One of the worst and most expensive decisions I've ever made was to hire Willamette Waterscapes (WW) to decommission our pond. Our 19-year-old pond was leaking and we were thinking of either decommission it or converting it to a pond-less water feature and asked Tracy for estimates. He responded quickly and offered three options for us to consider including fixing the leaks, reducing the pond size, and last, decommissioning it (by refilling with soil on premises at my request). We opted to decommission. I way under estimated how much soil we had on premises to refill the pond and in retrospect should have asked Tracy for a bid to bring in additional soil. As it turns out I'll have to have an additional 10 yards of soil brought in to complete the project. Regardless of my poor decision to use on premise soil for the backfill, the expense, value and quality of the work completed by WW was extremely disappointing. About the only positives from our experience was that Tracy responded quickly to our query, was able to schedule right away and was on time if not early. However, for our job, I opine that the negatives far outweigh the positives: * As it turned out, WW was obscenely expensive at nearly $400/man hour (two men about a half day each). * Zero attempt at cleaning up after themselves, eg., did not clean dirt off the patio; did not dispose of their trash; left liner and rock slabs on adjacent beds; did not clean our borrowed shovel; did not wash overspray sludge off of the house. See images. * Did not follow through with minor tasks as promised, i.e., did not fold back liner so it wouldn't be exposed after soil is backfill. I cannot express how very disappointed we are with WW's price to accomplishment ratio and work ethics. Is the pond decommissioned? Yes, but for a job that cost nearly $400/man hour one would naturally expect uncompromising professionalism and outstanding results. To add insult to injury, we're going to have to spend another $1k to actually finish the project. I would advise NOT to use Willamette Waterscapes for your project, you won't appreciate their work ethics nor results. I usually roll my eyes when I hear this, but, trust me on this one. read more

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Our fountain hasn't been the same for years. We found Tracy on a web search. He was right on time and very friendly. He looked at what was going on and made suggestions not trying to sell me anything, but to save me money. I trusted him (and sure glad I did) and asked him to fix our fountain. He put in a new pump and discovered we had other issues and fixed it without any additional charges. Break Down Costs My bid was $300 to $400 dollars and it was right in-between at $350. My research of the pump without knowing exactly which one that was put in was $250 to $300. So I am going with $275 for the pump. Pump $275 Other materials $25 estimate Labor $50 (Less than $10 per hour) 1st visit 20 Minutes 2nd Visit 40 Minutes *All prices and times were estimated. We 100% recommend Willamette Water Scopes and wished all companies would have this customer service. read more

If you're considering hiring Tracy Large of Willamette Waterscapes in Salem to build your pond, please know what you are getting yourself into. Tracy and his helper worked long hours on our pond and stream, but the outcome was terrible. We are very disappointed and upset with his work to say the least. We thought we were hiring an experienced and honest professional. Not so. We expected the pond to look realistic and exceptional. Not so. The photos of the "finished" pond speak for themselves. When we expressed our displeasure about a huge amount of rubber liner showing, he said he could come back in the spring to fix it, but that was seven months out. He also had the nerve to say he would charge us even more money to fix the problem. Because we weren't confident he could successfully complete the job to our expectations, and because there was no attempt on his part to contact us about finishing the work, we hired a qualified landscape contractor to repair what Tracy left unfinished. In the course of fixing Tracy's mess, the landscape company discovered many errors. Here are some, but not all, of the issues: 1. Tracy failed to build the pond as we showed him on sketches, photos and at an onsite visit to our old pond. We showed him drawings of how the liner is stepped with shelves to hold the side rock. We said we want to replicate construction of our old pond. None of this happened. 2. A huge amount of liner was exposed above the pond's waterline around the entire perimeter. Not only is this aesthetically displeasing and unnatural looking, it is also detrimental to the liner itself by exposing it to ultraviolet radiation, ozone and other environmental conditions. 3. Related to the shelf, we asked him to make it 18 inches deep and 12 inches wide. And make it flat to accommodate waterlily pots. His shelf didn't come close to these specs. 4. Tracy didn't level the ground before digging. As a result, an extreme amount of liner was exposed at the upper end of the slope. He assured us "there would not be much liner exposed; maybe two to three inches." But, it was closer to two feet exposed above the water in about a third of the pond. 5. He used long nails to secure the underlayment to the walls of the pond. This was discovered by the landscape contractor who said nails should never be used under a liner. 6. We found some of the rocks on the pond's edge were unstable. This is a serious safety issue and a potential liability should someone stand on them. 7. The liner in the stream was installed too low in several places. We had to repair several leaks in the stream, and when it rained, the stream and pond filled with mud. 8. We received no instruction manuals, warranty information, serial numbers or product registration forms including the LED lights, pond light transformer, skimmer and spillway. We received no owner manual for the water pump. Additionally he did not give us itemized receipts for these products. 9. We wanted to maximize water flow over all falls and drops in the stream, yet there are places where water runs around and under the "waterfall rocks" thus diminishing the cascade effect we requested. 10. The overflow system was inadequate. The overflow device in the skimmer did not work during heavy rains because the dry well was too small and too shallow with minimal rock. 11. The LED low-voltage lighting system was inadequately installed by using standard wire nuts and black vinyl electrical tape on splices where Tracy cut off the quick-connect connections. He should have used quality DBR/Y-600 waterproof wire connectors. 12. The UV sterilizer bypass manifold was incorrectly installed. There should have been a ball or gate valve installed between the two pipes to reduce flow to the sterilizer. As a result of the improper install, water wasn't diverted into the sterilizer. Tracy comes across as knowledgeable and very personable, but don't be deceived. You may regret hiring him to do your project. read more

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We have a rather large pond in our backyard and it needed to be cleaned. We wanted a local company and found Willamette Waterscapes. The pond looks wonderful. The men were extremely courteous and very thorough in their work. We will definitely be reaching out to Willamette Waterscapes next year. Thank you for such a stellar job! M. Wabs McNary Estates read more