Garden, wooden terrace & driveway cost estimation?

Hello everyone,

I am currently obtaining quotes for our rudimentary garden design. In the first step, only the bare essentials are to be done. Specifically: (wood) terrace, rolled lawn in the garden, and gravel in front of the house and driveway.

The first offer from the landscape gardener arrived over the weekend and initially knocked me off my feet.

I would like to have an assessment of whether the following offer is realistic or justified:

Position 01 - Wooden terrace - €9,500 including VAT
Manufacture a 35 m² wooden deck made of native larch boards screwed onto a substructure. Foundation of the substructure on point foundations. Line gaps with geotextile and cover with gravel. Attach double-sided fascia boards.

Position 02 - Lawn - €3,200 including VAT

[*]Level 125 m² of construction ground with an excavator, remove and dispose of turf/sod/vegetation, deliver 4 m³ lawn substrate, apply and rotary till, create rough grading.
[*]Produce and roll 125 m² fine grading, fertilize area, deliver and lay rolled lawn, water and roll.

Total amount: €12,700 including VAT.

Filling the driveway with gravel is not included in the offer. This concerns approximately 50 m². The ground in front of the house was prepared for the foundation slab at the same time. I would think that a layer of gravel is simply applied on the existing ground. However, I do not know how much is needed for the 50 m². Could you still give a rough estimate of the costs for this?

Best regards
ConnyJash

If all of that also includes materials, I don't find it that expensive, it depends on the region. What had you budgeted? If you want to pay less, you probably have to plan for your own labor. Or wait. There is the expectation that over the course of the year everyone will feel the effects of last year's crisis in new constructions as well, meaning there will be much less and thus follow-up orders for painters and garden and landscape contractors will arise, because the few remaining will switch to their own labor. Maybe something will happen then.

Hello everyone,

I am currently obtaining quotes for our rudimentary garden design. In the first step, only the essentials are to be done. Specifically: (wood) terrace, roll-out lawn in the garden, and gravel in front of the house and driveway.

The first offer from the landscape gardener arrived over the weekend and frankly blew me away.

I would like an assessment of whether the following offer is realistic or justified:

Position 01 - Wooden terrace - €9,500 incl. VAT
Construct a 35 m² wooden deck made of local larch boards screwed onto a substructure. Base the substructure on point foundations. Line gaps with geotextile and cover with gravel. Install double-sided fascia boards.

Position 02 - Lawn - €3,200 incl. VAT

[*]Level 125 m² of construction ground with an excavator, remove and dispose of turf/sod and growth, deliver 4 m³ lawn substrate, apply and till in, create rough grading.
[*]Create and roll a fine grading on 125 m², fertilize area, deliver and lay roll-out lawn, water and roll.

Total sum: €12,700 incl. VAT.

Filling the driveway with gravel is not included in the offer. This concerns about 50 m². The subsoil in front of the house was directly prepared during the preparation for the foundation slab. I would think that a gravel layer will simply be applied on the existing ground. However, I do not know how much is needed for the 50 m². Could you still give a rough estimate of the costs for this?

Best regards,
ConnyJash

I find the price for the terrace reasonable, depending on the chosen quality of the boards and the execution. For a 16 m² terrace, I have already paid almost 2K just for the material doing it myself with a similar setup (without geotextile and gravel), although with slightly more expensive tropical wood and Bankirai substructure.
I believe you can easily do this yourself for 3–4K. And projects like that are exactly the kind of grateful spring projects – right?
Regarding the lawn, I also don’t see any unreasonable rip-off prices (but also no "bargain"). In this area, many outdoor spaces are completed by landscape gardeners for 30–60K (or more), in my opinion.

Position 01 - wooden terrace - €9,500 incl. VAT.
Manufacture a 35 m² wooden deck made of native larch boards screwed onto a substructure. Foundation the substructure on point foundations. Line gaps with geotextile and cover with gravel. Attach double-sided fascia boards.

I think you can easily manage that yourself for 3-4k. And exactly such things are great spring projects – aren’t they?

Larch from the sawmill (SH), planed and chamfered all around, <€700 / running meter. At 30mm and 35m², that’s 1.2 running meters including waste: <€900.
Substructure made of 60 / 80 costs €600 / running meter. 100 linear meters should be enough. That’s 0.5 m³, so €300.
1000 V2A screws 5/60mm cost €150.
Gravel, 3 tons, €150 + delivery.
Point foundations made of screed concrete in plastic bags (alternatively flower pots as formwork for DIY), 100 pieces, €50.
Good, thick weed fabric €50.
Small materials like spacers, glass foam pads for height adjustment and some tools €100.

In any case under €2k :) even with concealed screwing. Time required for experienced people: 1 hour/m².

You can also order the boards from the timber dealer, but these are more expensive. So far I have ordered directly from two sawmills for two projects. Significantly cheaper and certainly not worse.

If that includes materials, I don't think that's too expensive; it depends on the region. What budget did you have in mind?

For the entire outdoor area, we originally planned 20k. However, about 7k of that has already been spent on earthworks for the foundation slab. So, according to the plan, about 13k is still available.

Possibly, I would dig up the garden myself with friends and a rented excavator and then lay the turf. I would definitely have the terrace done by professionals. If I understood you correctly, the price seems reasonable. I'll wait and see the other offers first.

One more question about the wood. What would you recommend here? I have read that tropical woods or treated woods like thermally modified ash are better suited. Ideally, we want to enjoy the terrace for the next 15-20 years. Does it make sense to pay the extra cost for that?

To my knowledge (here I only have acquired knowledge) the constructive wood protection is especially important. So the wood (UK + floorboards) should not have permanent or prolonged contact with soil and water or moisture in general. If you also have a sufficiently large roof, untreated larch or Douglas fir will most likely last for 20 years. Standing moisture is always problematic, as even Bankgirai will rot away.