Yup your spot on. They say one yard but when they are loading it with a dozer in a bucket its not being weighed its being estimated. New employees old employees they all load differently. I actually wonder how they can do that if you think about it. I mean when you buy cereal in a box 18 oz they could get in trouble if they short you as a consumer. I go get bark and think I am only going to get one yard it will be way enough then the loader gives me more thinks he is being nice omg never ends.
Wow thank you I'm glad I made this video because I was a little concerned that maybe I was the only one who thought I was going crazy when I was never getting consistent amount of mulch. Haha, I'm like, what's going on here?
@@keith-kalfas what if you had your own mulch at your shop? That's what a company I worked for did. Then you know exactly how much your getting loaded. Now you'd only have one kind of mulch unless you want an entrie yard of just different mulches. If they do want something different then you can charge extra. Also I have a question. Do you pay your guys for while their on the road bc that's half the reason why Im trying to do my own thing, no company pays you while your on the road. I personally think that's bs. But I guess that's ALOT of over time, idk. Just a 20 year old kid with literally like no experience talking out his ass. Lol
Cereal doesn't get wet and hold moisture though. If you did it by weight you could get really fucked. When you install a bucket on a loader you will know what it's volume is.
No mulch supplier weighs mulch. This is because mulch is like a sponge in the sense that it retains moisture. A sponge full Of water weighs a lot more than a dry sponge. Same logic applies to wet and dry mulch. The most accurate way to measure mulch is by volume. I produce and sell around 50,000 yards of mulch a year
Most every time someone ends up with leftover dirt or half a mountain of mulch still remaining on driveway. They Immediately make a beeline for nearest tree. Similarly when someone asks my advice as a professional arborist, how they could kill off their neighbors newly planted tree without owner's suspecting a thing. My advice is to create artificial drought conditions by totally suffocating root system. Dumping dirt around trunk while still sensitive to transplanting shock before chance to establish.
We are near Toronto, Ontario. Oakville to be specific. Charge $165.00 a yard installed. Mulch costs $45.00 Garden cleanup is done before hand. Minimum charge of $350.00. They can be a $1,000.00 plus depending on project. Typical is the 400-500 range. We do not install fabric under mulch. Only under river rock. The fabric Always blows loose in mulch and looks Horrible. Also, the weeds tend to grow in the mulch once it decomposes. Then the roots eventually grow into the cloth and it’s impossible to weed. We also don’t like the plastic garden edge. Tends to fall out and look horrible in a few years. We recommend a simple edge cut by a spade/edged.
I do $100 per yard and $90 per yard for seniors. Don't know why.. But I like giving older folks a little better prices haha. I met a guy who was in "lawn restoration" that got tons of business through massive door hanger campaigns. Well naturally he got asked to do tons of other landscaping work too. So he told me he bid mulch at $185 per yard. He said "If they say yes, good. If they say no, good."
Lol. I am watching videos cuz i did a bunch of work for family for 15$ and hour and even though I told her for one hour out of the eight I worked I had to take a phone call because this is not what I do. She had the audacity to complain about it to me even tho i was actually working while i was on the phone. Not to mention i got there 30 Minutes early to go over everything she wanted to do and she happen to be on the phone and made me wait 30 minutes. Did about 12 yards of mulch including weed pulling and mixing soil before mulching. I also put in a guard for their front garden before mulching and dug a trench for drainage and put a pipe in there in that eight hours. And she had the nerve to complain i was in the phone even tho before i started it told her. Wow. Never again. I just saved them 3-4 hundred dollars and Are used to work for a landscaping company so I actually do know what I’m doing to some extent. Sorry everyone I just had to vent
Good stuff, Keith! I charge $150 for anything under 3 yards (You need to make the little jobs profitable), $120 for anything more than that and $100 on really big jobs bed prep not included.
I like your reasoning. I am new to this field and learning by TH-cam because I can't actually afford to practice on my own yard and I have not gotten any calls from my website or post cards. Lol, anyway, I wanted to ask, are the prices you quoted, is that just to purchase the mulch or is that the price of mulch plus labor.
I thought I would be around $80-$85 per yard based on local prices, but I did my numbers, had my father (who's been bidding jobs in the construction industry for literally 50 years) check my numbers, and we both came up with $100/yard. I nervously called the customer and told her my total price, and she said "Oh is that, all, great."
$100 a yard is what I concluded also. There are guys that charge around $200 per yard @ 2 inches thick. $50 is too low. $150 is too high. $100 is goldilocks.
I learn something from every video can't thank you enough. I've done 2 mulch jobs this season. I'm just starting out as a small business owner. I trim trees and bushes. I repair lawns and over power raking and power washing. On month 3 it's been amazing to have some success with it.
Exactly. All good points. Its never 100% always order heavy. Find a place in the landscape to apply the excess or haul it home and start your own surplus bin, or enjoy your mulch. Never order short. Always order heavy. Can't believe you're getting 2 bucks a foot for fabric...we use the 12x300 ft roll of driveway underlayment..the good stuff...I've been putting it in at .33 ft Definitely need to up my prices on that. Thanks for that.
$95 mulch installed. The preparation of the beds I tag it the clean up. It runs about $150 unless I have to do liners. The clean up starts at $350. Regarding measuring the beds I use a wheel tool and I still suck at it lol. This is my third week since I started the business. And you are right, I've been spending nights and days stressed out to make sure I do a good job, set prices right and budget for equipment. Your videos are incredibly helpful,keep them coming. Thank you from Pennsylvania.
Doing my first 10+ yard job today. I usually have been doing it by eye since I’ve been doing it a few years but for this one I measured. The formula I found was a yard covers approx 320 square feet one inch thick, so you take the size of the bed (say 20x20) multiply by 2 (inches thick) and divide by 320 which comes out to 2.5 yards. I’m kinda expecting to have to adjust it but I know I needed to start developing a formula verse guessing
My tip is always put down a light layer first just to make sure your area is covered then you can build it up. Keith is right about factoring in how far you have to wheelbarrow the mulch. I use a big Rubbermaid cart with the bike wheels and you can fit a ton of mulch in it.
I try inspect the mulch before delivery. I always use the wheel. (You look more professional and clients don't dispute you.) You get more mulch after a good rain, because it compacts, but after a day or two it swells and you will get less. Often, yard managers will lift the mulch to put air in mulch. You will not get the correct amount. That's why you what to check the mulch, arriated mulch, add on at least half a yard. I often gift donuts, gatorade and water to the drivers and lift guys, it builds trust and often they are generally generous with you. Its always good to have too much, than not enough. It looks bad, when underestimate. Rarely, I have leftovers, but if I have some, I'll either save, giftor donate to community projects. ( It makes me look good and can be a write off) ALWAYS separate your delivery fees, gas, cones zones, flagger, Ground prep, weeding, edging-metal, types of ground cover, plastic, pins, retention spikes, disposal fees separately from the cost of mulch. Great discussion!
The way you have explained is pretty plain and simple! Thats how you do it. Ive laid atleast 1,000 beds. EXCEPT ive always been the worker doing it. Bossman always bidded! Not anymore my times coming. Thank u keith for all your help on the buisness and work side!
Let’s specify a bit... $120-$150 per yard to deliver and install. I charge $200 per yard, but that includes cleaning out the old, weeding and edging. I found it easier to include all the work involved into the price. But that’s been my experience, maybe it hasn’t worked for others. I just found it easier than itemizing the crap out of an invoice. Some customers think you’re trying to pull a fast one if you have this giant list of services.
