Joe's Landscaping Supplies

Q: How do you sell your materials?
A: All of our bulk landscaping materials, except for 1-Man Rockery Rock, are sold by the cubic yard.  For your project, go to How Much Do I Need? to use the handy calculator and to figure out how much material your project will require.  We advise our customers to round their figures up to the next full yard when they figure out how much they need.  Although we can sell you as low as a 1/2 yard increment, there is an additional charge added to 1/2 increments since it is a smaller amount and harder to measure.  

Q: How much do you charge per yard for your materials?
A: We don't have a price list that we can just post with product prices since we only deliver (you can't pick up materials yourself).  Since each delivery involves variable cost factors, our prices depend on:

1. How many yards (or tons for 1-Man Rockery Rock) that you buy.
2. What your exact delivery address is (if you give us only your city or zip code, you will be rewarded with a higher price quote...we promise!).

Also, there are economies of scale.  In other words, generally, when you buy more of our materials, the price per unit goes down.  We do make it really easy to find out what our prices are.  Click on Get a Quote to learn how.

Q: What kind of gravel should I use on my driveway?
A: 5/8" Minus Crushed Rock is the most commonly used and packs down well, which makes it great to drive or walk on.  You can also use 5/8" Minus Crushed Concrete which looks almost identical to the crushed rock and can be used for the same purposes.  5/8" Minus Crushed Concrete is usually $4-$7 per cubic yard cheaper than 5/8" Minus Crushed Rock.

Q: Do you offer blower service?
A: No.  We don't recommend it either as it is significantly more expensive.  It is much cheaper to have it delivered and dumped.  Then either you or a laborer spread the material.  On average 1 laborer can spread 2-4 yards of material per hour.  This, of course, depends on what kind of material they are spreading and how far they have to move it.  We offer labor for this purpose.  Click here for more information on our labor services.  You can also contact your local Millionaires Club or better yet, find a friend, relative or make friends with an ambitious neighbor kid. 

Blower service also does not get to the detail areas, can over-apply the material in areas (requiring more material) and can damage exposed plants.  Just say no to blow! 

Q: What do you charge for delivery?
A: The delivery charge is based on how many yards you buy and your exact delivery address (including city and zip code).  When we provide you a price quote, the delivery charge will either be built into the price of the product you ordered or it will be itemized separately.  Typically, we will do it one way or the other depending on how many yards of material you purchase. 

For example, with smaller orders (1-3 yards of rock products or 1-5 yards of Bark/Topsoil) we typically include an itemized delivery charge.  For larger amounts, the delivery charge is included in the product price.  Either way, there is no such thing as a "free delivery", as you are paying for it somewhere in the price of the product or as a separate delivery charge.  The total price of what you order will reflect the cost of delivery and factor in how many yards/tons you are buying and the distance you are from us.  

Q: How big will my pile of material be? 

A: All bulk landscaping materials that we dump out of our dump trucks usually end up in a pile that is 12'-15' WIDE.  That means that if you have a two car garage and a two car driveway, and the truck dumps on one side of your driveway, the material will go into the other half of driveway too.  This is what most people commonly do not understand before we arrive, requiring them to move vehicles out of the garage or from the other side of the driveway before the driver can dump.  This wastes precious time and we value this time greatly.   If we are at your address for more than 10 minutes and part of that time is because you are not prepared and ready for us by having vehicles moved, we add $10 to your bill.

Q: How should I place my tarp (if I have a tarp)?

When you are looking at your tarp from the street, position it so that it is accesible to the dump truck driver by being a direct shot.  Also.....VERY IMPORTANT....if your tarp is not square (meaning it is not the same length on all 4 sides), put the long side sideways when you position it on the ground.  In other words, when the driver looks back from his mirror at the tarp from left to right, is it longer that it is deep (going towards your house)? 

This is because when the material is dumped out of the truck, the pile is often wider (usually the pile is 12'-15' wide) than it is long (for most orders).  If you have two small tarps, make the area covered by the tarp wider than longer.  For additional information, go to our Delivery Guidelines page.  

