24/09/2026
Okay, let’s talk about something we’ve been hearing lately…
“WHY IS THAT SO EXPENSIVE?!”
And honestly… we get it. Some of these numbers make OUR eyes water too.
But here’s the thing a lot of people don’t realize:
Materials are EXPENSIVE. Like… really expensive.
When you see an estimate for a drainage job, excavation, septic work, a driveway, etc., it’s not just “a guy with a machine digging a hole.”
There can be A LOT that goes into that number.
🪨 Stone — and sometimes we’re talking TONS and TONS of it.
🕳️ Pipe, fittings, catch basins, connections, etc.
🚜 Equipment rentals — some machines cost hundreds (or even thousands) just to rent for a project.
🚛 Hauling and delivery
⛽ Fuel
👷 Labor
🛡️ Insurance
♻️ Disposal fees
…and then all the little things that nobody really thinks about until they’re the ones paying for them.
For example, we recently priced a project that required roughly 200 TONS of stone.
And it wasn’t just one type of stone. The project required a mix of D rock, , and , depending on what each part of the job called for.
That stone alone was around $7,300.
SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. 😳
And that’s before the equipment, fuel, pipe, labor, hauling, and everything else needed to actually complete the job.
So when you see a big number on an estimate, we promise we aren’t just pulling a number out of thin air. 😂
We actually spend a LOT of time figuring out what materials are needed, what equipment we need, how long the job should take, and what it is realistically going to cost us to do the job RIGHT.
We know these projects are a big investment, and we don’t take that lightly.
Our goal is to keep our prices as reasonable as we possibly can without cutting corners or setting ourselves up to lose money just to make an estimate look cheaper.
So if you’ve ever looked at a contractor estimate and thought,
“How in the world did they come up with THAT number?”
…you’re not alone. 😂
Sometimes we ask ourselves the same thing when we’re standing at the stone yard. 🫠😂
We just wanted to give everybody a little behind-the-scenes look at where those numbers actually come from.
We appreciate every single person who gives ARP Ground Up Contracting a chance to earn your business. ❤️
📞 740-577-1200
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