Sprinkler Repair - good and bad experiences
 

I recently had both bad and good experiences with repairs to my sprinkler system. I spotted a leak and dug up to where the leak occured, It was a "tough" repair, leaking pvc was wedged between two big tree roots, so I decided to call a professional. I used the service directory in the Daily Sun.
Called 5 people - three never called back
First one came, looked at it and said would be back later in day - never came back.
Second showed up and said he could repair now but needed a chain saw, which I would need to get - I rented one from Home Depot. He cut the roots and pipes (also wiring) and said he would be back same day. He showed up next day asking for money up front for parts. I gave hime a check and he left and didn't come back that day (Saturday) When he didn't show up Sunday as he said he would, I told him I needed my check back or I would stop payment. He gave me the cash and said he would be back by noon Monday - again didn't show up.
Called another at 1:30 pm - he showed up at 5:30 and repaired pipes, came back 8 am Tuesday and repaired wiring and checked rest of my system.
Bad guy - be very careful - was AAL Time Irrigation - his name is Ryan Sanders - I needed to make out check to him, because he didn't have a business account, although he said he was licensed and insured - I doubt if he was.
The good guys were Blue Island Construction (Scott Osteen} He actually answered his phone and repair person "Gator" was both knowedgeable and professional. At a reasonable cost. They do landscaping and lighting also - I highly recommend them.
I wish I could have found this on "talk" before I got into this situation. I looked, if it was on this site I didn't find it.
Maybe this will help someone else.

Bill Biance
Village of Santiago

When in doubt call home warranty.....they have a list of approved contractors for nearly all situations.

Welcome
 

To TOTV Billy.Thanks for the useful info.I'm sure someone will need similar repairs in the future & now have a post they can refer to.Glad everything turned out fine for you .:welcome: :BigApplause:

warranty dept.
 

This was a 10 year old home

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the info and welcome to TOTV!

I think Bogie Shooter was not suggesting that your sprinker system was under warranty, as you did not state the age of your home. Her point, if I understood correctly, was that the Warranty Dept. could provide you with a list of contractors that they use, trust and could recommend to you.

That is exactly correct. And btw they could tell you who originally put the sprinkler system in for your 10 year old home.

His

Bill, good tips, thanks. Home warranty is a good option to contact, but I personally like good referrals too.

I have always used Action Irrigation...Chip Parrish . Chip is timely, courteous, dependable and knowledgeable! Even came early one am when one of my sprinklers decided to turn into a geyser! Competively priced. I have referred him to others and they have been very pleased.

I was not happy with Fantasy Irrigation. I think it was too much fantasy.

His and Her sets
 

Oops, I'm sorry Bogie. :ohdear:

You've always used Action Irrigation? How often do they break? :shocked:

Don the Donut Man
 

Does anyone know if Don the Donut Man is still is the sprinkler business?
He was recommended frequently several years ago but I haven't seen his name mentioned recently.

Thanks.

Yes, Don is still in business. He is coming to our house next week.

How about a ph#? He was recommended to us several yrs ago by the Warranty Dept but they didn't have a ph#.

Don the Donut Man 750-9316

by "always" I mean for service.I call the every six months to make sure I am getting the best coverage and flow. I have called them once when I had a geyser of water from the main valves as a turn off had broken. I believe in regular periodic maintenance for best performance

we recommend Don the Donut man..has done a great job for us and our neighbor!

Need contact info
 

For those who recommended Action Irrigation (Chip Parrish) and Blue Island Construction (Scott Osteen), can you please post phone numbers where they can be reached? Thank you.

Blue Island 352-425-2625

Having just purchaed a premier wee needed to evaluate our system and high water bills. We use Massey. First tme they found leaks and 2 guys took 4 hours realigning the heads, testing the system and adjusting timer for optimum usage. Moved some heads that didn't do any good in the current location. Break even on the costs vs savings is about 4 months. We have a contract with them for a check every 3 months. Highly reccomended!

