Who will make me a gravel driveway?
October 5, 2015 4:44 PM Subscribe
I have a piece of land, I want a gravel driveway. Who do I call to do this? (More snowflakes inside.)
I have a piece of land. The lot is about 50 minutes from the closest major city. (i.e. We are in Seattle, the lot is on Snoqualmie Pass.) It snows in the winter, so we are restricted to hiring somebody can come outside of winter. We bought it unimproved.
We've chopped down the relevant trees but there are still stumps. I know how wide and long we want the gravel driveway to be. (About 30' long and 10' wide.) The lot is on a slant, but does not need retaining walls, and we will be putting a bit of a curve in it. I want them to come in, cut the driveway and the pad, lay the gravel, and lay the large stones for the RV parking pad. The project does not require permitting.
Ideally, while they have the machine there, they can also help us back the empty flatbed trailer down to the pad.
I am having a lot of trouble finding someone who (a) does work like this, since I don't seem to know the specific subcontractor I'm looking for, (b) does work in this area, as most seem to want to stay in the city, and (c) is willing to give me an estimate. I would like someone to give me an estimate and be willing to do the work--even better would be getting multiple estimates so that I can actually be sure it's a fair price.
I had one person come out last year and give an estimate ($7000 all inclusive), but it had already snowed, and now he is not honoring that estimate. Another person said he does not want to come out for free, but I could send him pictures. I sent him pictures, and he wanted dimensions. I told him the dimensions, and he still told me it was impossible to estimate.
I am a member of Angie's List and have contacted people there. Otherwise, I'm not sure where else to look. This is incredibly frustrating to me, to the point where I'm tempted to rent a trailer and a bobcat and have my husband do the work. (Though I think ultimately, this is not a good idea. We are enthusiastic DIY people, but we both work full time, and neither of us has experience on a cat.)
I "just" want someone reliable and fair to do the project. Ideally before it snows (usually in mid November) but also ok if it's next spring. How do I find this person? Or what strategies should I take to find a sub to do this?
I have a piece of land. The lot is about 50 minutes from the closest major city. (i.e. We are in Seattle, the lot is on Snoqualmie Pass.) It snows in the winter, so we are restricted to hiring somebody can come outside of winter. We bought it unimproved.
We've chopped down the relevant trees but there are still stumps. I know how wide and long we want the gravel driveway to be. (About 30' long and 10' wide.) The lot is on a slant, but does not need retaining walls, and we will be putting a bit of a curve in it. I want them to come in, cut the driveway and the pad, lay the gravel, and lay the large stones for the RV parking pad. The project does not require permitting.
Ideally, while they have the machine there, they can also help us back the empty flatbed trailer down to the pad.
I am having a lot of trouble finding someone who (a) does work like this, since I don't seem to know the specific subcontractor I'm looking for, (b) does work in this area, as most seem to want to stay in the city, and (c) is willing to give me an estimate. I would like someone to give me an estimate and be willing to do the work--even better would be getting multiple estimates so that I can actually be sure it's a fair price.
I had one person come out last year and give an estimate ($7000 all inclusive), but it had already snowed, and now he is not honoring that estimate. Another person said he does not want to come out for free, but I could send him pictures. I sent him pictures, and he wanted dimensions. I told him the dimensions, and he still told me it was impossible to estimate.
I am a member of Angie's List and have contacted people there. Otherwise, I'm not sure where else to look. This is incredibly frustrating to me, to the point where I'm tempted to rent a trailer and a bobcat and have my husband do the work. (Though I think ultimately, this is not a good idea. We are enthusiastic DIY people, but we both work full time, and neither of us has experience on a cat.)
I "just" want someone reliable and fair to do the project. Ideally before it snows (usually in mid November) but also ok if it's next spring. How do I find this person? Or what strategies should I take to find a sub to do this?
I'd ask folks with property around you who they used.
posted by humboldt32 at 5:09 PM on October 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by humboldt32 at 5:09 PM on October 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I would call the closest, local hardware store and ask who does that type of work. Small hardware stores know who does what work and they probably have a stack of business cards/phone numbers. When I've had weird jobs or just needed a handyman, the local mom and pop, True Value or Ace has always been a good source of referrals.
BTW, bobcat guys are likely doing snow removal all winter. They'll likely be happy to pick up some work in the spring when the ground is soft.
posted by 26.2 at 5:12 PM on October 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
BTW, bobcat guys are likely doing snow removal all winter. They'll likely be happy to pick up some work in the spring when the ground is soft.
posted by 26.2 at 5:12 PM on October 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Go to your nearest quarry or landscape maintenance store and ask them who does this sort of thing.
posted by Happydaz at 5:20 PM on October 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Happydaz at 5:20 PM on October 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just look for companies with "excavating" in their name - that's who we got to add more crushed limestone to our 900 foot driveway and smooth it out - there are lots of them in Michigan, I can't believe that you won't be able to find anyone close to you.