I was at $85 two years ago. At $100 now and thinking going to at least $110 at 3x the cost of mulch minimum. Also picked up the Kombi 131R with bed redefiner 3 weeks ago. Game changer in efficiency.
Hey I'm from Massachusetts and this is my second year in Business but first for selling mulch and I got some people complaining that I'm to high when I say $100 a yard then I do it for $75 a yard and they say I can't afford to do the rest of my property unless you drop it to $60 a yard. Ive been just loosing my patients with old side job customers that I thought were my clients. I'm sorry I invested a 2014 dodge ram 3500 dumpbody with a Cummins diesal. My old customers have no idea what it takes to keep up 4 trucks and all my other equipment. Im not just a guy in a old pick up truck anymore with a pick ax and a shuval lmao!
I've been running the numbers today to really break it down. We have a 4 man crew. Our supplier sells it at $40 per cubic yard. To cover mulch, delivery and installation (labor) we have to charge $125 per for cubic yard.
If you need to let them go doubt they will get anyone. I'm on the CT MA border and with the way things are.. it really needs to be 3x the materials..minimum
With mulch-acquisition-delivery-installation, in San Diego,… such as on a 7cu.yd. job, around plants, on the big side yard, easy enough access: $240 per cu.yd.
I just make sure my mulch yard does not go heavy. They do that when I bring them a lot of business. Take into account plants, area and obstructions that will adjust the yard amount needed. A yard covers about 300 sq at 1 inch with shredded. I always remove old mulch and turn the broken material so that it exposes the earth. Then I add my light layer of mulch. If I install fabric I just add about an inch more. Each job is different but I usually don't have any left and if I do it's used for a 2nd job with the same color so materials are never wasted. It saves me $ along the way and helps me from wasting time by being more attentive to how I plan projects. Great video! 🤙🌴
Keith I actually learned a bit a few years ago about doing mulch jobs from one of your videos. This is how I do it now. $125 a yard installed and delivered. I have dump lawn trailer and we load it with pitch forks then pull the trailer with a ztr to the spot and back it up and dump in place, rinse and repeat. I rarely use a wheelbarrow. You never will be exact bc my supplier always gives me 1.5 yard vs 1. Guys don’t give this stuff away on pricing. Never do a job for less than you can do on a different one. If you make $60 hour mowing or trimming bushes then no to do this for $40
We measure all beds to get a total sq ft, divide by 150 = how many yards we charge the customer for. Then we take that number, say 8, and subtract 20% for plants and bring 6.5 to the house. If we have to go back to get more, we have some wiggle room.
Also... I only offer weed barrier fabric for stone mulch. I hate it too, and avoid it like the plague. Only helps with sub-surface weeds, doesn't prevent wind and critter weed deposits.
The loader buckets where I go are exactly 1 yard and exactly 5 yard. the great part is that the loader drivers are giving you a heaping bucket in order to make up for what misses the truck or what falls out while they're moving. Great video, great advise.
Honestly my first boss mrs Joey. I don't know how she did it. Since I started working for myself I haven't been able to. But every time we used mulch stone river jack or anything she always had exactly enough.
Where you're using your hand by the edge, I use a steel bow rake . After I smooth the top using a fan rake (flipped over on the smooth side) I pound around the edge with a steel bow rake.
The company I worked for we never did weed barrier fabric we actually use Preen it has be installed every 4 months you still have to pull all the weeds but it's faster and it works just as well as weed barrier Fabric and it's a lot cheaper and quicker now it will not affect things like Bermuda and you got to put the right kind Preen in depending on if the person is going to have vegetables in there or have you plant another flowers or stuff like that
Here what I do....with my crew I try to have the same guy raking the mulch out. Yes that sounds strange but some workers know how to be efficient spreading mulch correctly at the correct depth. I would install mulch at the same accounts for years and we would use the same amount of mulch every time then I would have a different crew installing and they would tell me "we ran out of mulch" ! I would check the job and they would have mulch piled 4-5" deep ! Find 1 worker that is good at spreading correctly and you will become more accurate estimating yardage
324/Square footage then multiple that number by how many inches you want. Always bind the amount you measured or a little more so you’re covered then when you get to the mulch yard if you know how the guys loading you up you can shave off the yardage you actually get. Really depends on your loader.
we start depending on weather but middle of march to the 1st of April but then go in with spring clean up. price depending on size. After that we mulch the place reg mulch is $125/yrd and black is $135/yrd that includes edging a normal house takes 10 min to edge and thats included in mulch. If a place takes 2yrd we get a truck load and mulch that placwe and jusr keep going thru the dif houses and then get another load and keep going. unless someone calls late spring or during the summer for mulch we just get what we think we need and always a little more any left over we put on a pile and then later use it. Yea it can fade some but we just start with it and put it in the areas you dont see and thin layer over top.
We usually only install sweet peat mulch which costs us from $50-$65 per yard and we sell it for $100 per yard delivered. Then prep and installation costs $45 per men/hour. This means that for a job with 5 yards of sweet peat with a 3 men crew usually goes for $905.00 $500 for mulch delivered and $405 for weeding, edging (by hand with at least 4-6 in depth perfect edge) and installation. All of that plus taxes and dump fee if there was a lot of weeds.
It's always better to have more mulch than not enough. I use a snow shovel along with pitch forks to put out much, and for smaller places use painter buckets to lightly put it out around shrubs.
Right at about 8 minutes Keith blew me away. I've never seen anything but dark charcoal/black weed liner in the supply stores here around the Spokane area. Hello from Washington by the way. Keep it up Keith.
@@transferendum_nomen_meum Cant complain. The rain has been really spotty so I've been doing plenty of jobs. It's the snow we got that really sucked haha
@@kklandscaping7919 Yeah I bet snow would be a wrench in the schedule. I got a good break of sunlight earlier and got a huge shrub trimming job done. It's just now starting to rain again so I got lucky. Barely enough time for cleanup before getting soaked.
I operate out of Rio Rancho New Mexico I charge$0. 80 per square foot (2 to 3 in. Thick) gravel installed. That price is a starter price with a gray gravel, fabric, and labor included. We have three or four types of Grey gravel which cost about $25 per ton. So that brings the labor to $95 per ton. I don't give volume discounts until they reach 10 tons.
I'm in the same boat. I ended up estimating too much and could only fit half in my trailer. but the amount that fit in there was actually perfect! weird!
Keith the new study about mulch for 2019 at 4 inch is better for the plants to keep the coolness in the summer months and as well winter month against frost as we are both same equator ,
A battle is right. I have a system, but always playing that game. Difference between stone and wood mulch too. I tip my loader/driver upon delivery as well. They get to know you and deliver accordingly. May not be right, but just how it is. Good video👍
In Jersey we charge $80 a yard installed and a little extra to pull weeds and put in the edge with the bed redefiner. A little more if they want a nice deep hand dug edge.
Bags of mulch from Walmart is actually pretty reasonable. And decent quality. That have dark brown and light brown. I think it's like $ 4.00 a bag. But the bag is 3 inches thick and about two foot long. So I prefer to use the bags cause honestly it's easier for me. Now for other guys they might prefer to buy it by the truck load. It's cheaper like that but harder to measure in my opinion by eyeballing it.
Brother, I really appreciate you and this video. I have been in the remodeling and landscaping business for quite a while. More remodeling than landscaping. I am currently focusing on my landscape business, and this video really put a lot of things in perspective. So, thank you again.
