We hired Johny Ray, owner of Falling Water Irrigation, summer of 2010 to install sprinkler system at our home in Hixson. We also hired him to install a sump pump and drain due to some flooding issues at our home in Stonewall Farms subdivision. Jay Bell had a swale run thru the backyards in the townhome division to help move water during rains. This was the least expensive way and Bell should have put french drains in due to all the water run off. So we hired Falling Water (Johny Ray) to instal a sump pump and take the water before it goes thru our yard and instead move it thru a french drain at the side of our home and drain it to the street. We had met with him 3 times and he could see where in the land all the water ran down from the top of the subdivision. We questioned him on the size of pump as we had seen the water. But trusting in the fact he has been in business 30+ years, we believed him. So the pump got installed and it was way too small, which he admitted he had made an error in the size pump. He installed a larger pump and wanted to charge us more but said since it was his mistake, he would leave it up to us because he had quoted and been paid in full already. Well, he said after the mud/clay that he had dug up dried out a bit, he would come level the dirt out that he piled up against our privacy fence. Please note: He also did work for Jay Bell and he said himself that Bell should have put in french drains to move the kind of water that was out here. We never saw Johny Ray again. He never came back to move the dirt. Then the night of the first rainstorm (before the BIG one in late April 2010, I awoke the next am to standing water beneath my feet! My husband was in Canada on a job site so at 7 am, I am calling Serv Pro to come out and I also called Johny Ray. He came out that Sat am, looked at it, and asked if I had insurance. I said I did but not flood insurance, only sump pump insurance. I said I had called State Farm and they were sending an adjuster out on Monday but would pay for it only if the sump pump had failed or had a break in the pipe. Johny Ray stood at my door that am and told me that he could "fix" it so that the french drain did have a break in the line. I said no, we could not do that. The adjuster came as well as 3 other contractors and they all said the pump worked fine. The water came in the side yard and flooded because the water that the sump pump could not handle, should have run under our fence and thru the swale but could not because of all that dirt/mud/chert that was piled up blocking it. So tons of water went to our side yard and got high enough to come in 2 bedrooms, our garage and master bath. My husband had to fly home the next day to deal with this as I was so overwhelmed that my home and new carpet that was very high end carpet was sitting in water and so was our furniture. It cost us $1700 just for Serv Pro to come remove the water not even taking into account carpet, pad, and loss of household items and furniture. When my husband got home, he called Johny Ray who was suppose to meet with the insurance company with us and never came. He called him again 3 times before he got Johny Ray to come out and move that dirt so water could run properly. We knew it had to be the fact our fence was blocked by the job he never finished because in the BIG storm in late April 2010, where there was sooo much water and damage and tornadoes, not one drop of water even came close to getting in our home. DO NOT USE HIM. He seemed like he knew what he was doing, seemed honest and genuine and fair. We wrote him a letter 3 months ago asking that he pay for this or turn it into his insurance company and we have not yet heard one word. We are not people who like to sue or go to court but we have decided to take this to small claims court here in Chattanooga. We have never reviewed a business before but felt so strong to do this as we want others to be made aware. This has been a horrible mess! read more
