In the Villages, What is the best price for services from contractors?
 

I have found that the prices for services from contractors are widely different here in The Villages.

I have come right out and asked twice when a landscaper has posted a picture of a landscaping job, how much did that cost and they gave both times, both contractors what to me was an evasive answer.

I was thinking how we residents could help each other shop for services and get the best price. Most of us need to be mindful of our budgets.

For instance, we paid $175 for our one year inspection. It arrived in the form of a booklet with pictures and was very complete. We got the name of the guy from neighbors and the contractor turned his report over to warranty and all items were attended to immediately.

We paid $35 dollars in Hadley for the power washing of our vinyl siding Camellia, but found a contractor that would include the lanai for $50.

In Hadley we had a lawn service that cut our lawn, trimmed our bushes,edged and chemically weeded for $55 a month. Our Camellia had a small lot backing to a wall.

We found the lowest prices AND an excellent job for the pull down stairs from Tim the Toolman and for the gutters and downspouts from M and M, but Sweetie can't locate the bills.

When we were in Hadley the going price to have one 25 foot queen palm planted and guaranteed for a year was about $850 dollars.

There was a handyman that charged $15 dollars an hour for things like hanging extra shelves in closets and anchoring bookcases to the wall. Labor, not materials.

I don't know what the price is on having the driveway painted because we haven't had it done and we also have not had curbing added to our landscaping.

It would be useful if people wanted to share the cost of things that they have had done, so that we can evaluate what is a fair price.

Gracie......good post! A year ago we added 2 solar tubes in the bathrooms. $1000 for the 2 installed by The Solar Guys! Excellent job! They get high marks on this website.

Kathy

Gracie......good post! A year ago we added 2 solar tubes in the bathrooms. $1000 for the 2 installed by The Solar Guys! Excellent job! They get high marks on this website.

Kathy

I agree, I'm seeing landscaping prices all over the place (rock estimate to replace pine needles $1800-$5000, corner lot with landscaping on 3 sides). It's also best to do a search here to see if the contractor is reputable or not. Will save you lots of grief.

Contractors consider how much they need your job when quoting. If busy, expect to see higher quotes.

Another thing is that some contractors bundle services and some quotes I have heard are outrageous....and some are fair. If we don't know how much the going rate is for application of fertilizer, and lawn pests, etc. etc. we can't know if that bundle is a good deal.


Gracie the tight.

Gracie

You concept has merit BUT it can only apply to very specific sutiuations. There are many variables with every type of work.

You metioned landscaping, that is so depenedent upon the needs of the homeowner that it would be difficult to compare apples to apples. Yes you can say $35 ft for a queen palm installed but what if the palm is located in a not so accessible area, or are all queen palms created equal! The same applies for stone $XX per ton but then the variable is how many tons do you need...how far is it to carry it to install?? No job is the same and then of course there are always the changes to the original contract!

Just look at trying to get a price for shades for your house. Everything effects the price, ie.manufacturer; solar, trac, roll-up etc; the fabric, the degree of visible light; motorized or not--- wired or battery--how many remotes----wall switch--even the brand of motor; do you want installation, Etc. Very hard to compare what you want to someone who simply posts it cost be $1500 for shades when you know the range can be $1000-$5000.

We had a custom built wall to wall entertainment center built. There were many variables that entered into the price ie, size; painted vs stained -- well that determined if he was going to use #1 (stainable) or #2 (paintable)grade wood which greatly effected the price; glass vs wood shelvfs, cabinet doors; moulding top and bottom, type of lighting and hindges; and finally any electronics built in allowing you to operate your equipment. No one standard fits all and for different set-ups the the price could be $1000 a part.

I think with landscaping and most other construction work the reputation of the contractor you are dealing with is by far the better guage of getting quality work and a quality product at a fair price....and someone who willl stand behind their work. This type of work varies by consumer, thats why as you stated a contractor will give you an ify answer unless you are a serious customer. AS someone else mentioned, contractors such as T&D have a great reputation but because they are so busy they only take on certain jobs and you must wait a fairly long time just to get an estimate. The same is happening with smaller or even independent contractors who have developed a good reputation...there is a reason why!

Oh i forgot to mention, just as contractors are individuals, the consumers (you and I ) are even moreso! What you may consider a fair price for a particular piece of work, well my perception may or may not agree with you... its only human nature.

You know that I think you are one of the smartest guys I know, so I have failed to communicate well.

I think what I meant to say is...will posters share what they paid or have been quoted for certain services...and maybe the range of the quotes?

