Paver patio - looking for professional's thoughts

[kman]

I'm a homeowner who has been lurking here for a few months. I recently took on a pretty sizable project, and may want to hire someone with more knowledge to finish. The project is a 430 sq. ft. paver patio, that would also have a 12' x 12' lower level. I want to include a sunken fire pit in the lower level. I have already purchased 7 skids of Unilock Brussels Block pavers, as well as excavated the area. The next step would be the 3/4 minus base.

My question is, If I were to ask for prices from professionals to finish the job, are these prices going to be high because this isn't the type of job most contractors want?

If it sounds like just another job, anybody interested in giving me a price?

:)

I live in the Joliet/Plainfield area of Illinois.

Thanks for your input.

[Stonehenge]

Hello Kman,

Welcome to the site. Regarding the project in question, I'll give you my perspective on it, and that might shed some light on whether you'll have success or not in hiring out the completion of the project.

We'll often get calls like this, a homeowner took on a big project and got in partially complete, but realized it'd take more time than they thought (or got in over their head, as you indicated in your post), and call us to complete it.

Having started in the industry in 1985 and run my own business for nearly a decade, I have yet to contract or complete a project like this. But it's not for lack of bidding.

In general, we're not going to want to take on the liability of a project (settling issues, trip hazards, etc) unless we had a hand in every facet of construction. That being said, we will usually tell the propective client that for us to do this project we'll need to start from scratch. And starting from scratch will usually mean unbuilding part of the project, and the labor cost of that most often offsets any money the prospective client put toward materials - so they see that they wouldn't save any money in hiring us, and at that point we usually part company - them thinking we're trying to "rip them off", and us frustrated with them not understanding or valuing the work that goes into this kind of project.

Oh - and because the prospective client likely did some research as to how to go about the project, I also have to spend time justifying our method of installation, because it almost always differs from what they read in Better Homes and Gardens or saw on "Landscape Smart". All things being equal I'd just prefer to work with those clients for whom our reputation is a known, and they have implicit trust that we know what we're doing.

So now I do all I can to end the relationship quickly but amicably over the phone, before any time is wasted for either party. I don't know if you'll encounter the same thing in your search, but I would expect that you'll have a slightly harder time finding someone than if you were starting from square 1.

I can't speak for anyone here but myself, but that's my $.02 on the matter. I hope that helps a little.

[Stonehenge]

But shooting from the hip with little information, I'd probably quote a price of $7-8,000, less the price we would have paid for the pavers.

[kman]

Thanks for the honest reply Stonehenge.

One of the things that I am having a hard time with is getting the excavated area somewhat level. Initially I rented a Bobcat mini-loader with a toothed bucket, to do the work. A combination of inexperience, and very hard soil has left me with base that has some humps in it. Do you think that I could use a sodcutter to take down the high areas? I know that I have seen pool installers use them to dig out holes for aboveground pools.

The other issue that I am aprehensive about is the transition from the upper level to the lower level. The upper level is the bulk of the patio that will connect to the house. If I work to get that installed correctly, can I tackle the lower level afterwards? or should the lower level be installed first?

Your price of $7-8k is exactly what I anticipated, and does not sound out of line, but if I can do the job correctly myself, that is what I would like to do.

[Stonehenge]

kman - Please check your Personal Messages (PM's). Top right corner of any page.