Wood Decking

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jennym
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Wood Decking

Postby jennym » Wed May 31, 2006 10:25 am

Hi all,

We have had 2 different quotes for a decking area, story as follow's:

Ist guy came round, measured up and quoted 5000euros including labour with a 50% deposit required at time of quotation which we didn't pay.
This quote was in soft wood which he only deals with and it has a very very slight tinge of green to it.

2nd guy works for himself and does all the labour and fitting himself. He called with the quotation last night and wait for it.................
11,500 for SOFT wood and 13,800 for hard wood!!

We have had major works going on at our villa over the past months so we asked our builder for a price of doing this area in concrete......................... his quote was 17,650!!!

It is a 45 sq meter area which will have to fill a void - Are we being conned or, is this the normal price range for decking?

We would prefer to have it done in concrete and then tiled to match the rest of the terraces but our builders are so long winded and VERY expensive!

Any advice please or, recommendations?

Thanks in advance,

Jenny
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hillybilly
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Postby hillybilly » Wed May 31, 2006 12:04 pm

I can't picture the scenario but you say it has to "fill a void"? Do you mean there is a big hole over which the new "whatever" has to span? If so, why not consider spanning it using precast concrete beams (which are very cheap) built off supporting walls, then topped with whatever you fancy. This would be cheaper than completely filling the "void" and cheaper than timber decking. Less maintenance too. But maybe I've misinterpreted your situation!
Alternatively, imprinted concrete can give a nice finish - friends had this done and it looks quite good as an alternative to a tiled terrace.

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jennym
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Postby jennym » Wed May 31, 2006 12:33 pm

Hi Hillybilly,

The previous owners had the bbq area built in such a stupid way!
Instead of it being on ground level with the rest of the garden, it is down a flight of stairs in an alcove totally seperated from the rest of the garden and out of sight. In summer it is a sun trap and blisteringly hot. There was absolutely no rhyme nor reason for it being built in this way. We wanted to cover the over the whole area and maybe use the underneath for storage etc.
What you mentioned sounds great and I will pass it on to hubby when he gets home. Thank you for your reply.

Jenny
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pete_l
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Re: Wood Decking

Postby pete_l » Wed May 31, 2006 2:06 pm

jennym wrote:Hi all,

It is a 45 sq meter area which will have to fill a void - Are we being conned or, is this the normal price range for decking?

We would prefer to have it done in concrete and then tiled to match the rest of the terraces but our builders are so long winded and VERY expensive!
The price you have been quoted for concreting is roughly half what
you'd expect to pay to have a house build on a plot the same size.
(House building @ 700 EUR/sq metre for 45 sqm = 31500 EUR).
Definitely taking the *******

So far as the price of the deck goes, screwfix direct will supply a 10 sqm
deck in the UK for £520 (incl VAT) multiply that by 5 for yours and convert
to euros comes to 3600 EUR. If it takes 2 people a week (slacking!), at 75 EUR
per person per day, say 4400 EUR, so the 5000EUR quote is still high
considering the decing price is retail, but not too outrageous.

The other guy probably based his quote by looking at you and your house
and thinking to himself what he thought you would pay - rather than the
true cost.

One thing about the softwood, the green tinge hopefully means that it's
been pressure treated. Make sure you stipulate this if you go ahead.
Also, a warning: hopefully there's none of this nasty stuff around anymore
but it used to be common to use an *beep* (stupid censor, beeped out the
word A R S E N I C) compound to treat outside wood until it was banned a
few years ago.
Ref: http://www.bancca.org/CCA_Victims/Accou ... _story.htm

Pete (who's also thinking of getting some decking done)

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spanish_lad
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Postby spanish_lad » Wed May 31, 2006 6:43 pm

jenny - any chance you can post a picture of the area so i can see what exactly you are talking about ' i know plenty of builders and could show them - although it sounds like decking would be cheaper ?
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.

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jennym
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Postby jennym » Wed May 31, 2006 7:21 pm

Hi Spanish,

I can just about send an email on a computer so, to put a picture on the site is well beyond my capabilities - I really do give blondes a bad name lol!

Seriously though, my camera is flat out and, because we have'nt been here long, I cant find the charger.

Can I give you my mobile number and perhaps chat about it?

Jenny
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costakid
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Postby costakid » Wed May 31, 2006 8:04 pm

what nationality were the builders? you could buy your own materials and get cheap morrocan labour to do the work. they will work hard for cheap rates.

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jennym
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Postby jennym » Thu Jun 01, 2006 8:21 am

The sad thing is Costa is that they came highly recommended by a long standing friend of my husband. They are a long established Spanish company. The friend is English but has lived here for 28 years!
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silver
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Postby silver » Thu Jun 01, 2006 11:42 am

you could buy your own materials and get cheap morrocan labour
or DIY... that seems very popular...no wonder so many others complain about the bad state of the buildings and shoddy workmanship.
we asked our builder for a price of doing this area in concrete......................... his quote was 17,650!!!
if this quote came with a written description then you can see exactly how he was going to do this job and if the cost is justified... the only way to really compare is to check each item from each builder.
The price you have been quoted for concreting is roughly half what
you'd expect to pay to have a house build on a plot the same size.
(House building @ 700 EUR/sq metre for 45 sqm = 31500 EUR).
Definitely taking the *******
If this job is done correctly it would be about half the work of a new building..so to me that sounds about right...
75 EUR
per person per day
our cleaning lady gets more than this... and although there are a lot of unskilled immigrants working for that price because they are desperate...and there are plenty willing to take advantage and only understand when they themselves buy a property that has building problems and then complain about the work (that someone else had done by unskilled workers).
No one can give a quote without visually seeing the job to be undertaken and knowing how it is going to be done, the correct materials to use, the soil and other factors.
I can buy a loaf of bread from 35cents to 3€ but they are not all the same quality.
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Martin Page
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Postby Martin Page » Mon Jun 05, 2006 1:55 pm

I dont think you really want to hear hear this .....

But are you aware that wood outside soon becomes like paper as it dries out so quick - Its very high maintenance !!!

Just thought you might want to be aware of that if you have a concrete option.

You dont see decking much over here. !

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jennym
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Postby jennym » Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:42 pm

Hi Martin,

Your not the first person to have told this so now we are going for the concret option but thanks anyway!

Jenny
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spanish_lad
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Postby spanish_lad » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:35 pm

can u email pics ? i´ll put it on here.
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.


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