Stone Wall Pricing

CJKarl

This is the first time I've been slow in the winter in 15 years. Usually we tent in with heat and work at least 4 days a week when the weather is nasty.
I'm afraid I'm being underbid. I'm in an affluent area and do high end custom stone work. I've never had to advertise, and all my work has been word of mouth networking with architects, builders and home some owners.
I'm can get $70 a sq.ft. for very tight, "dry look" veneers and $50-$70 a sq.ft. for looser ,but still very tight stone work.
Today I presented a bid for a double faced wall, 36" and 50' long. I'm slow, so I thought I bid it VERY reasonably. I gave the homeowners a proposal for $12,000...they looked at me like I had 2 heads.
Material would be mixed wall stone and snapped face wall stone with a mortared in cap. (mostly snapped face stone)

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tkle

In the high end market,that's very reasonable.

lukachuki

But you see they were "thinking" that it would only cost about $1,000. I get that look all the time as so many people have no idea how much nice work costs.

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"The problem with internet quotes is, you never know if they are authentic." -Abraham Lincoln-

Less with the jaw more with the paw!

bruno002

to be honest that seems on the high side. i am from the mass area its sort of the same market, and here for a very tight dry look for about 50 is up there, the average for that kind of work is around 40. but you can't work for free so you gotta charge what you need to.

Tscarborough

You would be lucky to get 3 grand for that wall around here.

stacker

come on!!!70 bucks a frigin sq ft.how in the world can you justify a price like that?i dont care how"tight" you make it.i am working on a million dollar home right now,and my prices did not go up one bit.i dont care if its a high end house or a low end house i charge the same price.
im not going to say anymore,

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CJKarl

Come up to CT and lay a little stone. Highest average income in the nation, hence EVERYTHING costs more up here.

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CJKarl

You're gonna lay 25 ton of stone for $3000? including materials? Come up to CT, I'll give you a job.

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Tscarborough

I guess I don't waste as much; I calculate less than 5 tons for a 3'x50' double faced wall.

stacker

i understand that.but you are talking 55-60 a foot more than podunk oklahoma.and i can understand the cost of living is higher there.
going by your logic,a new chevy pickup would run about 125,000?
my beer cost me 1.75 in the bar,it would be 7.00 there?

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life is short,do your masonry naked!!
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tkle

300 sq.' @ 12,000$ is only 40 a sq.'.I try to get around 35 for rubble with joints.High end homes in this area can easily hit the ten million mark.These people want service as well as quality.You earn your money.

jvcstone

Perfect example as to why it's nuts to talk prices on the web. First off, I suspect that the stone used up there in CT. isn't as easy to work as the limestone here in Texas. Seems to me that there is a lot of granite and other hard rock used up there. I use to figure about 35-40 sq feet per ton of stone. That coverage would drop significantly if the density of the stone went up from 135 lbs per cubic foot to say an average hard rock density of 180-190 lbs per cubic ft. To compare coverage between different stones doesn't work.

I started out in this game in 1972-- at that time labor, sand & masonry prices were running about 65 cents per sq. ft. The stone was running about the same. When I quit bidding stone work in the mid 90's to focus full time on the carving, I was trying to get 4 bucks a ft LS&M, or 6-7 turnkey, and losing about 8 out of 10 bids. Today, there are crews working all over central Texas for as little as 1.65 labor, or 3.00 to 3.50 turnkey. Of course, most of the stone now used is sawed bed material, so it can be thrown up about as fast as brick and look fairly decent.

Did work on a big granite boulder job once. Required tight, consistent joints, with the boulder shapes rolling into the joint, and no tool marks showing. Have no idea what it cost the client per sq ft, but the masons ( I was one of 5 full time people on the wall) averaged 6 to 8 STONES per day, and we were never pushed to go faster. To tell the truth, I don't think that any of us could since we were essentially sculpting each stone to fit a spot.

So, I suspect this is all about apples and oranges with a little mango thrown in to keep things interesting.

JVC

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1over2

Those prices don't surprise me, we were getting $40 a foot for solid stone walls using corinthian granite in the early 90's up in VT.

CJKarl

Just started the wall yesterday, I'm paying $225 a ton for stone.

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CJKarl

That's FOB, not delivered.

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POOLMANinCT

i know your market, 12k is not unreasonable actually, im sure you can sell the same work for 20k...

ray in connecticut

POOLMANinCT

my beer cost me 1.75 in the bar,it would be 7.00 there?[/quote]

im the wrong bar up here they are 7 bucks

CJKarl

im the wrong bar up here they are 7 bucks[/quote]

X2

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kc4mqm

I'm not throwing off on anybody, if you can get it then more power to you. That's great. I AM the top of the line mason in the tri state area of Georgia. I am a third gen. mason and we've been in buisness since 1952. I lay the best stone you'll see. You may see some as good, but not better. My going rate is $18 per sq ft including material. I would love to be able just to get $20, I would be making about $2000 a week on avg. Also this is natural stone, the fake rock goes as little as $12 up to $16. So if anyone wants a good mason cheap up there, call me. If you put me in a hotel and bought my meals you would still come out cheaper.

wesmartyn

Better than the Incas?