I've never stalled mulch that's come in bulk. I've always installed premium grade from bags. And they were three cubic yard bags installed at 3 to 4 in so I have no way to really help you and that aspect having bag wise I can pretty much hit it spot on within a couple bags. The only suggestion I would have is to put down a wheelbarrow full of mulch know exactly the amount of mulch it is at the depth you put it at and then get a visual on it and then when you go look at a place kind of try to replicate that visual through your flower beds.
10-tine silage fork....the pitch fork you spoke of....mandatory...I use them for SO many different operations...sod removal(with no sod cutter)….brush cleanup....weeding way overgrown garden beds...even digging out large chunks of certain types of soil....Razorback makes them with a lifetime guarantee (like all Razorback tools) I bend the handles..break a tine....I just take it back for a new one....done it four times so far
I used to hate pitch fork s .but I'm with you I get the wider ones with morevteeth.I forget the name but they work beautiful for spreading.I've always used buckets in fancy scapes with muxho' h Plants old school trick that makes zero mess or tracks in yard.each his own
We don't install much mulch and when we do it's in the bag. But we install plenty of gravel. I find it's much easier if the area is more of a rectangle. when it's a whole bunch of little circles and Straits like that it seems to be a lot more difficult to get an accurate measurement in the first place. But I tend to get it close enough to wear if I have to get some more gravel it's not more than a couple wheelbarrows. But it took me seven years to get it down. Now I'm on year 14. I miss measure a lot less but I still miss. Keep up the good work Keith. Tell us more about the Dark Night of the Soul. I want to see some more entrepreneurial misery and aha moments.
Good video bro In Orange County California Im charging $200 per yard. Price in much varíes depending on the supplier some sell it for $20 other smaller suppliers $30-35. Even tho we’re in different states your tips still help
Thanks Keith I'm learning a lot with your videos and community comments I'm going to stick with 100 dollar mulch installation and 50 man hour for prep for now till get real good at it I'm in south Georgia
100 per yard Mulch/Delivery/Install Does not include weeding or edging the garden beds. I charge $1.50 per Linear foot for new edging And $.75 per linear foot for old edging. Curious your thoughts
Im at 100 yard for mulch/delivery/ install doesnt include weeding or barrier fabric. 7$ per ft for any kind of edging either natural edge or bricks(that doesn't include cost of bricks or sand etc.)
About where I'm at too @Mark Ulrich. And I don't do weed barrier fabric. No one seems to be too interested in it and I don't think it does that great anyway.
my name is chuck with My Lawn Guy. i was in IL. and i just sold my business and moved to texas. when i was doing mulch, here is a fool proof way to get just about exact yardage for mulch. i always measured the beds with a walking wheel i always carried in my truck with me. you measure length X width divide by 162. so, for example, if its 10 X 10 its 100 sqft divide by 162 for 2 inches depth is 0.61 yd which is a little over half a yard. a yard of mulch is about 84 cubic feet, give or take. i was a little bit low but i charged 95/yard installed plus delivery. i also included bed edging with the echo bed edger. unless it was far then i charged a delivery fee. but i swear it is a fool proof way to measure for almost exact mulch. you just measure round the beds and around anything in the beds. if its a tree ring, you measure across it. so if its a 5 foot ring, you measure 5 X 5 and divide by 162 . and i always used a double wheel wheel barrow. it makes the job way easier. just not solid filled tires. its way harder to go across the grass. i always replaced the inner tubes with ones made by slime. they are self sealing so a rose bush thorns wont puncture them, like i had done to me. im trying to start my business all over again in TX and been talking with brian with brian's lawn care maintenance as well. you both are amazing and i love you. i was even thinking about starting my own you tube channel because you you guys. i'd love to talk with you more personally. but i have no idea on how to each you that way. i hope to be able to talk with you soon. :)
We charge 150 bought,brought, and installed never had to put fabric expected once. We normally end up staying with the customer and take care of their yard maintenance so what we do which is included with the price of the yard maintenance is a weed killer and grass killer so any Sprouts that come out from the mulch which really doesn't happen a lot with us I don't know why I guess we're lucky we'll go down and spraying when if it's not windy now if they are close to the plant we just pull them out but like I said it's rare
Hey Keith you've been spot on! Your content has been great! As far a measuring, I use a measuring wheel and a 100ft tape. You can actually account for the crown in some areas by measuring! I can guess the yardage, but that's more of a personal parlor game with the guys! Lol! For circular areas, I don't usually used that math for that, unless it's a huge area! I'll square a lot of things out and note some areas that will take more mulch. I limit my mulch yards to 2 that I use, so I know what I'm going to get! 😉😁👍
If you get a manure fork, get a good one. I loved the one my old school neighbor gave me until the handle broke. I ordered one on amazon and it broke at the welds after moving a couple hundred yards of mulch.
I simply tell customer I charge 330$ per load five yards of mulch we'll start with one load and see if you want another load it's completely up to u just have to be super clear I charge per load it weighs five thousand lbs because that's all I canpull do u want one load or two it's up to u and stretch as far as possible zero estimate s or running out ofmulch I charge per load period anyways still a headache great video
Hey Keith, I’m also in MI (Oakland county) and where I get my mulch, which I’ll keep secret; I pay for 6 yards and they give me 8 easily. My guys on the loaders in the yard are always generous. To the point where I’m seriously about to start tipping them.. that extra 2 yards at no charge adds up to a lot more $ in my pocket.
I measure every bed with a wheel regardless. Don't subtract for plants or trees. Then use my knowledge of what my yard gives me and my " 6th mulch sense" to see if it's close . I come out exact 9 out of 10. 2 inches . Unless fabric is laid. But I hand spread every bit of it
I used to have the same head scratching thoughts. I learned to order a little extra. You will have leftover but you can use the extra on other jobs. I am blessed with a place to store the leftover 2,3,4 yards then sell it to another customer. You dont need a big space if you only have max 10yd piles of brown and black mulch but a machine is necesssary. Not a big one. KUBOTA BX25!!! Every small company NEEDS one to get to the next level. $15-20k. Worth its weight in gold
My old boss would just order 30 yards to his house and all small jobs under 7 years we would just fill up the truck at the yard and if we need more or less it mad it easier and on top of that he got better deals then just the regular contractor price
Also, call up places that deal in pallets, all manner of woodworking joints, and arrange to pick up their sawdust. Send a guy out there once a week and come out with a dumptruck full of sawdust. Typically the smaller joints have to burn it, and that's a huge pain in the ass, especially after it gets wet. They are always in a hurry to get rid of it, being that it is a major fire hazard. That sawdust will turn to soil under the right conditions, in a year flat.
Love your videos man ! Straight to the point. You where my inspiration to starting my own lawn and landscaping busses! Keep on doing what you’re doing and god bless you and your family
So I would probably measure how many yards then put the cost of the yards then charge an extra 25% so if it was like 100$ I would charge 125 and then add gas if your hauling it so 150 to give yourself some wiggle room then if the customer asks why you charged so much you tell them that yards of bark are always different so you have to upcharge or you would be messing yourself over if you don't get enough and if you get more than you bargained for it would cover the cost of hauling it back to the company you got it from I'm no expert just thinking out loud :)
The way I do estimate mulch is I walk the yard and get an idea of how many wheel barrels it will take then divide by 9. I’ve done houses from 3 yards to 47 yards and I’m always within half a yard or so. The down side is you have to have an eye for it so I can’t have employees really help with it till they’ve been around it for a while
They may be loading wrong...not their fault. Here they load with .5 or 1 yd buckets...the load is ALWAYS mounded when the product is in the bucket. Even if they weight mulch or bark.. its gonna vary depending on the moister in it. Si it's not your measurements.
