Budgeting Your Project
An outdoor-living project is a real investment, so here is how the money side actually works: a free in-person estimate, a written quote promptly, no surprise pricing, and honest options if you would rather build it in stages.
One number, in writing, promptly
We do not publish prices and we do not run an online estimator. What we do is come out to your property, look at the space in person, and put a written quote in your hands promptly after that visit with the scope spelled out on it.
That is the whole approach. There is no anchor price on this page designed to make the real one feel reasonable, no countdown, and no offer that expires on Friday. When you get the number, it is the number — arrived at by someone who stood in your backyard and looked at what is actually there.
If it is more than you had in mind, say so. We would far rather talk through scope, materials or a sensible phase-one than watch a project quietly die in an inbox. Those conversations are a normal part of the job and nobody here finds them awkward.
What actually moves the number
Two projects of the same square footage can land a long way apart, and it is almost never the part homeowners expect. Knowing what drives the figure makes the quote easier to read — and makes it much easier to tell where a competitor has quietly left something out.
Size and layout
Square footage is the obvious part. Shape matters nearly as much — curves, borders, steps and inlays all mean more cutting and more labour than a plain rectangle of the same area.
What's under the surface
Grade, drainage and the base beneath the pavers decide whether the work is still flat in ten years. If an existing slab or driveway has to come out first, that is real work too, and it belongs in the quote rather than in a surprise later.
Material
Concrete pavers, travertine and marble sit at genuinely different points, and so do patterns and border details. We bring samples to the estimate so you are choosing against your own house rather than against a screen.
Access to the space
How machinery and material reach the work changes the labour. A wide-open front yard and a narrow gate into a fenced backyard are not the same job, even when the finished square footage matches.
Engineering and permitting
Most structural work needs engineered drawings and a county permit. That is the engineering work plus your jurisdiction's review, and the associated costs sit in the quote where you can see them.
What gets built into it
A patio is one number. A patio with a seating wall, a fire feature, an outdoor kitchen, lighting or a cover over the top is a different one. This is usually where a budget conversation is worth having early.
Building it in phases is a real option
Not every backyard has to be bought in one transaction. Splitting a large project across seasons is one of the most straightforward ways to keep it inside a budget, and it costs you nothing in quality as long as the sequence is planned from the start.
Ground first, features later
Deck, patio or driveway now; kitchen, fire feature or cover in a later season. Tell us the whole plan at the estimate even if you are only building part of it, so the first phase is laid out to receive the rest instead of being cut back into.
One space at a time
The pool deck this year, the front entry and driveway next. Each phase is its own quote, and its own permit where one is needed, and each one stands on its own — you are not left living with something half-finished in between.
Hardscape, then landscape
Get the hard surfaces, walls and elevation changes right first, then come back for planting and lighting. It is the sensible order anyway: nobody wants new beds trenched through by the next phase of construction.
Each phase gets its own estimate, its own written quote and its own permit where one is needed, so you are never committing to next year's work to get this year's done. If your timing is flexible, tell us at the estimate — it is useful information when we are planning the sequence with you.
If you are looking at financing
Financing is available through Lyon Financial. Ask us about it. Checking your options does not obligate you to anything and changes nothing about the number we quote you. What we will not do is advertise a rate or a term on a website: offers change, and the only numbers worth anything on a loan are the ones the lender puts in writing to you directly.
Many homeowners use their own bank, a credit union or home equity, because the people who already hold your business often quote you better than anyone we could point you at. Others simply phase the work. Whichever route you take, nobody here is paid to push you toward borrowing, and we will not.
Military and first responder discounts available.
What we will not do with your money
On the money side, what we stand for is mostly a list of things we refuse to do. We will not invent a deadline to hurry a decision. We will not mark a price up so a discount can be advertised off it. We will not quote low to win the job and let the figure grow once the machinery is in your yard.
We will also not pretend a number is certain when it is not. If something unknown turns up under an existing surface, you hear about it before any extra work happens and you decide what to do next. That is the entire policy, and it is why the quote is written properly rather than being scribbled on a doorstep.
St. Johns Outdoors is a family business — formed in 2021, run by an owner who grew up on his father's job sites, with his sons working here now. Our office is on Sunbeam Road in Jacksonville and a person answers the phone there weekdays, 9 to 5.
FAQ
Cost questions, answered plainly.
Call us — a real person answers weekdays 9–5, and every inquiry gets a same-day response during business hours.
Call (904) 925-3089No, and we would rather explain why than post a number that turns out to be wrong. Two patios of identical size can land far apart once you account for the base underneath, the drainage, whether an old slab has to come out, the material you choose and how equipment reaches the space. A price list would either be so wide it tells you nothing or so narrow it misleads you. What we do instead is come out, look at the actual site, and put a real figure in writing promptly.
Book a free estimateIt is free and it obligates you to nothing. A salesperson comes to your property, measures, reads the grade and drainage, and talks through what you actually want. You get a written quote promptly after that visit with the scope spelled out. If the timing or the number is not right for you, that is a perfectly acceptable answer and you will not be chased about it.
Financing is available through Lyon Financial. Ask us about it. We will tell you who the lender is, but we are not going to quote you rates or terms on a website, because offers change and the only figures worth anything are the ones that come from the lender itself, in writing, to you. Checking your options does not obligate you and changes nothing about the number we quote. Plenty of our customers use their own bank, a credit union or home equity, and plenty simply build the project in phases. We are not paid to steer you toward borrowing and we will not.
Yes — military and first responder discounts available.
Yes, and it is a completely legitimate way to do a big backyard. The usual split is hard surfaces first and features later, or one area at a time. The important part is telling us the full vision at the first visit even if you are only building phase one, so what goes in now is laid out to receive what comes next rather than having to be cut back into later.
The quote spells out the scope, and that scope is what we hold to. The two things that move a number afterwards are a change you ask for and something genuinely unknown turning up beneath an existing surface — and if that happens you hear about it before any extra work is done, not on the final invoice. We would rather have an awkward conversation in week one than hand you a surprise at the end.
No obligation, no pressure
Get Your Free Estimate
Tell us about your project and we'll book the on-site visit. Your written quote follows promptly after it, with the scope spelled out.