For instance. For a designer home of about 2000 sq feet and vinyl siding...what is a good price for powerwashing? I say $35.

Or..what is a good price/ or range for a small lot, medium lot, large/end lot for grass mowing per month or grass mowing and trimming per month or grass mowing, trimming, edging and no weeding and no fertilizing per month?

I am not asking selfishly, I just think some people are paying too much for some services because they are new to the area. Grass cutting is MUCH cheaper here than in Ohio, but our lots are much smaller too.

Please share...and if you don't want to say...say a neighbor pays a certain amount for this service.

I'm betting that a lot of people don't want to post what they paid for goods and services because they don't want to hear, "You paid what? I only paid such-and-such."

You know what? You are right. (As usual)

How about this. Let's assume that we are all out searching for quotes.





How about if we would say...Is 35K a reasonable price for a golf cart addition to a garage on a vinyl sided home?

OR...how much per running foot does curbing cost and what are the kinds of curbing offered?

Or what is the going rate for a concrete pad poured 4" deep and 14' by 14'?

Or. What is a fair price for a bird cage with a concrete pad that is 14'x16'?

Jimbo has done a LOT of research and I know others have as well.

that why you should always get at least three quotes for any project. I have been in the const , business all my life and the prices in the villages are all over the place

How much did you pay for that?
 

Unless you are planning on having the work done, why would you ask? I have seen people ask about the cost of landscaping when those people have made it clear they had no intention to have landscaping done. Isn't that a little like holding the china up to the light to see what it's worth?

I have paid $150 to have my hair cut and $35 to have my hair cut. Is the cost important to a person or the cut?

I just had a solar tube put in my home for $350.... I had to call the installer and have it removed and replaced by a much more expensive one.... It made a difference!

Landscaping rock can cost from $1000 to $5000 depending on the type of rock and how much rock a landscaper uses... Some landscapers will skimp on the rock. *shrug*

If you are interested in having work done.... Call the contractors and get estimates for YOUR home! What you want done may not be the same as what someone else wants and of course would make a difference in the cost of the project.

Also consider.... what something is worth to one person may not be worth that to another.

Now... back to landscapers.... You see a couple of pictures and want to know what the job costs.... Since you aren't seeing the WHOLE job... The cost would mean nothing. Not to mention as already posted... many people don't announce the price of their purchases.

just had all our rock "refreshed" after 10 years it has been beaten down some....11 tons + clean up and weed befoe putting down the new rock...$1400.

Trimming/cleaning of queen palms....anywhere from $8- $15 per tree...they will bargain for the job.

Lawn mowing $15 per week.

Trim bushes once per quarter $65...same person that mows the grass.

Fertilize grass and bushes....monthly treatment...$500 for the year.

We have a much larger than usual premier lot.

btk

PS excellent post/subject GG

Gracie the thread is good idea, it make separate the stealers from the dealers.

The most frequent problem shopping for services like landscaping is the home calls up say 3 companies.

They give a price but it's on 3 different verbal designs and items included, that's a great way to bid against yourself.

Beware of someone that will not sketch out what your getting.

Also ask up front if they get you ARC approval for the proposed work,

You should have one plan and shop that plan, if you're spending over $7500-10K you really should hire a landscape architect for about $750, shop that plan which will specify everything.

Construction additions similar to above, many say to each contractor I want to add a room on about this big how much.

Again you may not get your monies worth, a set of blue prints are required, the contractor will hire someone and add his markup and he works not for U but the contractor, bad idea.

U hire your own architect work on the design, shop that design, contractors are not designers.

.

We've had our water oak trimmed twice in fours years of living here. Both times the crews were insured, had workers' comp on their employees and we saw the documentation before they touched our trees. They had to climb our tree and rope down the branches they cut. They removed the debris and didn't ask for a cent until the job was completed. We paid over $700 for the water oak that hangs over our driveway. The first time we also had them trim up a live oak in our backyard on the golf course. The total for both trees was about $1200.

We also own a house where my father-in-law is living. The property is home to a magnificent magnolia. Maybe the prettiest in all of TV. The woman we bought from told us the name of the tree man who trimmed the tree every year for her. He is also licensed and has the proper insurance on his men. He just did trimmed that tree a few months back for $100.

They didn't have to climb the tree nor worry about heavy branches damaging a driveway. Anyway, on the surface the prices sound very far out of range doing a comparison of tree trimming. With a closer look, it makes sense why the two companies charged very different prices.

