Priced out a few outfits to install sprinklers at my place. I'm on a 50' by 100' lot, not a big…read morepiece of property. My Dad always tells me, never go with the cheapest, or with the most expensive, but try to find someone in the middle, they're usually the fairest. Perhaps he was on to something.
These guys were tied at the bottom in terms of price with another outfit, $250 lower than the most expensive. Not a big difference, but when you have multiple things getting done at the same time, it adds up. Plus, honestly folks, I felt adding sprinklers was pretty basic.
Well, I was in the process last year of adding and removing some pavers, so a contractor had to move some of the piping and sprinkler heads around. And that's when a few things came to light.
1) The brand of sprinkler heads they claimed to use was not technically the brand that was used, it was a spin on the brand. The "brand" makes the heads for them, but the quality is not the same quality as the "brand" you can purchase on your own at say Home Depot. So they didn't lie, but it wasn't what a purchaser would expect.
2) I have a cape on a slab (no basement), with a detached garage in the backyard. When they originally wanted to install the unit the 6" x 8" panel that controls the sprinklers, they said they wanted to do it in my den. So they thought it was a great idea to install this device my 14 x 15 den, I guess they felt it would blend in nicely with the TV, surround sound, couches? Felt I should give the room a less homey feel and more industrial? Just dumb, and taking the easy way out.
Their next brilliant idea was to install it in the bathroom. Folks, my bathroom is 6' x 9' with a narrow opening. Not a big bathroom, and they thought this was a good place to put it? How awful would that look? My house is going to going to go on the market in a month or so, how ridiculous would it look with that device in the den or in the bathroom? Again, just dumb, and lazy.
Luckily my Dad, who was there to let them in, was smart enough to call me and explain what was happening. I had him explain to them that there was a 1.5 car garage out back that seemed like the perfect, and only place, it needed to be installed in.
3) I think most of us at this point have connected a couple wires together right? Or at least seen it? Well you know how you take the two wires, twist them together and then either cap them or wrap them with electrical wire and then cap them? All they did was wrap them in electrical wire. And poorly at that. When I was about 10 to 15 years old we used to install speaker systems in cars (it was the late 80's folks) and have to connect a couple wires here and there, we would always cap them. So as a 12 year old punk, even I knew this.
4) My lot size did not need a fifth zone. I have some pavers leading out from the back of my house, then another set of pavers with a covered overhang, a 1.5 garage in the back of the house with a blacktop leading up to it. This was easily a 4 zone installation. Doesn't hurt to have another zone, no big deal, but my grass would be just as green and my pup would be just as confused with 4 zones. But there was an upcharge for the extra zone, so that explains why I ended up with 5.
At the end of the day, if you want to save on sprinklers you should go with these guys, if you want to save on the headache try someone else.