Toronto man builds park stairs for $550, irking city after $65,000 estimate

This is last week's news...the stairs were not up to code and yes, the city was being the city. The new stairs were built for around $10k.

oops I've been out of town lol.

$10k also seems excessive but I don't understand how the original estimate is so off.

Jazmina wrote: ↑ oops I've been out of town lol.

$10k also seems excessive but I don't understand how the original estimate is so off.

$10k is about right. It was poured in concrete with metal railings.

Jazmina wrote: ↑ oops I've been out of town lol.

$10k also seems excessive but I don't understand how the original estimate is so off.

Well, they have to be extra sturdy...we Canadians are becoming as litigious as Americans so, everything in the city has to be over built.

Ancient news. Stairs have been torn down and replaced for $10k. And no, the wood stairs were no where close to code.

James_TheVirus wrote: ↑ $10k is about right. It was poured in concrete with metal railings.

Exactly. They need to withstand public traffic and last for 20+ years.

The home-made stairs were pretty rickety looking although CP24 interviewed a contractor who said the builder (and the homeless guy he hired to help him) did a pretty good job, but they most likely wouldn't have lasted.

The original estimate was $65000 to $150000. And everyone was like, WTF?!?

Independent contractors weighed in saying it should be less than $10000.

Then all of a sudden, the city built it for $10000.

EugW wrote: ↑ The original estimate was $65000 to $150000. And everyone was like, WTF?!?

Independent contractors weighed in saying it should be less than $10000.

Then all of a sudden, the city built it for $10000.

The rough estimate based on 1000 additional factors was that high, yes.

Kinda like how the new 3 stop scarborough subway system will cost $3.35 billion. Thats "today" numbers. 5 years down the road it'll double to $6 billion and serve less people -_- Dunno why they don't do LRT to SERVE more customers in scarbroough.

Why is it that whenever the city has to get something built, the cost is 10x than it would be for the average buyer? Is it because city employees who approve these projects don't care how much things cost since it's not their money? We had bathrooms built in a nearby park where I'm from that cost $1,000,000! At the time, you could have built a huge mansion with 8 bathrooms for the same cost!

Acheewawa wrote: ↑ Is it because city employees who approve these projects don't care how much things cost since it's not their money?

That's pretty much it.

Even $10K is a ridiculous price to pay.
A fully code compliant deck stairs with a longer run and full railings and handrail on both side still wouldn't cost more than $3-$4K.

Good for him, while the stairs he built were nowhere near any code nor would last, he got the numbnuts at the city to move their ass and saved us $55,000 which sadly will be wasted somewhere else because we can't have citizens do all the time what this guy did.

I would like to see the record of the individual(s) who approved this insane budget, where else our money went as per previous approvals.

Well you know how it goes, original $65,000 estimate included:

1) Complimentary political donation back-scratching
2) Extended coffee breaks

pinkdonut wrote: ↑ Even $10K is a ridiculous price to pay.
A fully code compliant deck stairs with a longer run and full railings and handrail on both side still wouldn't cost more than $3-$4K.

Actually, IIRC $10000 or so was what independent contractors were saying would be reasonable, when the city was saying $65000.

EugW wrote: ↑ Actually, IIRC $10000 or so was what independent contractors were saying would be reasonable, when the city was saying $65000.

Cities build for a longer timeframe than the 10 years contractors build for on a house. Plus the foot traffic on your deck stairs is vastly different than a city park.

aquariaguy wrote: ↑ Kinda like how the new 3 stop scarborough subway system will cost $3.35 billion. Thats "today" numbers. 5 years down the road it'll double to $6 billion and serve less people -_- Dunno why they don't do LRT to SERVE more customers in scarbroough.

Get this guy to build it.
They will tear it out and build it at a fraction of the cost.

Jerico wrote: ↑ Cities build for a longer timeframe than the 10 years contractors build for on a house. Plus the foot traffic on your deck stairs is vastly different than a city park.

Except the city then built it for $10000, which is what the contractors said it should cost.

For my deck it would have cost < $1500.

EugW wrote: ↑ Except the city then built it for $10000, which is what the contractors said it should cost.

For my deck it would have cost < $1500.

But they didn't build the long term solution with all the bells and whistles the 65k version came with.