Sprinkler Repair
 

I have used Chip from Action for the last three years and I am very happy with his service and prices. Always very professional, takes time to explain things and will even give advice over the phone.

That's is amazing how busniess owners can be. I run my own busniess and would never treat any of my clients that way. It just shows you what busniess's will survive and the ones that are the fly by nighters. I have heard a lot of crazy stories and seen a lot of ways people get taken advantage of especially in The Villages.. I would never tell my client to go rent a chainsaw! Or take off with somebodies money. Hahaha.

My favorite sprinkler man is Jim Baumgartner (352/504-2317). He really knows his stuff and I know that a few of TV subs have used him when they can't fix/solve a problem. I also agree that Chip Parrish does a good job. While I've never used Don the Donut man (which is now run by his son), I've never heard anyone complain of his work, either. So, I'd say any of these three would be great choices.

I see that you've used Fantasy as well but you didn't post anything good or bad about them. I've used their irrigation company for over 8 years and have never had anything bad to say about them. Most of my street also uses them and they have no complaints as well. Thier a very reliable company and they're always preparded to do any job! There $25 tune up was a excellent deal, they had a remote that was a pretty cool gadget, they cleaned all the donuts with a special tool, and they adjusted my heads to where my grass is ACTUALLY getting water! I also had heads that were popping up and not spraying correctly, they flushed the lines and amazingly, they didn't have to be changed as i thought. My problems were not as big as i imagined! So yes, they were a fantasy, a dream come true! They were very efficiant in what they do and I will use them for years to come!!! I dont have thier number in front of me now but they are located in the villages Daily Sun, in the classified section in the irrigation column section. I'm sure they'd love the referal as was I when i hired them and i was very satisfied! They are also very resonably priced! And for the 8 years I've used them, the price have never changed on me! They break everything down to where I could understand what was really going on!!! VERY GREAT COMPANY

Fantasy Landscape and Irrigation was one of the best companies I've found in the villages to do anything with my irrigation system. My whole street uses them and no one has ever had any negative feedback!!! They've been doing my entire street now for over 8 years. Thier prices are reasonable, and thier $25 tune-up was the best thing that ever happened to my lawn! I had brown spots all over the place. I had acouple pest control services and it seemed like it jus made things worse. So one of my neighbors refered me to Fantasy and they serviced my irrigation, and my lawn almost seemed to instantly green right back up! Also, before I called them, I went ahead and figured out how to check the credentials of any company. A city official refered me to sunbiz.org to check for lisc and insured buisnesses. Low and behold, Fantasy is a completly legit company and they do things by the books! I'm only telling you that because one of our stubborn neighbors hired "Waynes Irrigation," and he had to pay the guy upfront in full to go get parts. When he showed back up he had no clue how to complete the job that he had already been paid for!! He had also made one check out to "Waynes Irrigation" and the guy told him he couldnt accept the check and that he needed it made out to his persons (Ryan Sanders), while the gentleman went to get the parts we looked him up on sunbiz.org and low and behold there was nothing of the such on Waynes Irrigation. Hes a fraud and you should beware of any company that ask for money upfront esp for a small job as this!!! we also found on the internet that in 2011 he was under another buisness with no name certifacation as "AAl Time Irrigation" and had multiple complaints against him also having checks wrote to his name and never showing back up to jobs! Beware of all the companies and if you ask me, please check the sunbiz.org before hiring anybody becuase it could turn out bad in many ways! And for all your irrigation & landscaping problems, I'll speak highly of "Fantasy Landscapes and Irrigation"!!!

