It's been quite some time since I did a Pool Fill In type excavation job and I thought it would be best to blog about the details of this particular recent one I did. Located in Elizabeth, my client was wanting to have this unused pool removed, filled, leveled and ready for turfing.
It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but this fella's backyard is a decent size and lots can definitely be done with it. But first he needs to get rid of that pool.
If you have any type of backyard excavation need, I suggest you keep reading, because I saved my client thousands with this job.
So lets start with from when I came into the picture to quote the job.
Now how I quote jobs is by using a set hourly rate and I'm usually pretty accurate with my time estimates. The thing you need to know about me is, that I'll always suggest or try and find a way to cut down on excess fees for my clients.
Now in this case it meant Tip Fees and Fill Fees. The client had gotten 4 quotes already for this job and all ranged far too high for the budget he had.
When I looked at this job I immediately knew why the quotes were so high.
First, he would have Tip Fees to get rid of all that excess concrete and plastic pool lining. Then he would have Fill Fees to get soil delivered to fill in the pool hole. To top it all off his only access was via his garage, which a normal sized excavator and bobcat could squeeze through. It just meant it would take longer to do because it would have to be done one bobcat bucket load at a time.
You can now probably understand why the quotes were fairly high.
Looking at the pictures above of what my clients front (yes, this was unplanned) and backyard now look like, I'm pretty chuffed to say I did all this for a third of the price he was quoted by others. That's not to say the other quotes were too high or incorrect, it's just that I went about it a different way. This is what I did:
Instead of taking all the concrete and plastic lining away, I simply shredded the shell so that there was no way it would retain water underground. And I buried the lot. Tip Fees eliminated.
But I still needed Fill. I estimated even with the backyard being cut down in preparation for new turf, this still wouldn't be enough. So I convinced the client to let me site cut his front yard as well (to also lay new turf) in order to bulk up the fill. I was left about 10 cubic meters short, however I was doing a Driveway Cut the next day not too far from here.
The next day, I did the driveway cut and delivered that excess fill to this clients front yard. Once I was all done at that site, I came back and carted this fill into his backyard which was a perfect amount to finish the level off. Fill Fees eliminated. Plus the driveway client saved on their tip fees too.
Phew, so that's a fairly long explanation of a job that took under 1.5 days to complete. These are ones I'm most proud of because I was able to save my client a stack of cash.
If you're in a similiar position or think your excavation job will cost too much, you may be wrong. Give me a call on 0407 155 302 and get me out to quote your job. My quotes (and advice) are completely free. No joke.