ELV

Hi I've just received a quote of almost £17,000 for constructing a stone wall of approximately 20 metres long by 1.5 metres high. The wall is in our garden, running to the left hand side of our garage and acts as a retainer for a bank although I don't believe there's any real danger of much land movement. The quote includes the removal and disposal of a collapsed timber retaining wall (we can do this as the 'timber' is only old fence posts), taking the front of the bank by 1 metre (and dispose of top soil which again we can take care of); Install 450mmm wide strip footing. Lay block On flat retaining wall and create 250 mmm high steps by garage. Install weep pipes to face. Stone face in random pattern using matching cropped old Devonian red sandstone. Point in lime mortar mix to match buildings. Cap wall with matching Indian sandstone gauged coping stones with hand pitched curve. We are in Herefordshire and the quote is from a local builder who runs a small team which includes a stonemason. I value quality over price but that doesn't mean I want to get ripped off. Is this a fair quote? If no, what should I expect to pay? All the best Emma

Hi We've very recently moved to a lovely smallholding in Herefordshire. Unlike some of the houses we considered buying, the house we've bought is watertight and is blessed with electricity and hot and cold running water but we still have plenty of work to do including adding an annex for my Mother and some internal re-configuration. We are going to try and do as much as we can ourselves so whilst we're all practical, we're on a steep learning curve and we are going to need lots of advice along the way but we're always happy to share what we learn. I look forward to 'meeting' you all. Happy building everyone!