I repeat that I was very unhappy with the price and quality of service. I went for the $25 tune up and spent $250. Three months later when the system was not working right I hired another company who did a much more thorough check. They replaced 2 leaking rotors, several pop-up sprays, and installed larger and taller heads - all for $136. And a year later they are all still working fine.

fantasy landscapes and irrigation
 

I'm sorry to hear that , i know that my friend had some thing go bad after 6 months of them goin there and they came out and fixed it for free, but theres a old saying you cant please every one, i'm sure if you called them they would help you out, they are very liked with the bbb , but wish you luck just feel like i should go up to bat for them, they have done such a good job for me and the hole street that we live on. THANK YOU :smiley:

Action Irrigation 352-505
 

Action Irrigation phone number is 352-561-2205

I've had Joe Sheldon (Irrigation Maintenance and Repair, 409-3163), who advertises in the POA paper, do a number of different repairs on our irrigation system over the past year. He is punctual, knowledgeable, and his fees are incredibly low. He will also give a 20% discount on labor to POA members.

We recently had our pool dug and needed some irrigation lines re-routed. We found Wayne's Irrigation (Ryan Sanders) in the Daily Sun. He called us back and said he would come out to give a quote. He came on a Friday and then we hired him. He said he would be back at 7:30 a.m. Saturday to do the job and it would take two hours. We were headed out of town so we paid him up front. It seemed like a pretty straightforward job and he advertised he was licensed and insured. He was supposed to phone us when he completed the job. First off he showed up almost 2 hrs. late. Then he never called us. We came home on Sunday to an unfinished job and no satellite tv! We called him and he said he had accidentally cut the line and he could give us the number to Direct TV. He then said he was on his way to finish the job. He showed up about three hours later. In the meanwhile we had paid an electrician $100 to repair the line. Within a matter of minutes after Ryan's arrival the satellite was out again and we had to have the electrician come back out. When Ryan started the sprinklers water was just bubbling out with no pressure. He said he would be back on Monday with a special tool. My husband told him not to cash the check we had given him and that we wanted his insurance and license info. He said the info was in his other vehicle. We immediately placed a stop payment on the check. I found out yesterday he had cashed the check at an easy check cashing place on Saturday after he had destroyed our satellite connection. Long story short, we have not heard from him and are sprinklers are not working. Thanks to the posts on here, we have contacted Action Irrigation and look forward to working with a reputable company. We plan on filing a complaint against this company and advise strongly against using them!

Based on the recommendations in this thread, I called Action Irrigation to repair a broken cap and do a system tuneup to address some dry spots. I called on Monday, and was told Dave would be over on Tuesday. On Tuesday, he called and asked if I could wait until Saturday morning. Dave didn't show up on Saturday, and phone calls weren't returned (and still haven't been). On Saturday afternoon, also based on recommendations in this thread, I called Jim Baumgartner. He showed up on Monday at 8AM, as promised. He did a great job. $35 for the tuneup, and another few bucks to make some system changes. Jim did a great job, was thorough, and very knowledgable. He also suggested some other changes I can make, which I will do at some point, but absolutely did not apply any sales pressure.

Needless to say, I very highly recommend Jim. I wish I could say the same about Action Irrigation.

Chip Parrish, Action Irrigation
 

Chip is probably the best. I have always had my irrigation handled by "professionals" and then I "found" Chip. He sorted out the mess that the others had left me.

He is a Great guy, competitively priced - and he arrives either early, or on time!

Jim Baumgartner does a SUPERIOR JOB & is priced right & very knowledgeble!

Thanks for this information. I put a spade through one of my large irrigation lines. I read this review and called Blue Island Irrigation. I left a message and the call was returned shortly. Scott Osteen said he would be here the next day at 10:00am. He was on time and did the repair for a very reasonable rate.

I called Chip Parrish, (352) 516-2281, for a sprinkler tune-up and a couple fixes. He showed up on time with his son, Kyle. Nice guys. Explained everything. Efficient. Neat. I am a satisfied customer.

By the way, don't get Chip confused with Action Irrigation Gainesville.

No Dave at Action Irrigation
 

There is no "Dave" at Action Irrigation, which is owned and operated by Chip Parrish. He has his daughter in the office and now his son is working with him. I think you must have called someone other than Action Irrigation in TV. He is very reliable, his wife is an excellent realtor and works for TV.