£4000 labor

[jimmypondturtle]

We recently got a man to build our pond and he suggested it would take a week to build. However, it took two days and charged us £4000 labor costs and £7000 for the entire thing (including liner and digger) but excluding soil waste and plants. DO the labor costs seem excessive? the pond is 6x6 meters.

 

[Mmathis]

I have no idea what the going price is for a pond build! Did you get estimates from other people or just from this guy? Did you have everything spelled out and agreed upon before he got started?

 

[Lisak1]

How big is the pond? I don't know the exchange rate between U.S. dollars and the pound, but a normal garden sized pond build (say 11x13) here can run upwards of $25K depending on the type of rock the pond is built with. (Chicago, US)

 

[Lisak1]

Oh, wait! You said 6x6 meters - that's almost 20 x 20 feet. That's a big pond! Double my estimate.

 

[Jhn]

How many guys did he have with him?

I am not a pond builder but a contractor nonetheless, a little more than double his material costs isn’t ridiculous, imo. Especially for a pond that big.

To be honest in my line of work, a little more than double my material costs for a job and I would hardly make anything most the time.

 

[RobAmy]

Sounds actually cheap to me, but with out seeing the style and quality of work it is hard to say. More important are you happy with the final outcome? Post some pictures if you can.