Digging costs.
LLG RN1987
imagine my husband out there with a shovel digging a hole. He is a white shirt
and tie type. He pays people to change the lights when a bulb blows. People
duck and run for cover if he picks up a screwdriver. I was into digging out
the pond but forget that idea. He is too nervous about me breaking the
sprinkler system. So we have to hire someone. I found a local guy who builds
ponds. He says he will dig it out for 15 dollars an hour. I don't know if that
is good or bad. What is a fair price for digging out a pond?
Lori
Assistant Director
TortoiseAid International
Wild Caught? I Think NOT!
Website: Turtle World
http://members.aol.com/turtle2267/index.one.html
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TortoiseAid Mailing list:
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Dave & Roxanne
say this -- hire a GOOD bobcat driver. We're lucky enough to have a
neighbor who is a landscaper and excellent in grading -- he owns a
bobcat and uses it like *we* use our hands. Find yourself someone like
this and hire him. Just make sure you get plenty of references, you go
see some of his work, and sit back while he works.
At $45.00/hour for bobcat time, our ponds were finished in less than 2
hours with a bobcat. Manually, we dug our fist ponds in 2 days with
both of us digging all day, the first one only 400 gallons (about 4x6x2)
and the second about 1200 gallons (10x12x2). You're $15.00/hour guy
could get a lot more expensive than that bobcat and it will be agonizing
to wait for it to be dug.
If you hire anyone, be sure to SIT with them all day -- don't leave for
an instant and make sure you stop them the moment you question the
outcome, don't assume he knows best. We have a friend who went to nurse
a migraine while the bobcat man dug her pond, and she ended up with a
LAKE! Another explained the "entire" plan for the pond, bog and stream
(total of all 20 x 20) and the bobcat guy dug the pond that size! The
moral here is make yourself VERY clear what you want them to do, draw a
crude sketch, explain once, then explain again -- then supervise EVERY
move. This applies if you hire a manual dig or a machine dig.
Since we have such a great bobcat driver (
http://www.awebplace.com/haney ) we'll never dig another pond by hand,
and you won't be sorry if you hire one too (a GOOD one). WE have an
article at our web site on hiring a professional, perhaps some of the
tips will help you with a checklist for anyone you hire
(http://www.theplantplace.com/pondpro.htm).
Roxanne
The Plant Place
http://www.theplantplace.com
Glenn Rieker
$15.00/hr.......grab him or her and don't let go because this person is only
working for what he/she thinks is wages when in actuality they are losing
money...even if you pay cash.....for $15.00/hr.....I would prefer to stay
home and play with my kids and spend time with my wife or is that play with
my wife and spend time with my kids :) The other skill to consider is if
you pay $15.00/hr. does this person have the ability to dig a pond
correctly? We only install entire systems, however, if we were to dig a
10x16 pond by hand the cost would be $45.00/hr for two to three guys for a
day or $1,080.00 plus mileage. So $15.00 is a bargain....only if they know
how to dig a pond and they work quickly....no union metality here.....
OK...Ok ..........here we go...why do you have to charge $45.00/hr.
Glenn?.......well we believe in paying our employees(mostly college students
majoring in a landscape related field) a fair livable wage of $12.00/ hr. +
$2.00/hr. bonus based on client staisfaction plus workmens comp .....so to
deliver quality labor costs us about $19.00/hr. before we recover any return
on our investment in overhead(employee training, $100,000 in two trucks and
a skid steer loader) or profit......
I always find it interesting that some people find it hard to perceive
people in the green industry are as professional as people in other fields
and deserve to be reimbursed for their knowledge accordingly. Unfortunately
this is due to the pickup buyin, no shirt wearin', blarin radio goin, no
matchin teeth grin of people who refer to them selves as landscape
contractors :).....OK I got carried away.....but the point I am trying to
make is there are those of use who train our staff, we wear clean staff
clothes, make sure we offer the best in client satisfaction and products and
knowledge offered and in turn we expect to be reimbursed accordingly.
One of my weekly mentors (a Heratio Alger story) who started off as a client
told me "You can make no money out on the golf course..........why should
you work for somone and make no money!" This time is better spent building
your business by establishing and working with relationships with good
clients or your family. Time is the great equalizer..........no matter how
much you money you have when your time(life) is up you can't buy more. Gene
says....We each only have a finite amount of time on the face of this earth
and you and you alone are responsible for how that time is spent.......You
don't "have" to do anything..........you choose to do.....
OK Jan............ I think my time is up and this was not meant to ruffle
any feathers as in the past...:) Just my reflection of how unfortunately,
the green industry has failed to promote ourselves so we are perceived in a
professional manner and can charge accordingly.....it just ticks me off when
people pass on info that is incorrect or try to pass off shoddy
craftsmanship as acceptable
--
Glenn Rieker
BS Landscape Architecture
Remember.....Life is a game don't live it on the bench!
http://www.gardenhaus.com
LLG RN1987 wrote in message <19990213213510...@ng152.aol.com>...
K30a
Now Glenn.... don't you know that *no shirt wearin* is part of the bargain?
Remember the Diet Coke ads of all the office working ladies lined up at the
window watching the construction guy?
Actually if the potential pond owner has knowledge of what is needed --- a
neighborhood teenager at $15 an hour or paid by the job is a good resource.
But you do have to supervise...
I asked Josh, a very dear college kid, to plant four bushes. He worked away and
after he was done I checked the job. He had planted them while they were still
in the containers!
We got a good laugh out of it.
~k30~ and the watergardening labradors
Glenn Rieker
--
Glenn Rieker
BS Landscape Architecture
Remember.....Life is a game don't live it on the bench!
http://www.gardenhaus.com
K30a wrote in message <19990214105850...@ng20.aol.com>...
