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waterfront landscapes
18-11-2007, 07:35 PM
hey guys just wondering what sum of you guys charge for installing irrigation, e.g timers and laying drip line, do u charge per hr or how many meters, cos i know some people charge per hr or by the meters, and woundering what works best. any comments will be helpful cheers lads :wave-hi: :)

Sheedys Mowing
18-11-2007, 09:04 PM
I think you can charge by the meter but have an idea of how many meters it takes you per hour and work out a price. eg. if it takes you an hour to lay 5 meters and you want $30 per hour you would charge $6 per meter, cheers. :)

bigG
18-11-2007, 10:01 PM
i charge by the hour simply because you never know what probs you may encounter

kakegc
19-11-2007, 09:15 AM
i charge by the hour simply because you never know what probs you may encounter


Spot on! We never quote irrigation, we always give an estimate & make a point of telling the customer that we don't know what we may encounter along the way & that if we have issues, it will affect the price :)

bb1
19-11-2007, 05:41 PM
Definitely hourly,

waterfront landscapes
21-11-2007, 05:26 PM
cheers boys! thanks for d tips

m287j
21-11-2007, 07:06 PM
A client and i installed a drip irrigation system at his property today, with the two of us i anticipated it taking just under a day, but it will turn out to be a day and a bit. Damm fiddly stuff these irrigation systems.

Glad i inflated the price to cover the labor aspect, i worked it out on a hourly rate plus a bit more.

Definitely quote by the hour or if the client insists on a total $ figure price then allow half as much again just in case. :)

bb1
21-11-2007, 07:22 PM
I installed one of the zapper style dog fences today for a client, sim iliar to irrigation, in as far as I had to dig under drive's, etc, took twice as long as I anticipated, but I had told her it would be an hourly rate.

No matter how easy things may look, always take the safe way to quote. There are many pitfalls, we can fall into if not careful.

waterfront landscapes
21-11-2007, 07:31 PM
yeah got d job, did it yesterday, ended up quoting and adding a little more to the quote just in case it took me a few hours to and i started it in the arvo, so i didn't get off the job till 7, and the owner couldnt use the water cos i had the water off, "what do u do" if any of u boys do a job make sure u use heaps of the plumping type and do it when the owner is not there, dats if you hav 2 trun the water off. they say easy to install but that is bull ****, lol

administrator
21-11-2007, 07:55 PM
Ok so if u did over quote on the job by a fair margin because you wernt to sure.
Yet the customer was happy


Would you

A Give a Rebate

B Buy them a gift

c keep the extra profit

or

D Stiff Cheddar

Just wondering i know what i would do


:wave-hi:

waterfront landscapes
21-11-2007, 08:00 PM
keep the extra profit cos i know sum time down the track, im goin to under quote. or get my self in a pickle

m287j
21-11-2007, 08:48 PM
For me Admin, answer is C, keep the extra profit. If the client was happy with the quote and then happy with the end result and it took me less time than expected great, more money in my pocket and a happy client.

A win win situation all round, furthermore who knows, maybe i worked too fast on the job and completed it super quick. :rolleyes:

kakegc
22-11-2007, 08:56 PM
Swings & roundabouts! ;) I'm sure you know what I mean Dean! :bike:

TassieXJ
14-04-2009, 12:01 PM
Been in the turf side of work, lve done alot of irrigation, I price alittle different to most on this site.

When l do a quote, l measure up the area and draw up a scale plan and also check how much water comes out of tape (lts/min).

Then work out all the fittings and pipe needed, plus soil, seed, fert, trencher, etc.

Then get a price on all parts, work out how long the job should take and then add 20% to total price.

eg. job for a small school lawn l did last year, modify the qoute for client's information.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj82/TassieXJ/scan0002-2.jpghttp://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj82/TassieXJ/scan0001-2.jpg
Pricing for budget

Main school
mp rotors $165.00
bodys $44.00
risers $38.50
tee pop-ups $4.80
elbow pop-ups $8.40
tees $4.00
solenoids $125.00
controller $220.00
green box $40.00
25m wire $126.00
120m 1" pipe $180.00
trencher $250.00
2m loam $88.00
seed $145.00
fert $60.00

SUBTOTAL $1,498.70

Labour 2 1/2 Days $1,200.00

SUBTOTAL $2,698.70

20% for unseen $539.74

TOTAL $5,937.14

Stripes
14-04-2009, 06:55 PM
I always give a set price on Irrigation installations and hourly rate for repairs/service.
Installations are normally x per square metre. There are'nt too many irrigation people around anymore cause of the restrictions. I dont really advertise that I do it, but will always suggest it to my mowing clients for Winter work, or If I am turfing I will always recommend dripline underneath the turf.
I miss irrigation! I wish the stupid dam would fill up. It was very good money.