Q: Where should I have it dumped? 

When you place an order for delivery, we will bring material to your address, defined as to the street curbline.  If you want the material dumped on private property, public Right of Way (ROW), a parking strip, on your grass,  on your driveway or any other private property, you are responsible for any damage that occurs as a result of the delivery, regardless of fault or preventability by the driver.  The area must be accessible to a large dump truck.  Vehicles must be moved prior to our arrival, especially vehicles parked in the driveway, adjacent to the driveway, and directly across the street from your driveway.  Vehicles directly across the street from your driveway and property must be moved away as the dump truck has to be able to back up and it swings wide into the opposite lane of travel and into the parking area on the opposite side of the street to your house.   Coordinate with your neighbors for moving vehicles before we arrive.

Note:  We are not responsible for damage that occurs as a result of dumping material on private property or inside the curbline of your street.  Any damage that occurs to our trucks or property, structures, equipment or anything is the responsibility of the person ordering the material and/or homeowner receiving the material.  This may include, but not be limited to: vehicles, outside lighting, building structures (home, garage), power, cable, telephone, and other utility lines, sprinkler systems, sewer or septic tanks and lines, or any other property inside the property line. 

You will be billed for damage to our trucks including paint scratches, broken or damaged mirrors, and damage to our tarp system caused by tree limbs or bushes or structures hitting, tearing ,scraping, or bending it.  This also includes towing charges at $165+ per hour if our vehicle gets stuck.  Dump trucks are not off-road, 4-wheel drive vehicles.  They get stuck very easily!  The best analogy is to think of them like giant whales in shallow water.  They can't turn around very easily, get stuck easily and will become beached! 

Q: Once I get a price quote from you, how do I compare it to your competitors?
A: We are usually cheaper than our competitors by $10-$80 per customer order, so we have no problem with you comparison shopping!  The easiest and best way, is to look at the total cost from both Joe's Landscaping Supplies and our competitors.  The total cost includes product costs, environmental charges, fuel charges, delivery charges (any other charges) and tax all added together. 

Make sure to compare "apples to apples", meaning compare the exact same product and the exact same amount in (cubic yards) delivered to you from them and from us.

There are many factors that are used to determine the overall price for the product that you order.  Factors include but are not limited to:

• how many yards you buy
• distance to the delivery address
• availability of the product you ordered (if we have it in stock)
• if you need an expedited delivery (you needed it 2 hours ago!)
• if you want it delivered on the weekend (some materials cost more on the weekends because they are not easily accessible)
• if you need it delivered in a smaller truck
• if you want it dumped in more than one location
• if you want it spread
• if you have ordered from us before
• if you're a nice person, are flexible, and provide us with all of the information we request in the quote form without us having to ask you multiple times by e-mail.
• if we get a "vibe" from you on the phone or email that you are jerk, disrespectful or demanding (we will encourage you to patronize our competitors by quoting you a higher price).  This, you can count on!

 Q: Do you have a lowest price guarantee?
A: No.  However we try our "darnest" to have lower prices than our competitors.  We don't have splashy advertising or the fanciest equipment to lure you in, so we rely on our high quality materials, low prices and great service to get you hooked on Joe! 

If you do find a competitor that will sell you the exact same product and deliver the exact same amount to you cheaper, LET US KNOW!  So we can verify everything, give us their:

• name
• address
• phone number 
• their final price that includes tax 

If you do not provide all of this to us, we will not believe you!  Help us help you by doing your homework, being informed and providing us all of the quote information.

We will try our best to either undercut their price....... or at least match it and we welcome the opportunity!  We love frugal shoppers because we are too!  If we just can't beat the price, for whatever reason, no hard feelings.  We still love you!  We just appreciate your interest and hope that the next time you need something, you'll try us again!

Q: Do you sell sod, cement bags, flagstone, or stepping Stones?
A: No, sorry!

