Job review
Customer recording & your commentary
All right, so I'm here with Mrs. King. She's looking to have the front garden redone with us. So you can see it slopes down from the front door. She'd like to lift all these pavers and replace them with resin-bound stone in a buff colour and level off the approach to the door. And to hold the slope, she's thinking about rust-coloured steel, so some kind of caulking steel retaining wall, and then some elegant simple planting to soften it all. And also, I think, a new gate at the front. She'd also said to me she'd love to have this done before September.
Okay, so on the way back from 21 Bellevue Road, Mrs. King front garden, my slope's about half a meter over five, does need some proper retaining, so caught in wall along the side. Priced that one much higher than the Walters caught in from last year, just because price has gone up. Resin bound path, bluff blend, same as the Bennett front garden job that we did, so we can use those photos in the quote, and Bennett's a good steer on the resin bound path and also the planting pricing overall. I think we also need to add a small sandstone landing at the door, large green, maybe kind of two square meters, so she's not stepping straight off the threshold onto resin, and then don't forget the new gate and the planting in the border. Keep that planting relatively simple though. In terms of who would do this, probably Harry and Jude.
Draft quote
Clarify before sending
- Confirm corten wall length — assumed 10m based on site slope.
- Confirm proportions of simple planting preferred by customer. Clarified species or style?
- Level of urgency for early July start assumed; needing confirmation if tied to specific event timeline?
Confirm before sending
✓ Ready- Person-days10
- Start date2026-07-14
- Total£12,390
Customer scope
For your front garden, we'll replace the existing pavers with resin-bound stone in a buff colour. We'll install a corten steel retaining wall to manage the garden's slope, preparing for rust-coloured aesthetic integration. We'll also level the approach to your door and incorporate simple, elegant planting. Additionally, we'll install a new gate at the front to complete the look.
Line items
- Lift and dispose existing pavers£600
- Resin-bound path installation (buff colour)£2,375
- Sandstone landing at doorstep (2 sqm)£280
- Corten steel retaining wall installation (10m)£2,600
- Simple planting border preparation and planting£720
- Supply and fit new garden gate including fixtures£350
- Skip hire and sundries£600
- Crew labour (10 person-days)£2,800
Subtotal£10,325
VAT (20%)£2,065
Total£12,390
Assumptions
- Access is available for machinery and skips.
- Standard ground conditions assumed with no bedrock within 600mm.
- The garden plan allows for rust-coloured corten visual within standard heights.
Exclusions
- Watering and maintenance of newly planted areas beyond initial installation.
- Planning permission if required for retaining walls above 1m.
- Lighting installations or electrical connections not explicitly listed.
- Removal of hazardous materials if present.
Internal · Never sent to customer
Crew: Harry, Jude, Declan
Risks:
- Access could be tight limiting machinery options.
- Resin-bound installation requires dry weather; forecast disruption risk.
- Coordination of corten supplier's delivery critical to schedule - known lead times.
Rationale: Anchored pricing on similar front garden makeover project Bennett (ID: lj-2025-07-bennett-front-garden-makeover) with adjustments for increased corten cost and additional gate fitting. Labour estimated from similar project workloads with team capacity considered. Choosing Harry and Jude for this job as their expertise aligns well with both resin and corten installations.
Anchored to: lj-2025-07-bennett-front-garden-makeover, lj-2024-07-walters-corten
Questions to follow up:
- Confirm preferred style for the new gate.
- Verify access for a mini-digger on site, if required.
- Confirm courten wall aesthetic — rusted or pre-weathered look?
Rationale by dimension:
- Pricing anchor: Anchored to lj-2025-07-bennett-front-garden-makeover with adjustment for corten and gate.
- Crew: Week starting 2026-07-13 has Harry, Jude, and Declan available for this comprehensive task.
- Customer history: First-time customer, no prior history.
- Trade reference: Resin requires consistent weather — dry and warm; risk if conditions aren't met.