cbminers said:
You willing to share roughly what the cost was on the design services? I don't really know what a reasonable expectation might be for that piece.
We had to pay a $1500 retainer and that would cover the design with up to 2 changes I believe. We are on a couple of acres and we're looking for designs for our front beds along the house, a bed of sorts at the start of our driveway with 3 pillars on both sides of the driveway and then a edge border around those beds. A 2000sq ft garden space redesign, area around our pool including a covered pergola. Our quote came back a little high for the Garden Space and all of the front yard work so we work with them on how we can make that more affordable.
They bring you in to go over your 3d model along with initial corrections. I will say the first iteration was fantastic.
I don't like some of the vagueness in their bid for example:
"$7500 allowance for sprinkler system modifications. "
While I understand what that means, it isn't clear what their rates are or what I should expect to pay with their design in mind. I personally would rather have an expectation for what the cost will be other than allowance but maybe that's just me.
There is not a lot of itemization in their proposal which I need to spend more time now to ensure I am asking the right questions.