Communication and Budget

In my last two notes about our design process and our installation, I’ve discussed the importance of the design and installation process. I wanted to talk about the third component of a successful project and also a little about what you should budget for your project. If you haven’t had the opportunity to work with a contractor before, then this may be new to you. But, if you have then you know that communication is usually non-existent, leaving the customer in the dark throughout the entire project. We’re a little different; probably more like a lot different. We’re a very professional group of people that really enjoy communicating with our customers. As you can already tell by the amount of information we’ve given to you, we feel that an educated customer, in the end, is a happy customer. Our designs also play a large roll in our communication to you. We’ve chosen a design format that best communicates to you exactly what your finished project will look like in a way that you can understand and visualize. If you haven’t already, take a look at some of our sample designs. I also thought I would try to share with you what you should expect to budget for your project. As you can imagine, it can be very difficult to estimate a project without ever visiting the site and without having a design, but this should help. Our average project ranges in cost between $8,000 and $55,000. That’s based on the 50-75 projects we install every year. We also install projects that cost as much as $170,000 and some as little as $2,500. So, to help you understand how much you should budget, I’m going to describe what fits into that $8k-$35k price range. These are some ranges for smaller projects. Larger projects have too many variables to even give ranges. Here is a project that would roughly cost $8k-$10k: Patio square footage: 250-300 2-3 Steps from the back door 10-15 Linear feet of seating wall 2 Columns Fire it Here is a project that would roughly cost $10k-$15k Patio square footage: 300-500 2-3 Steps from the back door 10-15 Linear feet of seating wall 2 Columns Fire pit Grill Islands: You can expect to pay $3,500 to $10,000+ for a built in grill island with a nice grill and counter tops. Fireplaces: These typically cost between $8,000 – $15,000 Pergolas and Patio Roofs: Pergolas range from $6,000 installed to $15,000+ Patio Roofs range from $9,000 – $20,000+ Swimming Pools: Big range $30,000-$150,000 What affects price? There are a lot of variables that can affect the price of your project, which is why we can’t simply give you a price per square foot. We have to take into consideration how long each project will take by calculating each step of the process that applies to your project. Here are some variables that would increase the cost of your project: there is bad access to the project area, your yard has a drastic slope away from the house, or there is concrete to be removed or a deck. I hope you found this information helpful. My goal in sharing all of this information is to help you understand the process better, get to know me and my company a little bit, and help you understand the costs so that you can better plan for your project. I love replies, so if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. Otherwise, I look forward to meeting you very soon.

If you haven’t already, I highly suggest that you read ‘A little about our design process‘ and ‘What makes our installations so great‘.