We put this program together to help you understand the entire process from start to finish. Here at affordablepatio.com we want to educate and make sure you understand everything with your upcoming project. It is in your best interest to read through this entire page and browse our videos before we come for our in-person estimate, it will help you truly get a grasp on the future work we do together! Most of all, ensuring this is the easiest project you have ever completed at your home. Read everything carefully as we have made sure to include all the information and FAQ’s you may have.
Now that we have booked an estimate with you for a specific date & time, we ensure that we are always on time! We understand how valuable your time is and also ours as well. One of our knowledgeable team members will come to your house and start to go over ideas and layouts with you. We will take measurements and provide you with our AP| Brochure and paver catalog. It is important that you take this time to ask the estimator any important questions or topics you were unsure of while going through this page! When the consultation is complete, we will go back to our office and start to work on your estimate. We will avoid giving you a “ballpark” estimate or sqft price. We need to figure out all the material and time cost. The team at Affordable Patio understands that every job is different, so we can not just throw a number together without calculating all the right data. We hope you understand as well, this will allow us to price out the most fair cost to you and future clients.
One thing we pride ourselves on is getting you an estimate in 24 hours or less. We do this because we know people, including ourselves, do not like waiting weeks for an estimate. Rather than waiting days or even weeks, our strategy is to complete it priority; to ensure we price accordingly with all the details fresh in our heads and on our tablet. We break down each part of the project to give you an a la carte feel and not pressure you into doing everything! This will allow you to understand the project budget better and adjust parts of it or save up for a future date.
After you fully read through the estimate and understand everything. You are ready to move forward with the project and can call or email us to give the okay. At this point we are excited that we are a good fit for your wants & needs. This is when the fun starts!
At this point you will be placed on our job board. This means your installation date is pending. At this time we will let you know approximately how far out we are on the schedule. We do this because we can not give out actual dates. We face a lot of obstacles in the day to day operations, for example, weather. Bad weather is a key component in how our schedule is affected. Also, clients may decide to add things on to the project as we are working, we hope you understand this as we would give the same opportunity to you. Our goal is to try and keep everyone in a 3-6 week time frame, from the time you gave us the ok to the day we start installation. Our season is short, you can count on us to work efficiently and execute our schedule accordingly!
If you haven’t decided yet, now is the time to start picking out colors for your patio! We left you with catalogs to help you pick out colors but we recommend you go to Astro Masonry Supply in Deer Park NY, to see all the products in person. The catalogs have filters and edits on it so it’s not always the same look in person as it is on the page. The staff at Astro is knowledgeable and ready to help. They understand our clients and the pavers we use most. The rep will help guide you through picking the right color and type of brick to best suit your home. They will also make sure you are aware of the price differences between upgraded colors and sizes. We are always transparent, the estimate you receive is for all the included paver types and colors shown to you during the consultation, any upgrades will just cost you the difference.
Now that we are about 1-2 weeks out depending on the weather, we will contact you with a start date and collect all information about your selections. If you have any questions after this please don’t hesitate to ask!
After we collect all your material selections we will place the order to astro masonry. Astro will deliver the order directly to your home. Depending on the size of the order, it may not all arrive at once. Also, at times we will also pick up material. The most important part about this step is letting us know where you would like the pallets of pavers to be placed. It is possible the material could be sitting there for a week, so we need to know where the most convenient spot would be for you and out of the way. Sometimes homeowners are worried about leaving it on their lawn near the street because of theft, we have never run into that scenario so don’t be hesitant about leaving it there. We use machines on every job, so we will be able to move material accordingly.
Now that we are getting closer to the start date, we will contact you a day or 2 before we start the job. At this point we will send you over the contracts via doc-u-sign to your email. You will review everything and sign all the necessary documents and send it back to us. It is important you read through everything and understand all the notations.
The day we start your project the team will show up and go over details with you. If you cannot be present and there is any uncertainty we will be sure to be in constant communication with you. This will ensure we are all on the same page. The only thing we will need access to is water and electricity (hose spigot and outlets). You do not need to be home during the project, we understand work is important so please don’t feel obligated to take time off. We are proud of our staff and what they can accomplish, any updates you may want, we can gladly send to you via text or call.
Our team will be bringing an equipment trailer and a skid steer to work at your home. The trailer is approximately 14’ long and the skid steer is about the same size as a car. We will need to leave both in your driveway or the street throughout the duration of the project (once started the skid steer can also be parked on the lawn near the patio area). This trailer holds all our tools and the skid steer will be used to excavate and haul material around your property. You can expect to see medium duty dump trucks on site as well bringing in and taking out material throughout the project, these trucks do not stay at your home overnight, they come back and forth to the office with the team.
Now that all the equipment and machines are onsite and the guys are ready to start the job, a deposit will be collected. One of our managers will collect the deposit from you, in the amount stated on the contract. They can sign off for you that it was collected. We accept all forms of payment including cash, card, check, paypal, venmo and zelle. Fees may apply where necessary.
Our typical day starts at 8am at your property and ends around 4pm. There are times we will arrive earlier depending on your distance to our office and times we will leave your house later depending on the job process. The crew will take lunch mid day. At the end of the day the crew will clean up and organize the property before heading out. Each crew we have only does one project at a time so rest assured, once we start your project we will be there till we finish it. Please keep in mind that this process is not the cleanest of the trades and the project will sometimes look worse before it looks good. We have been doing this a long time and in the end the job is not complete until you are ultimately satisfied! Side note: to build patios we need to excavate (dig dirt), so if you need any soil in areas of your yard or spots of the lawn leveled, this is a great opportunity to have us help you! We will be driving our skid steer on your lawn unless totally and 100% instructed by you that we are not allowed. Although we try to keep it clean and not tear up the grass there may be damage to the lawn. Depending on the size of the job more damage may be done, in the end we will get your yard prepped for new topsoil. Another important thing to take note of during excavation is that we may run into your sprinkler lines. Depending on the severity of damage we can fix them for you, however with multiple damaged lines and sprinkler heads we will pull the lines outside the patio area, label them and get them ready to either be fixed by our team for a fee or a sprinkler company you decide to hire.
Throughout the job, one of our managers will be checking in with the crew to make sure all is going accordingly. Each crew is appointed a crew leader to run the rest of the team (forman). Any communication you have is best to go through management or the office so we can guarantee your questions or concerns get communicated to the right people. We try to make this the easiest process for you, all though you may not always see management on site, we are always in communication with our teams. Affordable patio is constantly staying up to date with the latest technologies and softwares available to help stay efficient. Our crew leaders are sending updates to our company hub and always letting us know what is needed, additionally you may see we have job site cameras set up. These cameras do not record and they are only intended to check in on the crew without having to ring their phones. These cameras are crucial to our operations and allow us to be more efficient. We respect your privacy and want to let you know there is no footage that is taken off this camera.
It is super important during the job that if you are unhappy with something to tell us, now is the best time to make adjustments! When the job is complete and your property is cleaned up, we would like to do a walkthrough of the project and ensure everything is up to your expectations. We are here to help you and make sure your experience is great. If you are happy with the project this is where we collect final payment. Don’t forget to ask any final questions as our knowledgeable staff will be happy to answer.
When everything is complete and you are completely satisfied, we ask that you leave us a 5 star google review. This helps more than you think! If your experience with us was great and we provided you with great service and an awesome end product, we hope that you share it with others.