All your Homebase are belong to... you! / The House 'n' Home Thread. - The Bear and Badger

poprock

Decking quoted at two grand has already cost us over six and isn’t finished yet. Materials costs have gone through the roof since Brexit, the pandemic, a hot summer, and resulting shortages.

[Deleted User]

Aye, this is one of the reasons we ar getting patio done at the top of the garden instead of decking, because last year there'd have been a £1500 difference and now it's more like £200.

yourfavouriteuncle

LivDiv wrote:

I dont know the ins and outs of all this stuff but it seems to me like for all the stuff like tree and ivy removal you are paying expensive people to do grunt work.
Did they break down the quote?
Might be worth trying to get a cheaper any old job type guy in to do the clearing.

Not a dig here but tree removal including the stump and getting a shit load of ivy out (properly) isn’t grunt work.
By all means have a go yourself with your b and q spade and a Sunday afternoon but I guarantee it won’t be done properly.

yourfavouriteuncle

Again that website is fine. They seem like they’ve been going a while, the pictures show a flat patio and stuff but again, I wouldn’t have them lay out my fucking garden if that’s a good example of their ‘design’. If Rhys wanted £15k and he’s on his own then they’ll want something similar, if not more.

It might be best for you to clear it as best you can (£220 per skip filled btw) and then get odd job men in to lay you a new patio etc.

tigersgogrrr

I'll do it for £5k.

[Deleted User]

I think Rhys is out now. May sound picky, but I asked him for quotes on Plan A and Plan B, Plan B being not to have the retaining wall and less patio at the top.

When he sent me the quote for Plan A for £15k, I texted asking what Plan b would cost. He asked me, "is that the same just without the wall?", I added the extra detail about the patio and he responded within 3 minute "That's £12k".

Seemed a bit too quick to me to come up with that value, like he was just making it up as he went.

tigersgogrrr

I'm moving house on Friday and I'm incredibly sad/excited/tired.

g.man

Good luck! Hope it goes well for you.

Diluted Dante

tigersgogrrr wrote:

I'm moving house on Friday and I'm incredibly sad/excited/tired.

#

I'll do it for £5k.

yourfavouriteuncle

tigersgogrrr wrote:

I'm moving house on Friday and I'm incredibly sad/excited/tired.

I’ll move you for £4.5k?

n0face

Just get a skip and do it yourself Tiger

Funkstain

Depending on size and type of trees
Type of wall (bricks?)
Size of patio and new decking

That doesn’t sound too bad, maybe? Unless you’re talking saplings, and a tiny 20sqm space or whatever and a metal wall

To save money the obvious stuff is getting rid of the smaller trees, ivy and plants yourself. Demolishing and removing the summer house and decking yourself or as liv says getting a day rate dude to do it (but you’ll pay for removal. Better just to protect your car and take it to recycling centre yourself, but pencil in days / weeks to get this done. Took me an entire hot afternoon to get rid of a small (tiny) fir!)

But a retaining brick wall (with new foundations etc), sizeable amount of levelling, and patio and decking is going to cost a bit if done well. Large trees (I’m talking ash or sycamore etc) will cost several hundred to remove each in my experience.

Funkstain

They things to watch out for IMO are the “cost savers”. Those who’ll say “I’ll get rid of it in my van, save you a skip”. They won’t pass on the whole saving and you’ll spend much more on the Labour days as they just pootle to the dump every 30 mins

Funkstain

Or the “ah I need to pop to travis Perkins for such and such” oh so you weren’t prepared for the job?

davyK

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I dont know the ins and outs of all this stuff but it seems to me like for all the stuff like tree and ivy removal you are paying expensive people to do grunt work. Did they break down the quote? Might be worth trying to get a cheaper any old job type guy in to do the clearing.

Not a dig here but tree removal including the stump and getting a shit load of ivy out (properly) isn’t grunt work. By all means have a go yourself with your b and q spade and a Sunday afternoon but I guarantee it won’t be done properly.

This.

It will also take a shitload more time than initially thought.

You would need to see costs for labour and skilled work. That's what our guy gave us.

LivDiv

Its obviously going to be easier to pay the money to get a professional in but Kris is clearly struggling with budget here.
It will depend on the size tree of course but it is entirely possible, with hard work to pull a tree up on your own and not have it grow back or entirely destroy the ground so nothing else grows there.
Ive helped my dad do it several times over the years. Im not really sure how much more properly it can be done than up, didnt grow back, desired thing grew in it's place.

It doesn't mean that Im devaluing the professionals at all but if it was me and I couldn't afford the quote I would be looking at what I can do and what I really have to pay for a professional to do. I would sooner dig up a tree than attempt a retaining wall.
Its that or lose something else like the patio.

davyK

Fair point. I've done my own work myself at times over the years. Had a close call with a chainsaw and that curbed my enthusiasm for that line of work (sawing up a tree I felled).

As long as one knows ones limits.

LivDiv

Yeah of course.
Safety is the most important thing.

yourfavouriteuncle

Pfft. Safety, shmafety. Everything can be beaten with metal and flames and with lots of exciting outcomes!

[Deleted User]

Thanks all, but the conversation is now done. Had a chat with the Missus this evening who made it clear she doesn't really give a shit what it costs, we'll be paying it and not wasting our own time doing it badly for less.

I hope for her sake that whoever we get does the job she expects.

x

GooberTheHat

Even if they don't your hands will thank her. Digging out a tree trunk is almost guaranteed blister material.

davyK

One of the trees I felled almost fell on top of me. The felling and cutting up of those trees was not my finest hour.

I'm not averse to lifting, carrying , digging out etc. to reduce costs. Have done a fair bit of that. But when it comes to anything at scale I would take too long and probably do my back in.

Kow

What do you call those things you use to look for electrical cables behind a wall before drilling etc? And what would be a reliable/cheap brand that I can buy on Amazon or somewhere easily?

davyK

Just called a cable detector. There are combo ones that can detect water pipes too. Not expensive. Sort of thing you can pick up in B&Q easily.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BLACK-DECKER-BDS200-Pipe-Detector/dp/B000FDXF8Q

The Daddy

Stud finder. Bosch.

Kow

No B&Q here but I'm sure I can find something similar.

Kow

Ok cool, thanks.

Unlikely

We have one of those. I don't know how to use it.

davyK

The one I linked to didn't get good reviews but there are alternatives. I'd err on spending a bit more.

Kow

Looking at the Amazon reviews, some people say the Bosch ones (actually every brand really) are completely useless and find nothing or beep everywhere, others say they're great. Is it possible that some people just don't know how to use the damn thing or is it the type of device that just can't be trusted? I'd really prefer not to electrocute myself.

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