Just installed 16 yards today...swear they gave me 19 or 20 lol. Honestly, they're trying to be nice, but it drives me nuts having extra mulch. We had to stuff a few yards under some trees and throw about two yards in my truck. I charge anywhere from 75 to 100 per yard. Totally agree, it depends on the mood of the loader/driver/mulch supplier. He was in a great mood today, even let me dump free brush.
@@keith-kalfas Yes sir, time, money & labor. Plus it wears you and your guys out so much...moving a few extra yards of mulch. Also, it looks unproffesional, in my opinion. Customer pulled in as were loading two yards into my truck, probably figured we ordered extra on purpose for another job.
$130 per yard of mulch plus (labor & mulch )$40 for haluing becuz i dont use bags, plus what ever i feel feel like charging to clean up the flowerbed and edgeing
You, my friend would be outa business in no time here in metro Detroit. Competition is fierce everywhere. It’s not like in the 80’s when not a lot of folks did this kinda work. Now, every asshole and their grandma has a ZTR and a dump trailer... fcking horrible.
How much mulch, rocks, baserock, compost, sand...any volume of anything. Same formula when you excavate for pavers to know how much soil your removing. Except when removing soil multiply the end sum by .40. Soil fluffs when you dig it up by 40%. When importing soil or base rock or anything that gets compacted...add 15% for compaction. Thickness, divided by "12 inches-equals... times length-times width-equals. Divided by 27. "3 inches (thick) divided by "12 = .25. .25 x 10ft x 12ft = 30. 30 divided by 27 = 1.1 cubic yard of mulch. Or 1.1 cubic yards x 1.44 = 1.58 tons. I charge cost of mulch plus $55 per cubic yard. We also charge to prep the area. $1.25 per.sq.ft. to remove weeds or old lawn. Fabric is cost of fabric and staples plus a couple hundred per '1000 sq.ft. I always under order by 2%. I'd rather pick up a couple extra yards if we are short, rather than have to haul 2 yards to the landfill.
Retail bulk + spreading + small delivery per yard. Buy it at contractor. The llace i go has a 1 yard bucket on the small loader and a 3 yard bucket on the larger. They seem little liberal because i asked for 1.5 yards and walked away closer to 2.
I run a small landscape company in Toronto Ontario. We charge $80 for delivery, up to 5 yards. Then it's $90 per yard for material and labor to spread the mulch providing its an easy spread. However as you always said in previous videos when giving a quote you need to ask 10,000 questions. Like can you get wheelbarrows into the backyard? Are the garden beds nice and open or are there tons of flowers where you have to hand spread all the mulch? At the end of the day it all comes down to how much time you spend on site. For example there's one customer where I need to bill $1,100 to spread 3 yards of mulch and 2 yards of triple mix every year. It's a nightmare to get into the backyard and the mulch needs to be spread by hand around every single plant & flower. It takes an entire day to complete the job. Love the videos bro! Keep on grinding!
Most times when I measure, I end up over ordering. I break my areas into sections, do the math, add it all up, and order what it says. But usually end up with extra. For example, say my measurements say I need 30 yards of mulch. I have 30 delivered. I spread it, and realize I have a HUGE amount left.... like 4-5 yards!!
Could it be that you're spreading too thin? For example, say your measurements assume 3" deep, but in reality you actually only spread it 2.5" deep? That could explain leftover material. Or, the loaders were generous and gave you big scoops
Thank you. I needed this lesson.. I’m getting jobs in and I am so worried I am going to under bid my jobs or over bid them. This year is going to be a learning year for me. Again thanks for the tips. Also everyone that has positive feed back in the comments... big help..
Benjamin George 1800 sq ft of mulch .. comes out to 17.89 yards @ 3” < don’t quote me on that .. but I haven’t give them the bid yet because I am not 100% sure how to price such a large job.
Blue Grass Diggers 16.7 to be exact. I would sell 19 yards at $120. that gives you enough leeway to not make a mistake. Then if you want, just buy 17 or 18 and see how it goes. You can always put it on a little thicker but if you run short it’s no fun making another trip to get more.
I’m at $100/yd installed, doesn’t include garden prep, weed fabric, or anything else. I actually try to talk customers out of weed fabric unless they’re doing stone for a couple reason 1) I hate installing and 2) unless that mulch is cleaned out totally ever year or 2 it serves no point as mulch breaks down turning to dirt creating a weed breeding ground unless heavily treated and becomes a nightmare to remove years later if they want a garden renovation. Edging price per linear foot is dependent on what they want for edging. Also agree on the idk what I’m getting all the time even though I’ve gotten it from the same supplier generally. Few times, with rounding up, I’ve had barely enough, or probably over 1/4-1/2 yd I had to take away.
Pine trees mulch themselves using their dropped needles. Does removal of the old built up mulch before applying new stuff cost extra? Like that slowly building mound around the base of trees has become an epidemic now. Especially when any landscapers cutting sharp edge between lawn & mulch toss soil inward toward base of tree.
My issue this year is that I bought a Mulch Blower. It saves so much material is crazy. I’m loading dump truck loads after the jobs are done to deliver them to the next job. A job that took us 70 by hand took 40 with the blower.
First you have to make sure you use a supplier that provides exactly a cubic yard. I can do it by experience now but take the square feet of bed space x 1.25/12 and divide by 27.add 10 percent if it’s a sloped area as that eats up mulch more
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Yup your spot on. They say one yard but when they are loading it with a dozer in a bucket its not being weighed its being estimated. New employees old employees they all load differently. I actually wonder how they can do that if you think about it. I mean when you buy cereal in a box 18 oz they could get in trouble if they short you as a consumer. I go get bark and think I am only going to get one yard it will be way enough then the loader gives me more thinks he is being nice omg never ends.
Wow thank you I'm glad I made this video because I was a little concerned that maybe I was the only one who thought I was going crazy when I was never getting consistent amount of mulch. Haha, I'm like, what's going on here?
@@keith-kalfas what if you had your own mulch at your shop? That's what a company I worked for did. Then you know exactly how much your getting loaded. Now you'd only have one kind of mulch unless you want an entrie yard of just different mulches. If they do want something different then you can charge extra.
Also I have a question. Do you pay your guys for while their on the road bc that's half the reason why Im trying to do my own thing, no company pays you while your on the road. I personally think that's bs. But I guess that's ALOT of over time, idk. Just a 20 year old kid with literally like no experience talking out his ass. Lol
Cereal doesn't get wet and hold moisture though. If you did it by weight you could get really fucked. When you install a bucket on a loader you will know what it's volume is.
No mulch supplier weighs mulch. This is because mulch is like a sponge in the sense that it retains moisture. A sponge full Of water weighs a lot more than a dry sponge. Same logic applies to wet and dry mulch. The most accurate way to measure mulch is by volume.
I produce and sell around 50,000 yards of mulch a year
Most every time someone ends up with leftover dirt or half a mountain of mulch still remaining on driveway.
They Immediately make a beeline for nearest tree.
Similarly when someone asks my advice as a professional arborist, how they could kill off their neighbors newly planted tree without owner's suspecting a thing.
My advice is to create artificial drought conditions by totally suffocating root system.
Dumping dirt around trunk while still sensitive to transplanting shock before chance to establish.
We are near Toronto, Ontario. Oakville to be specific.
Charge $165.00 a yard installed.
