FREE ESTIMATIONS VERSES AN ACTUAL BID
I have so much to say about this subject that you may want to check back for new posts often. An estimate by definition is a best guess of cost whereas a bid is a statement that the work can be done for the stated amount. In residential construction, contractors generally only estimate, but home owners generally only see the number as a bid. Then the confusion sets in when they are handed a bill that is not in line with the estimation and ding-ding, the fight is on. To eliminate this problem I have a two step process where I estimate for free then turn that into a bid before starting. I am clear about this process when we first meet but it still bites me at times. I.E. my estimate looks good but I had nothing to go on, so my bid, which in a lot of cases is so much work I need to charge for it, is not even in the same ballpark, which is confusing. So let me see if I can explain what I am up against and maybe we can start out on the right foot.
If excavation were anything at all like the rest of the building trades estimating would be much easier, but it is not. All other trades will be given their own special sections with cut sheets in your blueprints that lay out everything they need to build your home in great detail thus making it easier to estimate. Excavation rarely gets more than a plot plan with no survey and a footing plan for the foundation to work with. There are so many unknown variables with regards to ground that I could not even begin to describe them and the things they do to an excavation bill are so varied that it makes it near impossible to be right no matter how hard I try. So, we start with a glance-and-guess, then go to a measure-and-verify process and finally we might make it to an actual bid that I hope not to have to change order my way through.
I want to take a paragraph here to point out how easy it is to get a change order from an excavation contractor. The best example is the change orders due to the obvious Central Oregon rock problem. A problem that is wide spread, hard to see and even harder to determine what I’m up against. What most people don’t know is how hidden and different rock can be. A lot of surface rock is keyed together and can be pealed apart fairly easily only to expose the evil underbelly that will inevitably still be too high to build on. Some lava is hard as hell (refereed to as blue rock) and will take forever to hammer because it lacks seems to crack open. The rest is a purgatory of too hard to do anything but chip away at or too spongy/bouncy to get a hammer bite in easily. When I come to your project to give you that rough estimate you desire I look for signs of this problem as best I can. I do catch most of it up front because I have been here a minute but when I start uncovering unseen rock is when the change orders start flowing and your budget goes to hell. I will get into rock in more detail in a later article but you get the idea here, unseen circumstances equals change orders.
Back to estimating. In commercial work there is a large budget to hire engineering firms and surveyors to answer all the elevation and material type questions. It will often even have the math done for how much fill material may be needed and exactly what each finish material is. But in a typical home owner’s budget that’s shy of 2 mil, there is no money for this. Instead, I will be helping you decide the answers to all the unknown’s through a guess based on not a lot of details. I would like you to picture this; you have a full set of blueprints for your home. It has details about everything from the type and minimum height of your foundation, useful to me but not for much other than an outline, to the type of roofing material to use. It does have a page that will forever be called a plot plan that is anything but a plan, that’s the page excavation gets to work with. It is a mock up of where things may go that’s missing so very much, like existing or finish elevations, grading materials, and trees. Hell, most of the time they do not even show what type of finish your driveway is to be. Concrete is usually 4 inches thick, asphalt is usually only 2, that 2 inches over an area the size of most driveways is substantial enough to make a difference and yet it is not even noted on the plot plan. So, when you hand that blueprint to an excavation contractor and ask for an estimate we actually have to go walk the site and make a guess based on what we can see on top of the ground. Trust me when I say that all of us make a guess based on where we see everything landing height wise and none of us see it the same.
So, let’s take a look into what a free estimate may look like versus a bid done properly, and why that would not be so free. My example is that your project is to be a standard ranch style home with a septic system on a half acre lot based in the county instead of city limits. Your likely to want an idea of what excavation for this would cost so you call me and give me those details and want me to answer that question over the phone. But because you have read this far you know I can not simply do that so I will need to do some research and get back to you. First I will pull every county record I can on the property and hopefully find you have a still valid septic feasibility, get the print of the lot lines and check for any existing factors that may help me out. Then I need to go walk the land and try to picture it finished. If I can picture it I can see some of the gory details like rock outcrops, valleys, where trenches will be, where the septic will go and the list goes on. From that I should be able to give you a ballpark number, or free estimate, but do you really believe I had much to go on other than experience?
I am pretty good at the whole estimate with no details thing but if you truly want to know what it will cost there is a list below depicting the bare minimum I would need answered to make a proper estimate, yet still not an actual bid. Your plot plan is simply missing most of this for sure.
Must have to estimate
Legible plot plan with property measurements (use county records) Deschutes County Dial
New and existing structures, ponds, landscape features placed as close as possible
If existing structures are in reach of project elevations will be needed
Type of foundation to be built on new structures
Note finish elevations and materials to be used as fill
Driveway, parking and walkways with type of finish (i.e. concrete, asphalt)
Note ADA compliant aprons
Ingress/Egress special rules for emergency vehicles may apply
General landscape guide for grass, flowerbeds, garden, etc
ALL trenches to be excavated (water, sewer, electric, gas, comms)
Note where each start and then enter structures
Note type of start and end point for each (buried, above ground, pole, vault, inside or outside wall, etc)
If there is a septic system: tanks, main and reserve drain fields clearly marked out
Note this needs its own design page and has to be on plot plan with elevations, slope and water supply separations
Any known digging or overhead hazards must be clearly marked
Building and solar setbacks marked on all lot lines
·Details about trenches, tanks, electric vaults: any underground stuff
In feet: length x width x depth = ? : divide by 27 for cubic yards: (add 15% lost to sluff)
Each need its own spec, don’t average this
Are spoils to be kept on site or hauled off
Will I need to purchased materials for backfill and what type
If hauling away, where is it goings and how much will that cost
Am I to purchase and or place any of the underground products
Will I need to make return trips to wait for plumber or electrician
How much labor time will be needed to place this stuff
Trenches under foundations like in shops and barns need special spec sheet
Mark all areas they will be sticking up because they are in the way of finish grade
Is there a known rock issue that will require hammering
· Blue print for structure/excavation site needs marked with the following
Note of how many corners in foundations to be filled around
Note anything sticking up out of the ground in the way of excavation
Clearly show what type and finish elevation for patio’s/porches
Are these covered and will I be able to finish before covered
Will footings outside of foundation be poured at same time as foundation
ELEVATIONS- hard to know without laser measurements but best guess helps, shoot for something every 10 feet or so if it’s not flat
From this I can make a proper estimate, it will take work to turn that into a bid I am willing to really stand by.
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