posted by rfs at 5:39 PM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rfs at 5:39 PM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I'm out in the country and a lot of the help I have gotten is from local word of mouth (almost NOTHING is on the internet, except for some stuff in local community FaceBook groups). A lot of places also just have a (homemade) sign on their front lawn saying "property management". If they can't help they can probably give you some leads. Drive around a bit and see if you can see any signs. Nthing my tiny hardware store (that carries a more diverse selection than the huge suburban Canadian Tire I used to shop at) has a tonne of local business cards. Also in local legion halls, Fish and Chips shops and the library.
posted by saucysault at 6:23 PM on October 5, 2015
posted by saucysault at 6:23 PM on October 5, 2015
Do you have a local post office? I work in a small town of that variety (most people have PO boxes and the corkboard is like a local craigslist minus the sexy bits.) The postal clerk probably knows everyone, to boot.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 7:21 PM on October 5, 2015
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 7:21 PM on October 5, 2015
Whether you need a legal contracter or just a dude with a machine depends on if there are any permitting issues or anything tricky about the site, which isn't something any of us can know from your description. Cash under the table is cheaper, but sometimes legal is the only way to go.
You don't want or need a big company, you need the kind of company that will be called "Smith Excavation" or "Joe Bob's Backhoe Service," a small outfit with one or two machines and a small dumptruck. You want them to be as geographically close as possible because with such a small job the cost of mobilization (getting the machines and materials to the site) is going to be a large fraction of the total cost. Offering to pay cash under the table might get you a significant discount -- this is the kind of tiny job that people will do between larger jobs.
Asking around is the best way -- ask a plumber or electrician or other tradesperson who they call for small excavation jobs, for example. Ditto at the local rock quarry or building supply place. Emphasize that this is a small job (really, it is small -- you will need less than a cubic yard of gravel, for example). Decide what you want them to do and what you will take care of, like who will haul off the stumps and excess dirt, for example.
DIYing this is easy, but might not save you any money because you will be really slow on the rental machine, compared to someone who knows what they are doing. But it is a low risk way to have some fun on a machine, which is a plus for a lot of people.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:57 PM on October 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
You don't want or need a big company, you need the kind of company that will be called "Smith Excavation" or "Joe Bob's Backhoe Service," a small outfit with one or two machines and a small dumptruck. You want them to be as geographically close as possible because with such a small job the cost of mobilization (getting the machines and materials to the site) is going to be a large fraction of the total cost. Offering to pay cash under the table might get you a significant discount -- this is the kind of tiny job that people will do between larger jobs.
Asking around is the best way -- ask a plumber or electrician or other tradesperson who they call for small excavation jobs, for example. Ditto at the local rock quarry or building supply place. Emphasize that this is a small job (really, it is small -- you will need less than a cubic yard of gravel, for example). Decide what you want them to do and what you will take care of, like who will haul off the stumps and excess dirt, for example.
DIYing this is easy, but might not save you any money because you will be really slow on the rental machine, compared to someone who knows what they are doing. But it is a low risk way to have some fun on a machine, which is a plus for a lot of people.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:57 PM on October 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
As mentioned upthread, you're looking for a professional excavator--someone like this. Search listings (Angie's list, yelp, etc.) for 'stone and gravel,' 'driveways,' 'stump removal,' 'gravel trucking,' 'excavation', etc. Be sure to search on porch.com--I've had good luck using the service.
posted by prinado at 8:41 PM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by prinado at 8:41 PM on October 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Also try your local "rent all" place. Ours has tons of cards/references for local small businesses that can do just about anything, because they do business with the companies all the time.
Our local rent everything company is huge, and really does rent ALL THE THINGS, everything from a soup tourine to a backhoe, but it doesn't have a website. Its yellow pages listing focuses on the port-a-john aspect of their business. So, for some of these things, you have to ask, know someone who knows, or be very adventurous just walking into places to figure out what they have to offer. Ah, the joys of rural living.
posted by slipthought at 8:48 AM on October 6, 2015
Our local rent everything company is huge, and really does rent ALL THE THINGS, everything from a soup tourine to a backhoe, but it doesn't have a website. Its yellow pages listing focuses on the port-a-john aspect of their business. So, for some of these things, you have to ask, know someone who knows, or be very adventurous just walking into places to figure out what they have to offer. Ah, the joys of rural living.
posted by slipthought at 8:48 AM on October 6, 2015
We had similar problems finding such people when we first got a place in the country.
Now we get a lot of recommendations from the Facebook group for our county.
The local gas station has tons of flyers up on the wall about graveling, mowing, grading, whatever. 10 minutes spent hanging around there also garners lots of info.
posted by MonsieurBon at 9:08 AM on October 6, 2015
Now we get a lot of recommendations from the Facebook group for our county.
The local gas station has tons of flyers up on the wall about graveling, mowing, grading, whatever. 10 minutes spent hanging around there also garners lots of info.
posted by MonsieurBon at 9:08 AM on October 6, 2015
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You don't want someone from the Seattle area. I'm sure there is someone local to your lot. Try the Yellow Pages or try calling local building supply stores to ask. There are always plenty of these guys around.
posted by ssg at 4:56 PM on October 5, 2015