Mulch costs $45.00
Garden cleanup is done before hand. Minimum charge of $350.00. They can be a $1,000.00 plus depending on project. Typical is the 400-500 range.
We do not install fabric under mulch. Only under river rock. The fabric Always blows loose in mulch and looks Horrible. Also, the weeds tend to grow in the mulch once it decomposes. Then the roots eventually grow into the cloth and it’s impossible to weed.
We also don’t like the plastic garden edge. Tends to fall out and look horrible in a few years. We recommend a simple edge cut by a spade/edged.
interesting. thanks for sharing how you guys do things!
This guy is my favorite lawn and landscaping pro!! Continue to teach us, I’m learning a lot!!
mine too. this guy goes down as a legend in my book. he has helped us so much it's un real.
I do $100 per yard and $90 per yard for seniors. Don't know why.. But I like giving older folks a little better prices haha.
I met a guy who was in "lawn restoration" that got tons of business through massive door hanger campaigns. Well naturally he got asked to do tons of other landscaping work too. So he told me he bid mulch at $185 per yard. He said "If they say yes, good. If they say no, good."
Lol. I am watching videos cuz i did a bunch of work for family for 15$ and hour and even though I told her for one hour out of the eight I worked I had to take a phone call because this is not what I do. She had the audacity to complain about it to me even tho i was actually working while i was on the phone. Not to mention i got there 30 Minutes early to go over everything she wanted to do and she happen to be on the phone and made me wait 30 minutes. Did about 12 yards of mulch including weed pulling and mixing soil before mulching. I also put in a guard for their front garden before mulching and dug a trench for drainage and put a pipe in there in that eight hours. And she had the nerve to complain i was in the phone even tho before i started it told her. Wow. Never again. I just saved them 3-4 hundred dollars and Are used to work for a landscaping company so I actually do know what I’m doing to some extent. Sorry everyone I just had to vent
word of advice. Never work for family and if you do. Charge them more
Yeah it's not ideal to do business with family. They expect Hispanic rates, and artisan results. Nope. Don't do it.
Good stuff, Keith! I charge $150 for anything under 3 yards (You need to make the little jobs profitable), $120 for anything more than that and $100 on really big jobs bed prep not included.
that's a beautiful point man. Yes. Thank you so much. That's a great point that I didn't think of. Wow.
I like your reasoning. I am new to this field and learning by TH-cam because I can't actually afford to practice on my own yard and I have not gotten any calls from my website or post cards. Lol, anyway, I wanted to ask, are the prices you quoted, is that just to purchase the mulch or is that the price of mulch plus labor.
@@johncunningham3843 boost your marketing, go on fb, Kijiji, etc.
I thought I would be around $80-$85 per yard based on local prices, but I did my numbers, had my father (who's been bidding jobs in the construction industry for literally 50 years) check my numbers, and we both came up with $100/yard. I nervously called the customer and told her my total price, and she said "Oh is that, all, great."
awesome nice job!
$100 a yard is what I concluded also. There are guys that charge around $200 per yard @ 2 inches thick. $50 is too low. $150 is too high. $100 is goldilocks.
@@justinqualls4964 120
I learn something from every video can't thank you enough. I've done 2 mulch jobs this season. I'm just starting out as a small business owner. I trim trees and bushes. I repair lawns and over power raking and power washing. On month 3 it's been amazing to have some success with it.
Congrats on your new life venture.
Exactly. All good points. Its never 100% always order heavy. Find a place in the landscape to apply the excess or haul it home and start your own surplus bin, or enjoy your mulch. Never order short. Always order heavy. Can't believe you're getting 2 bucks a foot for fabric...we use the 12x300 ft roll of driveway underlayment..the good stuff...I've been putting it in at .33 ft Definitely need to up my prices on that. Thanks for that.
$95 mulch installed. The preparation of the beds I tag it the clean up. It runs about $150 unless I have to do liners. The clean up starts at $350. Regarding measuring the beds I use a wheel tool and I still suck at it lol. This is my third week since I started the business. And you are right, I've been spending nights and days stressed out to make sure I do a good job, set prices right and budget for equipment. Your videos are incredibly helpful,keep them coming. Thank you from Pennsylvania.
Doing my first 10+ yard job today. I usually have been doing it by eye since I’ve been doing it a few years but for this one I measured. The formula I found was a yard covers approx 320 square feet one inch thick, so you take the size of the bed (say 20x20) multiply by 2 (inches thick) and divide by 320 which comes out to 2.5 yards. I’m kinda expecting to have to adjust it but I know I needed to start developing a formula verse guessing
My tip is always put down a light layer first just to make sure your area is covered then you can build it up. Keith is right about factoring in how far you have to wheelbarrow the mulch. I use a big Rubbermaid cart with the bike wheels and you can fit a ton of mulch in it.
I just landed my first big job and you are so wright it was a pain ordering the exact amount, thanks
I try inspect the mulch before delivery. I always use the wheel. (You look more professional and clients don't dispute you.) You get more mulch after a good rain, because it compacts, but after a day or two it swells and you will get less. Often, yard managers will lift the mulch to put air in mulch. You will not get the correct amount. That's why you what to check the mulch, arriated mulch, add on at least half a yard.
I often gift donuts, gatorade and water to the drivers and lift guys, it builds trust and often they are generally generous with you. Its always good to have too much, than not enough. It looks bad, when underestimate. Rarely, I have leftovers, but if I have some, I'll either save, giftor donate to community projects. ( It makes me look good and can be a write off) ALWAYS separate your delivery fees, gas, cones zones, flagger, Ground prep, weeding, edging-metal, types of ground cover, plastic, pins, retention spikes, disposal fees separately from the cost of mulch. Great discussion!
very good to know thank you.
The way you have explained is pretty plain and simple! Thats how you do it. Ive laid atleast 1,000 beds. EXCEPT ive always been the worker doing it. Bossman always bidded! Not anymore my times coming. Thank u keith for all your help on the buisness and work side!
Let’s specify a bit... $120-$150 per yard to deliver and install. I charge $200 per yard, but that includes cleaning out the old, weeding and edging.
I found it easier to include all the work involved into the price. But that’s been my experience, maybe it hasn’t worked for others. I just found it easier than itemizing the crap out of an invoice.
Some customers think you’re trying to pull a fast one if you have this giant list of services.
don't ask me buddy. I watch you for all the greatness. lol
thanks man you have helped us since day one with only a shovel and a rake
I was at $85 two years ago. At $100 now and thinking going to at least $110 at 3x the cost of mulch minimum. Also picked up the Kombi 131R with bed redefiner 3 weeks ago. Game changer in efficiency.
Hey I'm from Massachusetts and this is my second year in Business but first for selling mulch and I got some people complaining that I'm to high when I say $100 a yard then I do it for $75 a yard and they say I can't afford to do the rest of my property unless you drop it to $60 a yard. Ive been just loosing my patients with old side job customers that I thought were my clients. I'm sorry I invested a 2014 dodge ram 3500 dumpbody with a Cummins diesal. My old customers have no idea what it takes to keep up 4 trucks and all my other equipment. Im not just a guy in a old pick up truck anymore with a pick ax and a shuval lmao!
Brother i understand what you are saying but 75 per hd no way i would rather let the customers go and try to start over more than doing cheer work
I've been running the numbers today to really break it down. We have a 4 man crew. Our supplier sells it at $40 per cubic yard.
To cover mulch, delivery and installation (labor) we have to charge $125 per for cubic yard.
