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Today's quote:

Monday, June 8, 2026

A Summing-Up

 

 

So what's the best summing-up I can give of the verandah-rebuild? "All's well that ends well" seems to capture it all. A couple of months and five quotes later, it's done and looking good - in fact, very good, thanks to Troy's Handyman Service.

 

 

Here's a short chronology:

 

  1. The first quote, material (with cheap treated pine) and labour, was for $14,400, but didn't include replacing the rotting beam.

  2. The second quote, material (more expensive hardwood for the frame and Merbau for the decking) and labour, was for $41,747.43 - I loved that 43 cents! - but didn't include replacing the overhead beam, for which he quoted me $110 an hour.

  3. The third one quoted me for material (hardwood and Merbau) and labour at a not-quite-so-outrageous $24,499,20.

  4. Then came a delayed quote, again for material (hardwood and Merbau) and labour, at $17,316.20. I thought I was on a winner but we disagreed on some minor matter and the deal was off.

 

Tired of all this, I bought all the material (hardwood and Merbau and screws and drill bits and pieces), which cost me a total of $6,760.00, and had the old verandah demolished which took eight hours and cost me $480. With the brick piers still in place and level, it was a straight-forward carpenter's job and I looked around for a labour-only quote:

 

  1. I received a quote for $18,800.00. When I replied that this was quite impossible, he texted me back, "1 apprentice $65ph + 1 carpenter $80ph + 1 builder $90ph x 80hrs (2 weeks) = $18800." And he hadn't even mentioned the GST yet! Pull the other one!

  2. I then called the same handyman who had demolished the old verandah, and who again quoted me $60 an hour. He had the hardwood frame finished in two days, or sixteen hours, for $960. The decking, which involved some two thousand countersunk screws, was tedious and took another five-and-a-half days, or forty-four hours, and cost another $2,640. Replacing the rotting overhead beam may take another full day's work, but even if it takes TWO days, the total labour costs will not exceed $5,000.

 

 

So there it is: a brandnew verandah for under $13,000 (all materials $6,760; all labour $5,000; and a hefty bonus for a job well done).

 


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