We talked to people who have had similar work done much cheaper, but the contractors left with a promise to come back for the limbs and-you guessed it-they didn't come back.

I think it is the same with landscapers. If you are interested in having work done, get a few quotes. If Mansfield or another landscaper posted photos of my yard and the beautiful work they did for me AND posted how much I paid, I'd be upset. Plus, you know prices change and are seasonal on some things. I bet they would hate to be committed to a price someone saw online for a particular landscape job six months ago or a year ago and quizzed why their quote was different.

I think it would be reasonable to know how much a 25 foot queen palm is to be planted in the front of the house and in the back of the house if the back of the house is more difficult to access. I would like to know how much it would cost to have curbing of this type and height and material run in the front and in the back or the front and not the back or how much it costs per running foot and filled with pine straw or white rock or tire pieces. I would like to see a menu please. With the prices. Perhaps it is cheaper in the summer but you have to wait, or vice versa. I don't want to take advantage of anyone, but I don't want them to take advantage of me.

The trouble with me is this. If I had landscaping done, I would tell people who wanted to know how much it cost. That is because I am me, people from Ohio usually have more class than I do.

I like to access the price without the hard sell. I want to know how much things cost so I can think about what I want and how much I want to spend. I hate slick Eddie the car salesman type contractors who come to your house and tell you what they are gonna do for ya. I think Jimbo is right that you need to do your homework, find out what kinds of plants live through the winters here easily, see what kind of ground cover is best and how much it costs to keep it up.

For instance, We have beds all around our house and we use pine straw which we replace twice a year for the price of about $600 each time. Little less if we bring it home in the van, a little more if it is delivered. We put it down ourselves. It seems that a landscaper could tell you. I charge x amount to do that job.

Or perhaps a landscaper could show a picture on this forum of a home not belonging to one of us and say this picture has 7 queen palms, four Iberian huskies and two land turtles and it cost this much. The huskies and land turtles were added just to see if you were paying attention.

$600 for pine straw?! And you are buying your own and replacing it twice a year! You are doing your own work and it costs that much? That seems like a lot to me. Seriously.

LOL Huskies and land turtles.

I may be wrong. It takes fifty, sixty bales each time. I think Lowes sells it for about four or five bucks a bale now that I think of it. Perhaps I was thinking of how much it costs a year.

Gracie, as if on cue, Mansfield just posted new photos in a new thread of another spectacular job they did. They do beautiful work.

Gracie Thank You
 

This thread is great and don't listen to the detractors. Yes everyone should get several quotes but having a ball park figure to work from is great. Everyone comes from different areas and may not know specifics to the Villages area.
Case in point I recently sold my house up north. When preparing for sale I decided a powerwash was in order. Three quotes came in at $450, $450, $475. I decided I was better off buying a power washer (my old one had broken so I was going to get it done until I heard the price!) for $200 and did it myself. Now I am moving to the Villages and I would fully expect to pay around $400 to powerwash a 2000 sq ft designer and based on my past experience instead of calling a contractor I would shuffle off to Lowes and buy another power washer, but based on your information provided that would be foolish if I could have it done for me at under 50 bucks!
So again thanks for the thread and lets keep it going to help others. To the others who say it is without merit I say Bah humbug keep posting folks!

I have found and a contractor actually told me they raise their prices during the snowbird season and lower them during the summer. Once snowbirds get back to TV demand for goods and services go up and so does the cost. I think the number one consideration for me is the quality of the work and then the price. I therefore go with recommendations from neighbors and friends try to get 3 or 4 bids and go with the cheapest bid from a recommended contractor. After all if you just go on price and end up with a terrible job you wasted that money

Amen. I am always saddened by the number of people who don't follow that rule and get ripped off. My neighbor is a college educated man who knew better. We saw him stacking tree limps and cleaning up his front yard after having a company trim his tree. He said, "Don't ask."

They had finished the job and just needed to clean up the remainder of the limbs and asked if they could come back in the morning. He said he knew better, but thought it would be okay since they had already picked up a great deal of the mess and "seemed honest." Since it was a Friday afternoon he went ahead and paid them. They never came back.

The issue you have raised cannot be generalized. Many variable factors must be considered regarding virtually all services. Size of lot, size of home, # of trees, number of shrubs, quality of workmanship that will satisfy you, how much you are willing to pay, etc., etc., etc. It is just plain silly to try to compare Apples to Oranges without a rational basis for comparison. Around here with so many rogue contractors, the best price will often result in the most grief. Comparing one vendor vs. another cannot be effectively done without a clear knowledge of all the variables that that might affect the ultimate choice. A far better approach would include at a minimum the following: Never pay for work up front! Never have work done by an unsolicited person/company that shows up at your door without an invitation. Check with the BBB or check with Srs. vs. Crime before dealing with unknown contractors who may turn out to be the next scammer in the neighborhood.