If you need to let them go doubt they will get anyone. I'm on the CT MA border and with the way things are.. it really needs to be 3x the materials..minimum
With mulch-acquisition-delivery-installation, in San Diego,… such as on a 7cu.yd. job, around plants, on the big side yard, easy enough access: $240 per cu.yd.
I just make sure my mulch yard does not go heavy. They do that when I bring them a lot of business. Take into account plants, area and obstructions that will adjust the yard amount needed. A yard covers about 300 sq at 1 inch with shredded. I always remove old mulch and turn the broken material so that it exposes the earth. Then I add my light layer of mulch. If I install fabric I just add about an inch more. Each job is different but I usually don't have any left and if I do it's used for a 2nd job with the same color so materials are never wasted. It saves me $ along the way and helps me from wasting time by being more attentive to how I plan projects. Great video! 🤙🌴
Keith I actually learned a bit a few years ago about doing mulch jobs from one of your videos. This is how I do it now. $125 a yard installed and delivered. I have dump lawn trailer and we load it with pitch forks then pull the trailer with a ztr to the spot and back it up and dump in place, rinse and repeat. I rarely use a wheelbarrow. You never will be exact bc my supplier always gives me 1.5 yard vs 1. Guys don’t give this stuff away on pricing. Never do a job for less than you can do on a different one. If you make $60 hour mowing or trimming bushes then no to do this for $40
We measure all beds to get a total sq ft, divide by 150 = how many yards we charge the customer for. Then we take that number, say 8, and subtract 20% for plants and bring 6.5 to the house. If we have to go back to get more, we have some wiggle room.
Also... I only offer weed barrier fabric for stone mulch. I hate it too, and avoid it like the plague. Only helps with sub-surface weeds, doesn't prevent wind and critter weed deposits.
The loader buckets where I go are exactly 1 yard and exactly 5 yard. the great part is that the loader drivers are giving you a heaping bucket in order to make up for what misses the truck or what falls out while they're moving. Great video, great advise.
Honestly my first boss mrs Joey. I don't know how she did it. Since I started working for myself I haven't been able to. But every time we used mulch stone river jack or anything she always had exactly enough.
Where you're using your hand by the edge, I use a steel bow rake . After I smooth the top using a fan rake (flipped over on the smooth side) I pound around the edge with a steel bow rake.
The company I worked for we never did weed barrier fabric we actually use Preen it has be installed every 4 months you still have to pull all the weeds but it's faster and it works just as well as weed barrier Fabric and it's a lot cheaper and quicker now it will not affect things like Bermuda and you got to put the right kind Preen in depending on if the person is going to have vegetables in there or have you plant another flowers or stuff like that
Here what I do....with my crew I try to have the same guy raking the mulch out. Yes that sounds strange but some workers know how to be efficient spreading mulch correctly at the correct depth. I would install mulch at the same accounts for years and we would use the same amount of mulch every time then I would have a different crew installing and they would tell me "we ran out of mulch" ! I would check the job and they would have mulch piled 4-5" deep ! Find 1 worker that is good at spreading correctly and you will become more accurate estimating yardage
324/Square footage then multiple that number by how many inches you want. Always bind the amount you measured or a little more so you’re covered then when you get to the mulch yard if you know how the guys loading you up you can shave off the yardage you actually get. Really depends on your loader.
we start depending on weather but middle of march to the 1st of April but then go in with spring clean up. price depending on size. After that we mulch the place reg mulch is $125/yrd and black is $135/yrd that includes edging a normal house takes 10 min to edge and thats included in mulch. If a place takes 2yrd we get a truck load and mulch that placwe and jusr keep going thru the dif houses and then get another load and keep going. unless someone calls late spring or during the summer for mulch we just get what we think we need and always a little more any left over we put on a pile and then later use it. Yea it can fade some but we just start with it and put it in the areas you dont see and thin layer over top.
We usually only install sweet peat mulch which costs us from $50-$65 per yard and we sell it for $100 per yard delivered. Then prep and installation costs $45 per men/hour. This means that for a job with 5 yards of sweet peat with a 3 men crew usually goes for $905.00 $500 for mulch delivered and $405 for weeding, edging (by hand with at least 4-6 in depth perfect edge) and installation. All of that plus taxes and dump fee if there was a lot of weeds.
It's always better to have more mulch than not enough. I use a snow shovel along with pitch forks to put out much, and for smaller places use painter buckets to lightly put it out around shrubs.
Right at about 8 minutes Keith blew me away. I've never seen anything but dark charcoal/black weed liner in the supply stores here around the Spokane area. Hello from Washington by the way. Keep it up Keith.
What up! I'm in seattle haha
@@kklandscaping7919 Lots of rain lol! Kinda sucks but just using the time to get booked up on jobs. Hows Seattle?
@@transferendum_nomen_meum Cant complain. The rain has been really spotty so I've been doing plenty of jobs. It's the snow we got that really sucked haha
@@kklandscaping7919 Yeah I bet snow would be a wrench in the schedule. I got a good break of sunlight earlier and got a huge shrub trimming job done. It's just now starting to rain again so I got lucky. Barely enough time for cleanup before getting soaked.
I operate out of Rio Rancho New Mexico I charge$0. 80 per square foot (2 to 3 in. Thick) gravel installed. That price is a starter price with a gray gravel, fabric, and labor included. We have three or four types of Grey gravel which cost about $25 per ton. So that brings the labor to $95 per ton. I don't give volume discounts until they reach 10 tons.
I'm in the same boat. I ended up estimating too much and could only fit half in my trailer. but the amount that fit in there was actually perfect! weird!
I always use the double wheels. I fell in love with it. Makes moving mulch, sod, and other things way easier.
Keith the new study about mulch for 2019 at 4 inch is better for the plants to keep the coolness in the summer months and as well winter month against frost as we are both same equator ,
IMPOTENT please listen Keith video ! th-cam.com/video/6rPPUmStKQ4/w-d-xo.html or How to Grow a Vegetable Garden - Back To Eden Organic Gardening Film
A battle is right. I have a system, but always playing that game. Difference between stone and wood mulch too. I tip my loader/driver upon delivery as well. They get to know you and deliver accordingly. May not be right, but just how it is. Good video👍
When you’re running low on mulch sprinkle it into the beds by hand. You end up using way less than if you dump the wheelbarrow and rake it out.
Awesome
In Jersey we charge $80 a yard installed and a little extra to pull weeds and put in the edge with the bed redefiner. A little more if they want a nice deep hand dug edge.
Bags of mulch from Walmart is actually pretty reasonable. And decent quality. That have dark brown and light brown. I think it's like $ 4.00 a bag. But the bag is 3 inches thick and about two foot long. So I prefer to use the bags cause honestly it's easier for me. Now for other guys they might prefer to buy it by the truck load. It's cheaper like that but harder to measure in my opinion by eyeballing it.
Brother, I really appreciate you and this video. I have been in the remodeling and landscaping business for quite a while. More remodeling than landscaping. I am currently focusing on my landscape business, and this video really put a lot of things in perspective. So, thank you again.
Weed barrier is my enemy ! I almost always underestimate fabric . Thankfully I dont apply it often .
I've never stalled mulch that's come in bulk. I've always installed premium grade from bags.
And they were three cubic yard bags installed at 3 to 4 in so I have no way to really help you and that aspect having bag wise I can pretty much hit it spot on within a couple bags.
The only suggestion I would have is to put down a wheelbarrow full of mulch know exactly the amount of mulch it is at the depth you put it at and then get a visual on it and then when you go look at a place kind of try to replicate that visual through your flower beds.