Kim
14-04-2009, 08:12 PM
Well what a timely post this is! I have had 3 retic quotes in the last fortnight and 2 want to go ahead and then I got another regular client who says ohhh you do retic and wants a quote and then there is 3 new houses that need landscaping that is also retic :talk2hand . I have charged for labour at an hourly rate, but don't give an estimate of how long it will take me, I say 2-3 days I never say I will have it done it 2 days, it is all on an hourly rate because I don't know whether my trench digger will be hitting a tree stump or what :i dunno: pulled my shoulder last time that happened :dean:
My biggest problem is that the majority of people here have accounts with the stores, they are farmers and they say "just book it up on my account", so I can't put any percentage on my parts, I don' t , mind really, it is honest and I do a proffessional job but everyone keeps telling me I am too cheap with my labour I think thats why I am getting all the work, I noticed I am half the cost of labour in the previous post so I will have to up my labour charge for retic in particular I think.

TassieXJ
14-04-2009, 09:50 PM
I always give a set price on Irrigation installations and hourly rate for repairs/service.
Installations are normally x per square metre. There are'nt too many irrigation people around anymore cause of the restrictions. I dont really advertise that I do it, but will always suggest it to my mowing clients for Winter work, or If I am turfing I will always recommend dripline underneath the turf.
I miss irrigation! I wish the stupid dam would fill up. It was very good money.

One of the best things about living in Tasmania. no water restrictions

TassieXJ
14-04-2009, 10:00 PM
My biggest problem is that the majority of people here have accounts with the stores, they are farmers and they say "just book it up on my account", so I can't put any percentage on my parts, I don' t , mind really, it is honest and I do a proffessional job but everyone keeps telling me I am too cheap with my labour I think thats why I am getting all the work, I noticed I am half the cost of labour in the previous post so I will have to up my labour charge for retic in particular I think.

Quoting is a funny thing, lve been doing the irrigation on the side for a few years now and get told that lm either to cheap to expensive

Kim
15-04-2009, 08:31 AM
yeah it's funny some people who have absolutly no idea of how much it does cost to lay retic, when you give a quote say "WHAT THAT MUCH" but on the other hand the people who have a rough idea are OK with it. Alot of people when I give them a list of the parts broken down for their quote, go shopping to find parts cheaper and then just get me to install.

Stripes
15-04-2009, 05:25 PM
I have charged for labour at an hourly rate, but don't give an estimate of how long it will take me, I say 2-3 days I never say I will have it done it 2 days, it is all on an hourly rate because I don't know whether my trench digger will be hitting a tree stump or what :i dunno: pulled my shoulder last time that happened :dean:


I used to give a set price, but state on the quote it will be extra if there are surprises- Heavy rock, concrete underneath paving etc. One of the first installs I did I had 200mm thick concrete base underneath a path around the house!I was expecting raod base and sand. I had to hire a concrete saw etc etc, so i learnt my lesson and added the clause at the bottom.

Kim
15-04-2009, 07:23 PM
I used to give a set price, but state on the quote it will be extra if there are surprises- Heavy rock, concrete underneath paving etc. One of the first installs I did I had 200mm thick concrete base underneath a path around the house!I was expecting raod base and sand. I had to hire a concrete saw etc etc, so i learnt my lesson and added the clause at the bottom.

Good advice I am going to add something like this as well just as a precaution.

Fred's mowing
15-04-2009, 08:15 PM
Hi TassieXJ,
Your quoting system looks very pro & comprehensive, I hope you`re winning most times as it looks quite time consuming or do u charge for quotes.
I assume u dont give them the plan (only show) untill they accept your quote?
Cheers Dean.

TassieXJ
15-04-2009, 08:50 PM
Hi TassieXJ,
Your quoting system looks very pro & comprehensive, I hope you`re winning most times as it looks quite time consuming or do u charge for quotes.
I assume u dont give them the plan (only show) untill they accept your quote?
Cheers Dean.

So far so good, once you done a few they dont take long to do. The main reason for doing the scale plans is to work out the right amount of parts needed away from site. Doesn't waste time during the day.

They only get a copy of the plan after l got the job.

I have found the odd surprise under the ground, but sofar sogood the 20% extra seem to be anough.