How about high prices and still end up with a terrible job. If you don't know better your OK with results except when you see other work by different contractor.

what is the big secret on landscaping someone posts a pic of the wonderful job but won't say how much...so what is you paid $$$$$ if that's what you wanted and are happy why can't you say...it would help some know if they could have a great escape in their yard...and GG i have pine straw delivered for 4.75/bale or 6.75/bale installed...he brings more than you need just incase..but if you need less you get less..most honest guy ever.. 855-475-A-Bale...we thought we needed 10 bales...his are larger than what you get at big box...we only needed 6 so that what he charged us

I ask this question to any Landscaping company. How much to plant one fifteen foot tall Sylvester Palm in a front yard?

I think that I will be told that landscaping is more than the planting of one palm. Landscaping is an art of replacing certain useless plants put there by the developer and that grow too fast and replacing them with other plants that they will sell me and that color and balance is key and also rate of growth and overall maintenance of the plant and it's suitability to this zone etc.etc.etc. and that putting down a weed barrier is important and also curbing to keep out the long invasive trailers from the Zoysia grass. I think that I will get a sell job.

I hate sell jobs. I just want to see pictures or graphs with placement of plants and trees and the cost, like we got back in Ohio.

Very true

Hoping this thread will keep some overpayment from happening.

I think it's a good idea.
You talk specifics (eg. Lawn services, lot size) how much
Per month for mowing, etc.
This will help all of us not get overcharged!

Stay away from door-to-door landscape "companies" as you will most definitely get taken as I did. Specifically, TPM Palm and Tree Service and MRM Palm and Tree Service. I believe they are in cohoots with e/o and beware - they are slick and smooth talking. Had to go to Seniors vs. Crime to get an issue resolved.

:clap2::agree:

Gracie, I think this is a great thread idea. And to the naysayers, I think we all have sense enough to understand there may be differences that need to be taken into consideration. I am often surprised by how much more a job is quoted that I expected and occasionally I am pleasantly surprised how much less. There are even some jobs that I have NO idea if we're talking hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars, so it's nice to have a "starting" point, understood that's all it is....just a starting point.

If I read on here that Gracie paid $35 for power washing and then I get quoted $400, I know to immediately look elsewhere. If I get quoted $50, well then....there might be something a little different about my house, so no problem.

I would still expect to check out the company in advance, maybe ask for references on here or from neighbors, etc.

We were just quoted $3200 to re-stain our driveway/walk/porch. I thought that was high. They would need to remove the old stain and start from scratch....double drive, usual walkway and standard ranch front porch. Decorative stain. If anyone has had that done, how does that price sound? Thanks.

BTW, the stain quote was from the same company that did the original job for the previous owner. I think it was a good job....just was never kept up by the previous owner and we haven't done anything in the 20 months we've been here.

One tip I would add when getting quotes.

First ask how long the job will take?

How many men?

So that comes to X number of hours, now if you take the quote and divide it by the number hours does that make sense?

Say in the post above they say it will take 2 men two full days to remove the old stain and a few hours to coat it it 3 times it may work out with material and overhead profit etc.

But if they say I can do it all in day myself.......Some Doctors don't make that much.

So gauge the quote by the time & materials as a guideline.

Quality, Service and Price. Pick two (2)

Good point. True enough when comparing contractors who are on the up and up. However, rip off contractors around legion around these parts. So, some add-on advice: Get quotes from only highly recommended contractors. Then pick two. ;)

Of course that makes sense. Years ago we received a quote from a lawn service (not in TV). He had been highly recommended by friends. He told us it would take 2 people, 6 hours per visit, every two weeks. We did exactly as you suggest...did the math to figure out an hourly rate for each person, plus supplies, etc., etc......seemed like a fair price. Well, after a couple of visits, he started showing up by himself and finishing the job in 3 hours. When we told him we were paying for 2 people for 6 hours, he absolutely did not understand our point. His view was the job was getting done....why did we care how many people or how long? We tried to explain his quote was dishonest because it was based on 12 hours for the job....not 3. We parted ways....

We just installed undercounting lighting. Quote from Pike Electric was double that of R & A electric. We are very pleased with R &A's work.

And the price was?