CHARLOTTE – When pricing landscape materials such as mulch, soil, and stone and you need it delivered, make sure you include the delivery cost to your total cost. Delivery rates are all over the board in the Charlotte Region. You may find those landscape materials that seem to be priced unusually low are not such a good deal when you divide the Grand Total (including delivery) by the total # of units of measurement used – cubic yards, tons, square or linear feet, etc.

Things to consider:

• Some companies integrate their delivery cost into the amount of material you buy. This may be the most difficult pricing to break down. A lower cost for material based on buying a larger amount may be offset by the delivery cost formula that’s included in the total cost.
• Other companies may charge basic flat rates based on a couple of large ranges of miles, i.e. 1 to 25 miles = $XX.XX/delivery, 26 and above may be a much higher flat-rate.
• Some companies charge escalating delivery rates based on shorter ranges of mileage. The higher the range the higher cost for a particular delivery, i.e., 1 to 5 miles, 6 to 10 miles, 11 to 15 miles, etc., and they separate the delivery cost from actual material cost. This type of pricing is probably the easiest and most accurate way to determine your true cost.

Determining your TRUE cost that includes material AND delivery will help you to “compare apples to apples”.

Next week, Spring lawn reseeding.