Landscaping & how much to charge for a particular job?

Question

I have been offered a landscaping job but have never participated in a project of this size. Anyone know if there is an average price per hour that most landscapers will charge? How can I determine how much I should charge if I want to be fair, but of course, be able to get reimbursed for the work? The job consists of pulling out and clearing some existing garden areas, replanting new plants, flowers etc and then mulching the existing areas around new plants.

I am charging $20 per hour plus client pays for materials and I will provide reciepts. Is this is in the ballpark?

Answer 1

If someone else has already prepared a plan for the job and made all the decisions for you, then you're just going to be providing the labor.

I work for a landscape contractor. Because we are in business, there is overhead such as advertising, phones, office rent, accounting, equipment, gasoline, payroll taxes, worker's comp insurance, liability insurance, etc. Overhead is all above the amount we pay the laborers as an hourly wage. We're in California, and our laborers make $10-$14 an hour, gross pay. Plus the owner of the business makes a profit and that's how he supports his family. Even though he doesn't do any digging, he does the design work, meets with clients to sell the jobs, manages the foreman and laborers on jobs, and his profit is on the line every day.

When we bid jobs, we calculate $50 or more per man-hour on the laborers to make the job profitable for us. Because we work mostly on contract, not hourly, we have to take a hit if we underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete a job.

Depending on where you are located, $20-$25 per hour would be the absolute minimum for doing this sort of job. Remember that you will have to pay taxes, including Social Security self-employment taxes, on what you charge. The amount I quoted would be only if someone else had made all the decisions and provided you a plan to follow, so that there would be no possibility of call-backs for anything you had to redo on your own time.

It would also have to include that all the materials were being delivered. If you have to pick up materials and take debris to the dump, you'll probably want to build in something extra to cover gas charges. Most companies now-a-days are making some kind of fuel surcharge rather than raising their rates across the board.

It also sounds like you're not going to make any money on the materials, you'll just be reimbursed for the direct costs. So you're taking a risk by spending your money first and then collecting payment from the client. By you taking that risk and not making any profit on materials markup, then you're entitled to make some additional profit elsewhere in the job.

So if you think that $20 per hour sounds like a lot, it really isn't when you consider the true costs of being in business.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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I have a lawn that is more than 250' x 300'. Sure, $35 seems like a good price. You have to base your price on the difficulty and time that the job will require. You should set an hourly rate that is competitive with others providing the same service. If a customer decides that he / she is willing to pay you hourly, good. However, the customer may balk thinking that you will goof off and take your time and rack up the hourly charge. Instead you may want to estimate how long a job will take then quote a price. If the job takes longer than you estimate then charge more the next time. If it takes less then charge less. The same goes for other landscaping tasks; leaf removal, trimming shrubs, etc,. You also have to consider that some lawns may be more difficult than others. Roots, hills and uneven ground present difficulty. Charge a higher rate for them. If you are wise you will keep records. This way you will know how long particular jobs take and when they were performed. It will also impress the customers and make you look professional.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Consider your cost just to go to the job site prepared to work: transportation to and from and to get the plants, tools, gas, work time, shopping time, disposal of trash, insurance, plus materials (which is about the only thing you can really get a handle on.)

Sit down and honestly figure your time working, gathering material and installation. Don't consider anything less than $15 per hour and even that's a bare bones price.

Answer 6

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