reasonable cost for cinder/concrete block wall


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Old 02-05-07, 03:24 PM
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reasonable cost for cinder/concrete block wall

A friend recently hired a contract to build a cinder block or concrete block wall. The wall is freestanding, 66 1/2" high, and has three sides, 2 sides are each 18'8" long, one side is 26' long. The walls are 66 1/2" high. She says the contractor estimated a total of $2000 to build the wall, but received a bill for $5,407. He is charging $1900 for materials and $3,500 for labor. Is this cost reasonable?

I'm particularly interested in his charge for a company call "coyote gravel products." Apparently he fill certain of the cells of the wall with concrete - the invoice from the company indicates he bought 3 cubic yards of "pump mix." The cost for that was $478. Is this amount of concrete (which I assume is the "pump mix") and the cost reasonable for this size wall? There's also a charge for a concrete pumping company for $408. Again, is that a reasonable amount?

I'm trying to help her with this issue, but I don't know whether she really heard the estimate correct, when she thought it would cost $2,000 - perhaps that was only for materials? Of course, there is no written estimate to look at - it was all done orally. I'd like to understand whether $2,000 would have been a reasonable amount, so that $5,400 is clearly exorbitant, or whether she totally misunderstood when she heard the quote. Again, I'm very interested in whether 3 CY of concrete is appropriate amount for this size wall.
 
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Old 02-05-07, 04:49 PM
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reasonable cost for cinder/concrete block wall

I can't address the total cost since I don't have much information. I assume she also had some excavation, forming of footings, concrete footings and some backfil. All this is climate/site related. It is unfortunate that she did not have either a written proposal or a contract.

The concrete/grout material cost could be in the ballpark. One of the bigger costs in concrete is delivery. It costs almost as much to deliver a full load as a part load. Your 3 yards is about 1/3 of a load, so the cost could reflect that plus the distance from the plant to the wall construction site. Usually a higher price is attached to partially cover the slower unloading required for placement.

I am sure the wall could have been built without pumping the grout, but your labor cost would have been much more if it was carried in 5 gallon pails, hoisted up and dumped into the block cores. Again, distance to the construction site will affect the cost of getting the pumper there.

I know of a concrete supplier that tells his employes not to stop and pick up a dollar bill because it is cheaper to keep going ($100,000 -130,000 high maintenance truck and a driver that gets $20.00 per hours plus benfits). I assume a good pumper is similar in cost to a R/M truck.

Were plain 8" high block used or were some 4" high or 8" high architectural units used? Going with 4" or 6" high block(slump block) will increase the total block cost and the labor cost. If colored, split 8" high units were used, the labor would be about the same, but the block cost would be more than using plain block.

There are many factors. You might want to check around locally. Looking at the material invoices will give you a good idea of the unit prices for materials and are usually very accurate, since a supplier will not take a chance on the pricing since taxes are involved.

Dick
 
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Old 02-05-07, 05:09 PM
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Thanks for the response. Re: your questions - I don't think there was any excavation - apparently she had hire a previous contractor who excavated for footings, then quit. This contractor put in footings. This is in New Mexico - a dry climate. The blocks used are mostly 8x8x16 blocks - with one course of 8x2x16 for the cap. I have determined that the cost of the blocks should be about $560 (excluding tax). I figure the wall required approximatey 384 8x8x16 blocks; and 48 cap blocks. It was startling to me that the concrete/pumper rental to fill the blocks should cost more - so much more - than the blocks themselves.

Another question: is there a standard way to charge for labor? He is claiming $3500 for labor. I don't know how he figured that amount - per hour? Or some other way? A certain amount per block? My friend said that someone told her that one way to charge is to charge the same amount for labor as per block. That is, if a block costs $1.32 (as in this case), the contractor would charge $1.32 per block for labor. Is that really an accurate representation of how to charge for labor on this kind of project? Perhaps I should start a new thread with that question....
 
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Old 02-05-07, 05:25 PM
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How does contractor charge to construct block wall

I'm trying to determine the reasonable cost for labor for a 3 sided wall that would be 66 1/2" high, 2 sides at 18'8" and one at 26' long. The wall was built with 8x8x16 concrete blocks, with rebar and fill at appropriate intervals (unknown to me - I assume done to industry standard).

I've posted a similar inquiry ealier in this forum. I'm focusing here on the method contractors usually use to charge for labor - is it per hour at a certain amount per hour, or charge per block? A friend received a bill for building a wall that includes $1900 for materials, and $3500 for labor - no indication of how labor costs were figured. She thought the entire project would cost $2000 - there was no written estimate, only an oral agreement.

The contractor did give her bills for materials - the important parts are $585.10 (before tax) for concrete (cinder) blocks; $478 for concrete; and $408 to rent the pumper. The excavation for the footings was already completed by a previous contractor that then abandoned the job.

What are the usual methods for charging for labor on a project like this? If one method is to charge by the number of blocks laid, how much per block is usual? The location of the wall is New Mexico.
 

Last edited by GregH; 02-05-07 at 06:43 PM. Reason: Post merged with another on the same topic.
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Old 02-17-07, 03:28 PM
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not sure where you are located, but i can tell you that your numbers sound completely unreasonable to me. to give you an idea, about a year ago, i paid around $11,000 for a freestanding block wall that was around 200 ft long and 5 ft tall. my cost included all materials, labor, digging the footings with bobcat, rebar and full grouting. i have used concrete pumpers several times on other projects and the going rate in San Diego seems to be around $250-$300.

i hired a general contractor to build the home i own now from the ground up. i learned the hard way that everything must be in writing, i mean everything. some contractors are the shadiest cats on earth.
 
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Old 02-27-07, 07:05 PM
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Estimate

I'm doing a pier and curtain crawlspace for a 2112 sq ft foundation. Recently, I received a written estimate from a local mason that detailed a 2'8" 431 linear foot block wall. It indicates 600 block (in addition to various other pieces in the estimate). For the block wall he estimates 1800 in labor costs. I also have an "estimate in a can" price done by resi-cost.com that quotes 11.16 per WSF (description indicates Block-12", grouted; brickledge; parging; bituminous damproofing; sill plates). Using that figure in Charlotte, NC you would pay roughly 3500. Now, I want to say that the Charlotte, NC multiplier against the national average is roughly .8 so you would add an additional 20% to get a national average. While I don't think it's reasonalbe to quote one price and charge twice as much I don't think I'd necessarily put this in the "taken for a ride" category.
 
 

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