Another Rookie Needs A Veteran Opinion

GMB CNSTRCTION

Hey guys I'm glad to see this site. I have worked in construction for 7 years now and I am branching out on my own (part-time). I would appreciate if someone knows how to price excavating a trench for a foundation. A customer is looking to put in a tall brick fence and needs 700 feet dug out. The dimensions are 20 in by 42 in. Would you charge by the foot, square yard, or hourly with 2 men and one mini excavator? And how much per? My biggest concern is fair market pricing. I do not want to low ball and sell my time short. I appreciate any response. Thank you, Glen

rino1494

When doing trenchwork, I figure out the yardage of material. I determine the cycle time of the machine based on the depth of the trench. With the size of the bucket plus cycle time of the machine, you can figure out how many yards of material you can move per hour. Figure out how many hrs it will take you to do the trench. Figure that with the cost of operating the machine per/hr plus you 2 laborers for that amount of time.

Realistically, nobody can work 100%, so I figure that we work 50 min for every 1hr. Multiply your yardage moved in 1 hr and multiply that .83 to get yds moved realistically.

Also, you must figure in layout, mobilization for machine and crew, and a laser if one is used.


Other factors will be played in. Will you be taking this to a certain grade or just eyeballing it, will backfill be involved, what type of material will you be digging in ???

I hope that I wasn't too vague, it is alot of info to take in and understand. Someone else may have a easier and better way to do things, but this is how I do it.

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Little

I'd have to second Rino's post, don't see nothing wrong in pricing it that way, cuz thats the way i would do it.