• How much for home repairs and handyman Services?
The first thing to consider in this category is what is a handyman service? Today, larger home repair companies may employee over 10 different individuals with different skill sets to cover all the different skills needed in this category. Or, a handyman service may be one individual who is good at many of the skills.

Its important to determine if a home repair person or company you are considering has professional experience in the type of job you need completed. As this is a category that is hard to define and easy to become part of, we highly recommend you stay with companies that have a proven track record, solid guarantee and excellent references in the repair project you want completed.

These companies do jobs as small as $150.00 and as large as simple basement finish projects. Most will do the bid based on an hourly estimate of time ranging from $65.00 to $90.00 per hour, whether they show you this as an estimate or just give you the total labor cost.

Pricing varies as there are many different projects under this heading, but here are a few examples of the more common projects you may need completed:

Repair-refinish a typical wood deck:
$3.95 a square foot. Typical 200 Square Foot deck, $790.00

Small Bathroom repair-remodel.  Replace wall tile, shower enclosure, floor tile or material. $3500.00- $5500.00

Drywall repairs (labor only)  $175.00 for small repairs (2 hours)  $600.00 for larger repairs (8 hours )

Repair a fence. $500.00 (replace 10 broken pickets , replace one post).

A couple of hints on saving money. If you pay for the materials you may save a little, but if you buy and deliver the materials you will save a lot. You’re paying $65.00 to $90.00 an hour to have some one drive to Home Depot to buy your materials and return.

• How much to finish my basement?
Basement finish has many factors that will change your cost.
They are:

- Size of Basement
- Choice of materials for bathrooms and other areas
- Paint choices
- Flooring choices
- Lighting choices
- Additional features (wet bar, entertainment center, etc.)
- Permit costs in your City or County
- The contractor you select.

Generally, a complete professional basement finish starts at $28.00 a square foot to finish a bedroom, living area, bathroom, and enclose the furnace area.

If you are adding additional features you can count on:

Wet Bar - $2,000.00 to $7,500.00
Home theater - $2,500.00 to $15,000.00
Upgrade bathroom fixtures - $1,000.00 to $8,000.00
Additional Lighting - $200.00 to $2,000.00
Tile or wood flooring - $1,000.00 to $7,000.00
Window treatments - $250.00 to $2,000.00
Design services - $200.00 to $3,000.00

As you can see the cost will vary a great deal.  The smaller your basement the higher the cost per square foot if you have a bathroom, as the bathroom cost per square foot is much higher than the rest of the basement.

You can count on the following estimate ranges:

1000 square feet - standard finish $29,500.00 to $32,000.00
1000 Square feet - more features $32,000.00 to $37,000.00
1000 Square feet - fantastic features $41,000.00 to $100,000.00
*most basement finishes will fall into the standard finish category

Small Basements
500 Square Feet - standard $17,500.00 to $19,500.00 (includes bathroom)

Contractors pricing will vary depending on the size of the company, and if they do the labor or sub-contract out the labor. Smaller firms will take longer and charge less in general. Larger firms will complete the project faster, and may have experience in special features others do not, including design and high-end finishing work.

· What should I look for in the proposal:
Detailed Pricing on all costs.
A list of actual sub contractors to be used.
References on sub contractors and insurance.
Anticipated duration of construction, and each phase of construction.
Security polices for your home during construction.
Employee and subcontractor polices about access to your home, music, smoking, restrooms, daily clean up, and daily work habits

• How much for landscaping or xeriscaping?
Landscaping and Xeriscape are as much an art as they are a science. There are many choices in the design that you will need to make. Because of the complexity of the choices, we can only give you very ball park ideas of what you will need to budget.


Back Yard - $3,500.00 to $10,000.00
Front Yards - $3,000.00 to $10,000.00

Average Yard :
Sprinkler systems installed - $1,900.00
Water features - $1,500.00 to $50,000.00

• How much to build a deck?
The factors that effect deck construction are :

- Type of material
- Height from the ground
- Special features (extended steps, staircases, benches, etc.)
- Railings and railing design.

In general you will see estimates between $23.00 a square foot and $26.00 a square foot for custom decks 30 inches or less from the ground with railings and basic steps. Composite type materials add several dollars per square foot, but save you money over the life of the deck.

A typical 200 square foot deck is going to be $4000.00 to $5600.00

Add $1.00 per square foot if the deck is higher than five feet from the ground.

A small deck made with redwood near the ground with railings and steps will run between $20.00 and $22.00.  For instance, a 120 square foot deck as described would be $2400.00.

Deck Covers (highly recommended in high altitudes) run between $18.00 and $25.00 a square foot depending on materials and style. The easiest way to calculate this is to double the cost of the deck to include a cover or roof.