Am I being given quotes too high? (Austin: sales, rent)

[janejanejanejanejane]

The prices I am getting to till (3 men, 3 tillers two days to till, two days to lay sod) and rake my 16,000 sq ft yard that is full of dead rye grass, and to lay 36 pallets of bermudagrass is $9200.That includes everything.
I have called a few other companies and they are more expensive than this.

Is tilling tedious? Something two regular home owners could do with this size of yard? Are we being taken?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by janejanejanejanejane

The prices I am getting to till (3 men, 3 tillers two days to till, two days to lay sod) and rake my 16,000 sq ft yard that is full of dead rye grass, and to lay 36 pallets of bermudagrass is $9200.That includes everything.
I have called a few other companies and they are more expensive than this.

Is tilling tedious? Something two regular home owners could do with this size of yard? Are we being taken?

Pardon my tone, but nine grand is just the beginning, if you plan to maintain a 16K sq ft lawn(unless you are putting down turfalo or similar). Bermuda will look just as dead and ugly as St. A if not watered properly(Yeah, yeah, it supposedly goes 'dormant' but doesn't die...tell my neighbors that!). That brings us to watering(assuming you don't have a secret, private water source)...Our entire lot is about the size of your lawn--subtract the sizable house footprint, patio and large driveway and we're looking at a very few thousand feet of lawn...STILL had water bills pushing $300/mo during the 4 summer months last year.

But, to answer ONE of your questions...tilling MOST yards around here is a major pain in the rear. MAYBE you have nice topsoil(which would have been added, most likely), in which case tilling wouldn't be all that tough(except it's going to be 94 degrees on Thursday). A lot will depend on the condition of the ground...you could have a DIY tiller bouncing around like a jack rabbit. We couldn't till ONE square foot of our yard without getting a wheel barrow to carry off the limestone .

Dang, that must be a nice house! I mean that sincerely...if it warrants replacing sixteen thousand square feet of lawn. I'm trying to cut ours BACK!

Don't mind me Too much yard work today .

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by janejanejanejanejane

The prices I am getting to till (3 men, 3 tillers two days to till, two days to lay sod) and rake my 16,000 sq ft yard that is full of dead rye grass, and to lay 36 pallets of bermudagrass is $9200.That includes everything.
I have called a few other companies and they are more expensive than this.

Is tilling tedious? Something two regular home owners could do with this size of yard? Are we being taken?

the bermuda itself is around 3600

Laborers should cost around $30/hour (or less) * 3 people * 4 days * 8 = 2800

there are sales ppl overhead etc.. chances are they double labor and materials cost to get a 60% gross margin

What if you purchase the sod yourself?

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Austin97

the bermuda itself is around 3600

Laborers should cost around $30/hour (or less) * 3 people * 4 days * 8 = 2800

there are sales ppl overhead etc.. chances are they double labor and materials cost to get a 60% gross margin

What if you purchase the sod yourself?

you could rent a bobcat delivered for like $300/day with a rake attachment+tiller and get the whole yard tilled really quickly yourself. Get the sod delivered and roll it yourself - or get some laborers off craigslist. You should be able to pay them 15/hour

[atxcio]

16,000 sq feet of only lawn? Or is that your whole lot? 16000 sq ft of grass is a lot to take care of... Can you landscape some of that in another way? Mulch/ hardscape/natural area? It will translate into a BIG savings down the road.

The way I figure it, maybe $100 per pallet max based on how many you are buying...probably only need 32 pallets max even if your lawn is that big -- you don't need all the extra you typically might want, since it fills in nicely and it's super easy to seed some areas. So a couple of hundred for delivery, and you are at about $3500 w/o labor. How many days will the "labor" spend there, doing the prep and install? For a few guys, even with a nice profit and equip rental, $800 per day labor is about right. I'd estimate 2 full days so... Probably about $5100 max. And that would be on the high end.

I don't know the full situation, of course... So YMMV.

I still don't understand why you wouldn't just seed the bermuda. Don't need to tell the HOA anything, just do it in 1 morning, water real good, and boom you have a green lawn. Who's gonna complain? As far as you know it was just the lawn fairy...

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Pardon my tone, but nine grand is just the beginning, if you plan to maintain a 16K sq ft lawn(unless you are putting down turfalo or similar). Bermuda will look just as dead and ugly as St. A if not watered properly(Yeah, yeah, it supposedly goes 'dormant' but doesn't die...tell my neighbors that!). That brings us to watering(assuming you don't have a secret, private water source)...Our entire lot is about the size of your lawn--subtract the sizable house footprint, patio and large driveway and we're looking at a very few thousand feet of lawn...STILL had water bills pushing $300/mo during the 4 summer months last year.

But, to answer ONE of your questions...tilling MOST yards around here is a major pain in the rear. MAYBE you have nice topsoil(which would have been added, most likely), in which case tilling wouldn't be all that tough(except it's going to be 94 degrees on Thursday). A lot will depend on the condition of the ground...you could have a DIY tiller bouncing around like a jack rabbit. We couldn't till ONE square foot of our yard without getting a wheel barrow to carry off the limestone .

Dang, that must be a nice house! I mean that sincerely...if it warrants replacing sixteen thousand square feet of lawn. I'm trying to cut ours BACK!

Don't mind me Too much yard work today .

I think our lot is like 8000 we put in a pool, rocks, patio so all the grass in the backyard is gone. we now have a small maybe 1600 sq ft patch in the front. I would love to get rid of it too

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Austin97

the bermuda itself is around 3600

Laborers should cost around $30/hour (or less) * 3 people * 4 days * 8 = 2800

there are sales ppl overhead etc.. chances are they double labor and materials cost to get a 60% gross margin

What if you purchase the sod yourself?

(I calculated the bermuda at .22/sq ft in bulk - over 8000 sq ft)

[achtungpv]

Tilling is easy if you don't mind labor. I did about 5,000 sq ft in 2 hours. If you go the bobcat route, it'd probably take you 90 minutes to till and rake. By myself, I laid 6 pallets of grass in 6 hours. It's not rocket science. I would definitely till and rake one day, get the bermuda delivered the next and go pick up 2-4 internationals at Home Depot. If you pay $100 each, that'll be more than the going daily labor rate and you'll have your pick of laborers.

[10scoachrick]

AND all bets are off if there is an existing sprinkler system . Cutting loose day-laborers with tillers would be a sure way to get rid of some sprinkler heads--or worse!

If there is NO in-ground irrigation system, keeping that huge lawn green is going to be some major work!

I know there are plenty of yards around that encompass 16,000 sq ft of grass; but if you're trying to picture that lawn, it's a nice 100' frontage with 160 feet of depth...or 125 foot by 125 foot area. That's a lot of feet!

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

I know there are plenty of yards around that encompass 16,000 sq ft of grass; but if you're trying to picture that lawn, it's a nice 100' frontage with 160 feet of depth...or 125 foot by 125 foot area. That's a lot of feet!

I totally agree.

And this is off topic, not meaning to question the OP since everyone should have what they want... but I'm curious, in what circumstances would you need so much lawn? For handgliding lessons or something? Concerts in the backyard? Children can play in a much smaller area. You can have a fantastic looking yard with a combination of mulched or natural areas, partial xeriscaping, flowerbeds, hardscape for lawn furniture/sitting areas, etc. Plus, things like that do a great job of "setting off" the area of lawn you do end up keeping as grass -- so it looks really nice and planned.

I think if it were me, and I had the kind of budget to think about $9K for grass, I might hire a landscape designer for $500 bucks and have them draw some plans for a nice landscape that isn't 100% lawn.