10-tine silage fork....the pitch fork you spoke of....mandatory...I use them for SO many different operations...sod removal(with no sod cutter)….brush cleanup....weeding way overgrown garden beds...even digging out large chunks of certain types of soil....Razorback makes them with a lifetime guarantee (like all Razorback tools) I bend the handles..break a tine....I just take it back for a new one....done it four times so far
Can you put up a link to it?
I used to hate pitch fork s .but I'm with you I get the wider ones with morevteeth.I forget the name but they work beautiful for spreading.I've always used buckets in fancy scapes with muxho' h
Plants old school trick that makes zero mess or tracks in yard.each his own
We don't install much mulch and when we do it's in the bag. But we install plenty of gravel. I find it's much easier if the area is more of a rectangle. when it's a whole bunch of little circles and Straits like that it seems to be a lot more difficult to get an accurate measurement in the first place. But I tend to get it close enough to wear if I have to get some more gravel it's not more than a couple wheelbarrows. But it took me seven years to get it down. Now I'm on year 14. I miss measure a lot less but I still miss. Keep up the good work Keith. Tell us more about the Dark Night of the Soul. I want to see some more entrepreneurial misery and aha moments.
True that.
Travel time between materials and where it needs to be .
Good video bro
In Orange County California Im charging $200 per yard. Price in much varíes depending on the supplier some sell it for $20 other smaller suppliers $30-35. Even tho we’re in different states your tips still help
Everyone’s so high in California, they agree to pay that price LMAO
Some places dont use a correct yard bucket
3x cost of material is what we charge .. we pay $29/yd for dyed, charge $87
Thanks Keith I'm learning a lot with your videos and community comments I'm going to stick with 100 dollar mulch installation and 50 man hour for prep for now till get real good at it I'm in south Georgia
Aye, where at? I'm actually in the Savannah area
100 per yard Mulch/Delivery/Install
Does not include weeding or edging the garden beds.
I charge $1.50 per Linear foot for new edging
And
$.75 per linear foot for old edging.
Curious your thoughts
Im at 100 yard for mulch/delivery/ install doesnt include weeding or barrier fabric. 7$ per ft for any kind of edging either natural edge or bricks(that doesn't include cost of bricks or sand etc.)
About where I'm at too @Mark Ulrich. And I don't do weed barrier fabric. No one seems to be too interested in it and I don't think it does that great anyway.
@@NP-ux9xg its a complete waste for mulch and doesn't add value to the installation.
ALL of you are highway robbers who think your hands are made of gold..
how much does mulch cost where you are? I am in Canada, and one yard of coloured mulch is $80
Certain suppliers load differently we charge $142 yd
.50 ln. Ft edging
Hourly +3 hours clean up
my name is chuck with My Lawn Guy. i was in IL. and i just sold my business and moved to texas. when i was doing mulch, here is a fool proof way to get just about exact yardage for mulch. i always measured the beds with a walking wheel i always carried in my truck with me. you measure length X width divide by 162. so, for example, if its 10 X 10 its 100 sqft divide by 162 for 2 inches depth is 0.61 yd which is a little over half a yard. a yard of mulch is about 84 cubic feet, give or take. i was a little bit low but i charged 95/yard installed plus delivery. i also included bed edging with the echo bed edger. unless it was far then i charged a delivery fee. but i swear it is a fool proof way to measure for almost exact mulch. you just measure round the beds and around anything in the beds. if its a tree ring, you measure across it. so if its a 5 foot ring, you measure 5 X 5 and divide by 162 . and i always used a double wheel wheel barrow. it makes the job way easier. just not solid filled tires. its way harder to go across the grass. i always replaced the inner tubes with ones made by slime. they are self sealing so a rose bush thorns wont puncture them, like i had done to me. im trying to start my business all over again in TX and been talking with brian with brian's lawn care maintenance as well. you both are amazing and i love you. i was even thinking about starting my own you tube channel because you you guys. i'd love to talk with you more personally. but i have no idea on how to each you that way. i hope to be able to talk with you soon. :)
We charge 150 bought,brought, and installed never had to put fabric expected once. We normally end up staying with the customer and take care of their yard maintenance so what we do which is included with the price of the yard maintenance is a weed killer and grass killer so any Sprouts that come out from the mulch which really doesn't happen a lot with us I don't know why I guess we're lucky we'll go down and spraying when if it's not windy now if they are close to the plant we just pull them out but like I said it's rare
Hey Keith you've been spot on! Your content has been great! As far a measuring, I use a measuring wheel and a 100ft tape. You can actually account for the crown in some areas by measuring! I can guess the yardage, but that's more of a personal parlor game with the guys! Lol! For circular areas, I don't usually used that math for that, unless it's a huge area! I'll square a lot of things out and note some areas that will take more mulch. I limit my mulch yards to 2 that I use, so I know what I'm going to get! 😉😁👍
If you get a manure fork, get a good one. I loved the one my old school neighbor gave me until the handle broke. I ordered one on amazon and it broke at the welds after moving a couple hundred yards of mulch.
I simply tell customer I charge 330$ per load five yards of mulch we'll start with one load and see if you want another load it's completely up to u just have to be super clear I charge per load it weighs five thousand lbs because that's all I canpull do u want one load or two it's up to u and stretch as far as possible zero estimate s or running out ofmulch I charge per load period anyways still a headache great video
Hey Keith, I’m also in MI (Oakland county) and where I get my mulch, which I’ll keep secret; I pay for 6 yards and they give me 8 easily. My guys on the loaders in the yard are always generous. To the point where I’m seriously about to start tipping them.. that extra 2 yards at no charge adds up to a lot more $ in my pocket.
Tell me your secrets
Great video Keith love it brotha 💯
That walk off at the end lol.
Keith don't forget your camera bro!
I measure every bed with a wheel regardless. Don't subtract for plants or trees. Then use my knowledge of what my yard gives me and my " 6th mulch sense" to see if it's close . I come out exact 9 out of 10. 2 inches . Unless fabric is laid. But I hand spread every bit of it
I used to have the same head scratching thoughts. I learned to order a little extra. You will have leftover but you can use the extra on other jobs. I am blessed with a place to store the leftover 2,3,4 yards then sell it to another customer. You dont need a big space if you only have max 10yd piles of brown and black mulch but a machine is necesssary. Not a big one. KUBOTA BX25!!! Every small company NEEDS one to get to the next level. $15-20k. Worth its weight in gold
Use the back of a spreading rake to push back the mulch from the lip.
$100 per yard, delivery and installed. Edging, and weeding is per man hour, and I don’t mess around with weed fabric.
Dude where do you live? In Florida you would be lucky to get 60$ a yard installed. The mulch itself cost about 27$ a yard
@@rileyshane78
I live in the Chicago metro area. I only sell southern hardwood mulch, cost $40 per yard.
Great vid Keith
My old boss would just order 30 yards to his house and all small jobs under 7 years we would just fill up the truck at the yard and if we need more or less it mad it easier and on top of that he got better deals then just the regular contractor price
The Moasure device is great.
Or u can ask how many yards do u typically use and add that into your pricing if they get half load it's marked up alot
I feel your frustration,i go threw the same thing when i do a rock job.verry frustrating!!
Awesome
Also, call up places that deal in pallets, all manner of woodworking joints, and arrange to pick up their sawdust. Send a guy out there once a week and come out with a dumptruck full of sawdust. Typically the smaller joints have to burn it, and that's a huge pain in the ass, especially after it gets wet. They are always in a hurry to get rid of it, being that it is a major fire hazard. That sawdust will turn to soil under the right conditions, in a year flat.
