Customer wanted allen block...

[mrusk]

Last year i spent alot of time trying to get a job on a new construction house. I met with the engineers revised there plans, and generally just wasted alot of time since the client wanted to save money and use allen block for the 3k sq face feet of retaining walls.

The house was impressive. I never took any pics of it. But i located it on one of those sites.

What do you think of the house?

Can't get the link to work right. Go to http://maps.live.com/ and type in "Rock Road East, Watchung NJ" and the house should be right there.

[cgland]

Just shows a map.

[HRLand]

Matt, are you talking about the house with the red roof?

Chris, click on the bird's eye view along the top of the map in the blue bar.

[mrusk]

Yea the house with the red roof. 18500 sq feet of house.

[Mbella]

Last year i spent alot of time trying to get a job on a new construction house. I met with the engineers revised there plans, and generally just wasted alot of time since the client wanted to save money and use allen block for the 3k sq face feet of retaining walls.

The house was impressive. I never took any pics of it. But i located it on one of those sites.

What do you think of the house?

Can't get the link to work right. Go to http://maps.live.com/ and type in "Rock Road East, Watchung NJ" and the house should be right there.

What do I think?

Well, based on that shot alone, I wouldn't buy it. I would need more pics and a couple mil.:)

[HRLand]

Maybe you should talk to some of the neighbors. The house in back of that one looks like it sits in a bowl.

[mckeeland]

i dont care what he wanted to put in there, 3000SF is 3000SF. as long as it is not going to compromise the strength or integrity of the wall i would put anything he wants in. i am a proud guy and have very high standards when it comes to design and esthetics of a job but at the end of the day i have sales number to reach at the end of the year and bills to pay.

[mrusk]

Oh i forgot to mention the 'builders budget' they were on.

[mckeeland]

thats another story, if they are trying to cut corners then its not worth it. you still need to make money.

[MuirView Design]

That's a cool site. Better than Google maps. I found the end of my driveway, but my house wasn't on there. I really do live in the boonies!

[JZap]

I agree with Jason. If a customer says I want 3000 sqft of "X" that's what they get. If they're trying to get numbers down by using AB alone? You have to explain to them there's a lot more that goes into the job than just the block. You can cut corners on the materials only if the integrity of the wall is not compromised. I think this might a customer you may want to show a couple wall failure pics to. Explain to them you're not trying to beef up the bill, but you're not the kind of company that does sub-grade work. The reason the cost is $XXX,XXX is b/c we do it right the first time. It'll cost 2 times as much if the wall fails and you have to have it re-built and you risk liability as a HO.

[GreenMonster]

I gotta agree -- I know I say I refuse to install AB, but if it came down to it, I would.

my pitch against AB however, is that it is much more labor intensive; filling cores, lousy corners, lots of slag, plus poorer overall quality. I find we can install a more expensive per ft2 block for less or equivalent money than AB

[JZap]

What about an Anchor system? Vertica, etc.?

[lawnkid]

Matt,
Are you guys doing the work at that place because it looks like some wals are being constructed out front.

[mrusk]

It was more then just the AB that drove me away from the job. For one, i was scared ****less to bid it. It was not the dollar amount that scared me, its the fact that i never built a wall that size out of ab. I know my quarry stone man hours. I had no clue for man hours for AB. I figured i'd loose my shirt on figuring out man hours to compact for 11 feet of grid.


Once i knew the block he wanted to use, i knew larger site work companies that do large commerical walls would kill me on price and speed.

[custom patios]

thats the problem Matt. even if you knew what a commercial company would bid it at, i dont think those numbers would be to favorable to you. better luck next time.

[-EGLC-]

Not to bust in on Matt's thread or go off topic but for future reference use, www.zillow.com it is by far the best website for looking up houses and will tell you their value. Check it out.......oh and it also does hybrid so you can get an idea of the area its in.