>Glenn wrote ~~no shirt wearin'~~
>
>Now Glenn.... don't you know that *no shirt wearin* is part of the bargain?
>Remember the Diet Coke ads of all the office working ladies lined up at the
>window watching the construction guy?
Actually if I had a body like that we might change our policy :)....at 6'4"
and 245 my most recent goal is to lose 40-45 lbs over the next nine
months.....Three weeks ago I recommitted to working out seven days a week
and eating all the right stuff......so far in three weeks.....10 lbs and a
few inches are now history....
>
>Actually if the potential pond owner has knowledge of what is needed --- a
>neighborhood teenager at $15 an hour or paid by the job is a good resource.
>But you do have to supervise...
>I asked Josh, a very dear college kid, to plant four bushes. He worked away
and
>after he was done I checked the job. He had planted them while they were
still
>in the containers!
I was a consultant for a large commercial client and I was responsible for
laying the plant material out for his staff to plant......the next spring
almost all the plant material was dead or dying...closer inspection....you
got it still in the pots......a lesson learned :)
Vernon Olson
inburied in the ground that you have to worry about. If there is room and not too
many pipes buried where you want to dig your pond go for someone with power
equip. Ie back hoe. If the guy knows what he is doing then the 15.00 an hour is
fine. If he is just a guy with a shovel he is not only overpaid, but probably
very risky.
vern
Jan Jordan
>OK Jan............ I think my time is up and this was not meant to ruffle
>any feathers as in the past...:)
LOL! Course you might ruffle a few feathers of:
>the pickup buyin, no shirt wearin', blarin radio goin, no
>matchin teeth grin of people who refer to them selves as landscape
>contractors :)
I would suggest you add "computer illiterate" just to be on the safe side
in here. ;o) ~ jan
Mac McAtee
brokers. I drive a pick up truck and when I have a blue collar on I feel very
dressed up. There are all kind of folks who will run you over with their BMW on
the way to the health club to get some excersize. I have an arcitect family who
to the last one runs up and down the road to get more excersize.
There is nothing more enjoyable than digging your own hole. If you decide to do
it yourself just get a round and square point shovel, lay it out and go to it.
Get a round bastard file and sharpen your shovel. If you have rocks and clay get
a pick, sharpen it to. You just have to make sure that the top edge is level.
This can be done with a water level that you can purchase at a Home Depot or Lowes
store. You can lay out posts to mark the outside of the hole. Mark on the posts
a level mark. Run a string around the pond site at the marks, drive in little
nails to make sure you don't loose the marks. Take another string and put a
weights on both ends. One weight needs to be moveable up and down the string.
Lay this string across the boundry string and you can then check the depth you dig
at any point in the hole. Start digging, use the dirt you dig out to make the
low places on the edge of the pond higher. If you want a pont say 2' deep and
your string is 1 1/2' off the highest point in the site then you dig and measure
down 3 1/2' to get the bottom of the pond. If you are putting in shelves around
the side for shallow water plants then measure 2 1/2' over them an you will have a
2 foot deep part and a 1 foot deep part. Use the extra dirt to build up a mound
for a water fall.
While you are digging you can chuckle under your breath about all those folks who
are paying someone for the priveledge of excersizing. It took me about one week
of 4 to 6 hr. days to dig a 1500 gal pond in clay and rocks.
Mac
Derek
Dang! I was just thinking I drive a pickup, have been known to go
shirtless, play talk radio all day, have no matchin teeth (despite
thousands of dollars of orthodontics as a teenager) - I _could_ be a
landscape contractor! But I'm not computer illiterate...
--
Derek (dbroughton@@usa.net, www.netcom.ca/~dbrought/pond)
rec.ponds FAQ http://w3.one.net/~rzutt/faq.html
A government supported artist is an incompetent whore. - Heinlein
Chris
Mac McAtee wrote in message <36C7493E...@mindspring.com>...
>I live in a very, very white collar neiborhood. Mercedies Benz cars and
stock
>brokers. I drive a pick up truck and when I have a blue collar on I feel
very
>dressed up. There are all kind of folks who will run you over with their
BMW on
>the way to the health club to get some excersize. I have an arcitect
family who
>to the last one runs up and down the road to get more excersize.
>
Mac:
Sounds like Fairfield County, CT???? Born and raised there and people paid
the most ridiculous prices for anything just to keep their hands clean.
Enter your name here
15 bucks sounds reasonable but I guessit would depend on where you live,
Down here (Fl) you could probably get it done cheaper. You could always try
hiring a big strong neighbor kid, this ain't brain surgery. Aloha Bob
Ariela Sofer
(this was supposed to be an 1600 gallon pond). Most contractors didn't even
return my call. Eventually someone did it for $600, including hauling.
What I did was to outline the shape of the pond in white spray paint on the grass,
and then and then drew an smaller outline interior to the first. That was where
he was supposed to dig. (I decided that I would do the shelves myself, and I also
wanted to make sure that the slopes of the edges are done right. Thats why I
didn't leave them to chance, i.e. a contractor).
After he was done, I decided the pond was too small and finished digging by hand
in the clay soil (now a 2200 gallon pond). It took many hours of hard work to
spread the dirt throughout the flower bed. I found that work to be harder than
digging.
Ariela
Gary Pagac
I rented a backhoe dealie at $70 for 3 hours. Had the job done in two
hours. I realize your hubby isn't really up to doing this, but i'd
say go with a person who has the correct equipment...no shovels and
picks..these are just for fine detail, border work.
LLG RN1987
into the back yard. It is impossible. It has to be by hand.