the table, but I don't allow the customer to see the invoice amount. This is my business. How much I actually pay for the block is my business. Good? So I paint over or remove the actual invoice numbers, but focus on delivery, quantity of materials, and the like. And I have a prior arrangement with the supplier to get a very accurate and fast spreadsheet. So once the job is done, I call and say, " Hey, I'm billing for this job." I need a table." They will provide it to me within 24 hours and I can invoice the client immediately. So, that's how we do it for this job. I hope this helped you guys . What else do you want to see? Is there anything else I can sort out for you? If you have any questions or comments, please write them below. I read absolutely everything you write. Whether by email or in the comments under the video. Sometimes it takes me a while to respond to you. I apologize, but I read everything. Sometimes it's 10pm when I finish work, but I promise I'll read your messages. So leave a comment below. I am here to help you. I want you to make as much money as possible. Just watch the video. Go to work and earn a living. Go ahead, you can do it. I love you. Have a nice day.