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Comment by David Driggs on April 19, 2011 at 6:33pm: Sorry for throwing the $9 out there without better explanation. The nursery that approached me wanted to charge around $15-18 for it retail, and see if I could produce it at around $9 wholesale. The Kwik-Kerb guy apparently charges $13-18 for his stuff. The pricier Kwik-Kerb has a tacky LED rope light ran through it to increase the visibility of the cheap looking curb. (Can you tell the way I really feel about it?) I'm not sure if the rope light is an additional fee or not. If this is feasable, and there is good money to be made, I will probably do a display for the nursery, and also do some at some select customer's homes where I can get good visibility. I would set pricing at whatever the decision was made at the nursery. I need to make sure the margins are high enough to be worth it at the wholesale level, then anything that comes my way at retail will be extra nice. I believe the Kwik-Kerb edging dimensions are approx. 7-11" deep, and about 6" tall in the back sloping to 3-1/2" in the front, give or take. The quality version we are all considering is probably 3x the material?

Comment by David Driggs on April 19, 2011 at 6:45pm: Yeah, I hear you on the price wars. The way as I see it is this: typical curbing looks cheap, so it better be cheap. Add in the fact that the franchise setups are starting about $10K, and going upwards of $30K. The salespeople are good at convincing the unsuspecting that there is a better market than truly exists. They don't give exclusivity in areas, so when several peope in one place have the same cheap product, and little business, they have to recoup their investment, even if they do it a nickel at a time. Harbor freight has a curb machine for a few hundred bucks, by the way. Around here, it seems that most of the competition has starved out. Pricing has seemed to go back up, but the look is the same. Whatever the situation in your home markets, I think the solution is to steer clear of the manufactured look, and offer the unique. See if a machine can do what we see in the photo, at any price.

Comment by Christian Maucieri on April 19, 2011 at 7:05pm: It really comes down to where you live in terms of pricing. I know a guy doing floor coatings fro $2 per square foot in Phoenix and guys are getting $6- $ 10 here. If you live in an area that's over saturated with contractors in your industry they tend to take a cut throat approach when it comes to pricing. It drives down the market and they usually aren't in business the following year. Then it's all left up to you to try and explain why your prices are so much higher than the guy from last year. It's a load of B.S. but you just have to deal with it.

Comment by Dion Battles on April 19, 2011 at 8:48pm: So Russel, did you think this curbing pic would generate so much conversation? I like every bodies take on this subject. So Russel, revisit your process on this curb, it sounds like you just rolled over some lath and covered it with a good strong mix with fiber in it and then a carve coat. Is the center hollow then or did you fill it solid?

Comment by Christian Maucieri on April 19, 2011 at 8:57pm: I just spoke to a Kwik Kerb guy and he said $10 linear ft for plain concrete, $14 for stamped and colored here in Calgary

Comment by David Driggs on April 19, 2011 at 9:28pm: Nathan's gonna make us move this conversation to a curb artisans forum. I have in my hand the "Cost and Profit Guide" from Kwik Kerb and it says $7-13 for standard profiles and $15 for the lighted one, stating a materials cost for lights at $3 l/f. The chart suggests a 100' job minimum, which would support the earlier comment stating 70' for $700. They also give a materials cost of $1 per l/f. Six profiles are all 7" wide, and range from 3.5" rear sloped to 1-1/2" front to 6" square front to rear. If anyone wants me to scan & send the chart, let me know. One line states this: 150' length/$9 per foot/job revenue $1,800/$150 materials cost/5 hrs time on job/$60 laborer @ $12 per hr./$1,140 gross/$131 overhead costs/$1,009 net profit. Not sure how they arrived at 5 hours total labor. Can you believe we're nearing 4 pages of comments on this pic?

Comment by Nathan Giffin Vertical Artisans on April 19, 2011 at 10:47pm: Hey David...you should make that forum for all of us:) I can't wait to post my curb pics on your forum LOL

Just kidden guys...

Comment by Russel Whitney on April 20, 2011 at 5:06am: No Dion never thought the curbing would go over. Where I live here in FL we had the construction growth boom for about 8 years then it slowed and finally stopped.

We have very little work down here. People aren't spending money. I havent sold or even done any estimates for the curbing despite showing it.

Comment by Russel Whitney on April 20, 2011 at 6:23am: Dion yes thats exactally how we did it.

Comment by Ryan W.Rall on April 20, 2011 at 7:53am: Yeah I hear ya' Russ ,the same thing happened here in southern California, how long ago did you you do that landscape border?

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