Love your videos man ! Straight to the point. You where my inspiration to starting my own lawn and landscaping busses! Keep on doing what you’re doing and god bless you and your family
Thank you very much Keith it help me a lot
Sunglasses are on point!!! Info is killer!!
Do the video again but edge and define all them beds again Kalfas
So I would probably measure how many yards then put the cost of the yards then charge an extra 25% so if it was like 100$ I would charge 125 and then add gas if your hauling it so 150 to give yourself some wiggle room then if the customer asks why you charged so much you tell them that yards of bark are always different so you have to upcharge or you would be messing yourself over if you don't get enough and if you get more than you bargained for it would cover the cost of hauling it back to the company you got it from I'm no expert just thinking out loud :)
Golden information here.
The way I do estimate mulch is I walk the yard and get an idea of how many wheel barrels it will take then divide by 9. I’ve done houses from 3 yards to 47 yards and I’m always within half a yard or so. The down side is you have to have an eye for it so I can’t have employees really help with it till they’ve been around it for a while
Use a mulch calculator put in square feet and how thick will tell you how many yards
They may be loading wrong...not their fault.
Here they load with .5 or 1 yd buckets...the load is ALWAYS mounded when the product is in the bucket.
Even if they weight mulch or bark.. its gonna vary depending on the moister in it. Si it's not your measurements.
My boy got the rapper sunglasses on. Love it
Just installed 16 yards today...swear they gave me 19 or 20 lol. Honestly, they're trying to be nice, but it drives me nuts having extra mulch. We had to stuff a few yards under some trees and throw about two yards in my truck. I charge anywhere from 75 to 100 per yard. Totally agree, it depends on the mood of the loader/driver/mulch supplier. He was in a great mood today, even let me dump free brush.
Exactly. It's not funny either. It's costly.
@@keith-kalfas Yes sir, time, money & labor. Plus it wears you and your guys out so much...moving a few extra yards of mulch. Also, it looks unproffesional, in my opinion. Customer pulled in as were loading two yards into my truck, probably figured we ordered extra on purpose for another job.
$130 per yard of mulch plus (labor & mulch )$40 for haluing becuz i dont use bags, plus what ever i feel feel like charging to clean up the flowerbed and edgeing
You, my friend would be outa business in no time here in metro Detroit. Competition is fierce everywhere. It’s not like in the 80’s when not a lot of folks did this kinda work. Now, every asshole and their grandma has a ZTR and a dump trailer... fcking horrible.
How much mulch, rocks, baserock, compost, sand...any volume of anything. Same formula when you excavate for pavers to know how much soil your removing. Except when removing soil multiply the end sum by .40. Soil fluffs when you dig it up by 40%.
When importing soil or base rock or anything that gets compacted...add 15% for compaction.
Thickness, divided by "12 inches-equals... times length-times width-equals. Divided by 27.
"3 inches (thick) divided by "12 = .25. .25 x 10ft x 12ft = 30. 30 divided by 27 = 1.1 cubic yard of mulch. Or 1.1 cubic yards x 1.44 = 1.58 tons.
I charge cost of mulch plus $55 per cubic yard. We also charge to prep the area. $1.25 per.sq.ft. to remove weeds or old lawn. Fabric is cost of fabric and staples plus a couple hundred per '1000 sq.ft.
I always under order by 2%. I'd rather pick up a couple extra yards if we are short, rather than have to haul 2 yards to the landfill.
Retail bulk + spreading + small delivery per yard. Buy it at contractor. The llace i go has a 1 yard bucket on the small loader and a 3 yard bucket on the larger. They seem little liberal because i asked for 1.5 yards and walked away closer to 2.
I run a small landscape company in Toronto Ontario. We charge $80 for delivery, up to 5 yards. Then it's $90 per yard for material and labor to spread the mulch providing its an easy spread. However as you always said in previous videos when giving a quote you need to ask 10,000 questions. Like can you get wheelbarrows into the backyard? Are the garden beds nice and open or are there tons of flowers where you have to hand spread all the mulch? At the end of the day it all comes down to how much time you spend on site. For example there's one customer where I need to bill $1,100 to spread 3 yards of mulch and 2 yards of triple mix every year. It's a nightmare to get into the backyard and the mulch needs to be spread by hand around every single plant & flower. It takes an entire day to complete the job. Love the videos bro! Keep on grinding!
Most times when I measure, I end up over ordering. I break my areas into sections, do the math, add it all up, and order what it says. But usually end up with extra. For example, say my measurements say I need 30 yards of mulch. I have 30 delivered. I spread it, and realize I have a HUGE amount left.... like 4-5 yards!!
Could it be that you're spreading too thin? For example, say your measurements assume 3" deep, but in reality you actually only spread it 2.5" deep? That could explain leftover material.
Or, the loaders were generous and gave you big scoops
Thank you. I needed this lesson.. I’m getting jobs in and I am so worried I am going to under bid my jobs or over bid them. This year is going to be a learning year for me. Again thanks for the tips. Also everyone that has positive feed back in the comments... big help..
Something that will help you is to charge the client for 1 or more yards on top of what you calculate it will be. And get extra!
Benjamin George 1800 sq ft of mulch .. comes out to 17.89 yards @ 3” < don’t quote me on that .. but I haven’t give them the bid yet because I am not 100% sure how to price such a large job.
That also includes around trees on the property
Blue Grass Diggers 16.7 to be exact. I would sell 19 yards at $120. that gives you enough leeway to not make a mistake. Then if you want, just buy 17 or 18 and see how it goes. You can always put it on a little thicker but if you run short it’s no fun making another trip to get more.
What do you do during the winter any winter jobs ?
I’m at $100/yd installed, doesn’t include garden prep, weed fabric, or anything else. I actually try to talk customers out of weed fabric unless they’re doing stone for a couple reason 1) I hate installing and 2) unless that mulch is cleaned out totally ever year or 2 it serves no point as mulch breaks down turning to dirt creating a weed breeding ground unless heavily treated and becomes a nightmare to remove years later if they want a garden renovation. Edging price per linear foot is dependent on what they want for edging. Also agree on the idk what I’m getting all the time even though I’ve gotten it from the same supplier generally. Few times, with rounding up, I’ve had barely enough, or probably over 1/4-1/2 yd I had to take away.
Pine trees mulch themselves using their dropped needles. Does removal of the old built up mulch before applying new stuff cost extra?
Like that slowly building mound around the base of trees has become an epidemic now. Especially when any landscapers cutting sharp edge between lawn & mulch toss soil inward toward base of tree.
Gotta love the $1 store Aviators
My issue this year is that I bought a Mulch Blower. It saves so much material is crazy. I’m loading dump truck loads after the jobs are done to deliver them to the next job. A job that took us 70 by hand took 40 with the blower.
Wow. So it perfectly spreads the mulch a nice even consistency, and saves materials?
It’s literally like painting it on. It’s awesome!
For $120/yard installed..how much were you paying for a yard? 2022: I'm getting $45-60 a yard in New England!
You ever thought about using the mulch blower truck on large jobs DAWG?
That's my problem too, bed edging I never know what to charge. Can you make a video on what you use to redefine the edge of beds.
First you have to make sure you use a supplier that provides exactly a cubic yard. I can do it by experience now but take the square feet of bed space x 1.25/12 and divide by 27.add 10 percent if it’s a sloped area as that eats up mulch more
Yard book lot measure tool can help you with that