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Q: I need somebody that I can meet, face to face at my property to give me ideas on what materials to buy, estimate how much I need, and what the cost would be.  Do you do that?
A: Yes, to find out more, click here.

Q: Do you sell weed blocking lanscaping fabric?
A: Yes.  Many customers put this under material such as bark, mulch or rock to block weeds but at the same time, let water through.  Click here to see what we have.

Q: Do I need a tarp for you to dump the material on?
A: No.  A tarp is not required, however, some customers prefer tarps because when you shovel most of the material off of one, you can easily just roll up the tarp and get all of the material that is left and the area is clean.  Tarps are also good for covering materials if you can't get to them right away and want to protect the material from the rain.  Most of our materials get heavier when they soak up the rain, making your job a little more difficult.

We also like tarps as they represent a big target for us to dump your load!  You can purchase a 12' x 16' reversible tarp from us (which is the perfect size to capture all of the material that comes out of the dump truck for most residential size orders) and we can bring it to you when we deliver your materials.  The tarp is "reversible" as it can be used on either side.  It is green on one side and brown on the other.  Click here for more information on the reversible Tarp that we can bring to you.

Q: Can you put two different materials in the same truck load and deliver it all at once? 

We can put two different materials in the same truck load if you only need up to 2 yards of each.  However, we don't have any barrier in the truck to prevent the materials from getting mixed up.  Generally, we recommend against this, but if you want we can do it.  These are the guidelines for a split load:

• Our dump trucks do not have any compartments or any other way of keeping materials separated.
• There can be a maximum of 2 different materials in the truck
• There can be a maximum of 2 yards of each material.  1 yard of each material is recommended.
• You understand that the two materials can get mixed up a little where they touch in the middle of the truck and in the process of dumping the material out on the ground.
• We include a $10-35 split load charge to account for the labor and time involved with handling two materials and/or trying to keep the materials separated as much as possible in the back of the dump truck. 
• When the two materials are dumped out, they will be in one pile.  If you ordered the same amount of each material, half the pile will be one material and the other half with be the other material!
• This does save you an additional delivery charge (if you were to have the materials delivered separately).

Q: Can I share my load of material with my neighbor?
A: Yes.  However, please be aware of the following. 

• There is an additional charge of $15 for each dump spot within 1 block that is not your address
• The neighbor must be on the same block or within 1 block of the delivery address
• The total of the bill must be paid by the original customer who ordered (you).  We won't take separate payments from others.
• For deliveries farther than 1 block, additional delivery charges apply
• We cannot closely control how much material comes out of the dump truck at each location.  For instance, you order 10 yards of bark.  You want 6 yards and your neighbor wants 4 yards.  We can do our best to stop the dumping process when we think 6 yards have fallen out, but the material is gravity dumped and very hard to just cut off immediately and measure by sight. 
• The driver will ask you to tell him when to stop dumping so that you are responsible for how much comes out of the truck at each spot.

Q: Why should I buy materials from Joe's Landscaping Supplies?
A: For one, we are usually cheaper than our competitors!  We also take pride in our high quality products and materials.  Every product and material that we sell and deliver is personally inspected and approved by Joe.  We have turned down many lower cost products offered by wholesalers because they don't meet the high standards that we insist upon.  Because of this, we regularly sacrifice higher profits so that we can offer high quality products and materials.  We want to feel great about the business that we do with you and want you to be a long term customer!  

Also, we are small and local and we buy locally both for our business and our personal spending.  We are true patriots, love America, and appreciate the freedom and opportunities we have been blessed with as Americans.  One way we show this is we BUY AMERICAN....even if that means paying a little more. 

Supporting us also helps support (through the taxes that we generate) our local communities and transit systems, like King County Metro, Community Transit, and even Sound Transit.  The sales tax revenues that we generate, people we employ, business to business sales and other community good will make Joe's Landscaping Supplies a great community business and resource.  Our customers love the personal and friendly service they receive from us and we a lot of referrals from them in return.  Thanks from our family to yours.  We really appreciate your patronage and hope you will place an order the next time you need landscaping materials.