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There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to pricing a paver project. No two projects are created equal. There are numerous considerations that need to be made on a project in order to price it accordingly. Lowballing any project is not doing any body any good. You want to price a project appropriately so that you can stay in business not only for your own wellbeing, but also so that you can continue to serve your client moving forward. There is not set appropriate amount for any project. Anywhere you read that a paver project is $X per square foot is likely wrong. We see this on third party lead generations sites where they state a range of pricing for a project. But this has most likely been written by a marketing team or intern that does not have that real-world experience in actually pricing these projects. This is why we have come to write an article based on pricing a paver driveway.
How Much is a Paver Driveway
The truth of answering this question is that there is no pricing per square foot that I can provide you. The pricing of a project depends entirely on the company that is pricing the project and the market. In order for that company to survive, they need to have competitive pricing in their market in order to obtain projects for their business needs. However, they also need to be pricing according to their costs so that they can continue to stay in business for the long term and continue to serve their clients.
As a business owner, you need to be able to evaluate the pricing of your competition around you and decide where you fit into the market. Evaluating your business’ unique selling proposition will help you justify a pricing structure that differs from your competition. It will also help to set yourself apart in your market. You can find out more about pricing in your area by asking around online or in person with some of the businesses in your area or with your local supply company. Pricing will vary from region to region especially based on installation practices, so there is no real set amount per square foot that should be considered from any area outside of where you serve.
Additionally, you need to consider your costs of running your business. Anything and everything that comes out of pocket to serve your business needs to be accounted for in every quote or estimate that is sent out. These are called overhead expenses. They include everything from equipment to your phone bills. Failure to account for these costs will lead to the eventual monetary failure of your company. Labor and the cost of hiring and training employees needs to also be factored into every quote, along with your owner’s salary. With all this, you still need to add in material costs specific to that project and profit for the business separate from the owner’s salary.
All this said, and we still have not considered job site specifics. When it comes to a driveway, you will likely find in the area that you serve that most driveways will have similar shapes so you can get fast in your calculation for a driveway based on previous quotes. As long as you have already ensured that those previous quotes from completed projects made you the money that you expected. If they did not, you need to adjust your quoting. Where driveway pricing will vary is if there is an additional calculation for a front entrance including a walkway and steps or even porch area. Designing a driveway may also add additional cost in the inlays and cuts that need to be completed for that project.
You will be excavating and disposing of more material than a patio or walkway, which also means that you will be bringing in more material for your base. This needs to be calculated in your quote or estimate. The benefit of doing a driveway install is that the access is likely the best you will find for a project being that it is in the front of the property.
As a someone who may be looking for a contractor to complete a paver driveway project, understanding these fundamentals of pricing will help you distinguish between quotes you may receive from multiple companies. You can understand better their pricing strategy. For example, a large company with lots of overhead that has a specified sales person for a project may cost more in their pricing compared to someone just starting out. The cost of that is likely knowing that you are working with a reputable company that has been in the area for a while versus someone just starting their business. Knowing best installation practices in your area will help you understand further what company is likely going to provide you with the best end product to last. The more knowledge you can acquire on the project you are looking to obtain quotes for, the better you can distinguish between quotes and companies.
Finding a company to complete your project with the utmost quality and professionalism can be a difficult task to start. But, you can always reach out to friends, family, and neighbors to see their experiences with companies and try to get a referral from them. This is the most powerful way to find a reputable company to quote a project. Failing that, you can reach out to a local supplier for referrals. Most of them have a referral system that provide reputable companies to clients. However, if pricing is the most important factor for you in a project, reaching out to three companies for quotes and choosing the lowest bidder may be the way you want to go. Just know that the lowest bidder is not always the lowest cost in the long term.
Driveway Paver Cost
The cost of a driveway paver can be more expensive than that of a patio / walkway paver. This depends on the surface area of the paver. The larger the surface area, the thicker the paver must be. This additional material affects the total cost of the paver itself. However, there are smaller pavers that do not require them to be thicker and the
If you are a hardscape business owner and want to learn more about pricing projects, you can check out our knowing your numbers articles to help you along the way and ensure that you are recovering the costs in every quote you send out. Our Business Budget and Estimate Spreadsheet helps you in recovering those costs by setting goals at the beginning of the year and accounting for every cost of your business in every quote.