BATTISTA FARMS

They put done 1600 square feet of bad sod that had been waterlogged. I was not home when they put it in because they were scheduled for the afternoon but came in the morning and my wife paid for it. I have gone to there office 3 times to complain but they will not do anything to rectify the problem. They sent someone out to look and he walked around and said they would get back to me. That was 2 months ago... I have attached photos so you can see the quality of their work.

A little less than two weeks after installation, the ENTIRE area with the newly installed Zoysia grass started to appear brown, and looking as though it was not receiving enough water(this install was done the first week of May, which is the beginning of the long, sun filled hot days, yet without the daily rain showers in SWFL). The irrigation system was originally set at time of install to run twice per day, then had just been reduced to once per day, after about one week. When the brown grass started to appear, the irrigation system was once again placed back to the twice per day schedule, to compensate for the long sunny days without rain.
 Well 16-days after the install, the entire newly sodded area was now 90% brown and appearing to be almost dead. A lawn fertilizer and pest control company was contacted, and they inspected the site the following business day. Their diagnoses was the newly sodded area was heavily infested with Army Worms, and several of the worms were picked from the new sod and displayed. They proceeded to spray the newly laid sod, as well as the rest of the yard, so they would not infest the other areas of existing Zoysia sod, not yet showing any signs of Web Worm damage.
Battista Farms was contacted to explain the problem/concerns, and they were told we would wait to see if and how this infested / damaged sod would recover, and if not, to decide what would be done next.
They called back, to say the grower who they purchased the Zoysia Sod from stated his sod was not infested, and the Army Worms must have come from the yard it was installed in. This yard had been treated previously, as a earlier installation of Zoysia sod from Battista Farms had suffered this same damage about six month earlier. 
 A) Battista Farms claim of existing infestation appear incorrect. As if the yard was already undergoing treatment and preventative maintenance to prevent Army Worm, this could not be from a prior infestation.
B) The St Augustine Sod removed for this installation of Zoysia showed NO signs of damage or pest infestation. SO the claim by Battista Farms cannot be true, as no prior damage to the removed sod was noted or pictured.
C) Pictures of the newly installed Zoysia, at one place being right in between existing sod on both sides, clearly shows the existing sod in PERFECT health, and the newly installed Zoysia virtually dead from the Army Worm contained in the newly installed sod from 2 1/2 weeks prior.
I have requested Battista Farms to do the following:
A) Pay the cost associated with the treatment for the newly installed Zoysia sod infested with Army Worm. This was $260
B) Pay for the additional watering that was required, as a result of the extensive damage done to the newly installed Zoysia from the Army Worm. The irrigation had to be run twice a day and then again once a day, for almost a full month, before being reduced to the twice per eek regular schedule, once the sod recovered from the Army Worm infestation damage. $450-$500 of the $700 water bill from Island Water in Sanibel.
I am attaching pics of some of the damaged area. Take note in the pic, the green and very healthy Zoysia sod on both sides of the severely damaged NEW Zoysia installed less than one month earlier. If the Army Worms were coming from the existing sod, why is it so healthy?
I will post updates to this installation and possible change my recommendation of Battista Farms, depending upon how they choose to handle the additional costs associated with the infested Zoysia purchased thru them.

The installers arrived on scheduled day, however nothing was sprayed to kill old sod/weeds. Top layer of old sod was removed and new sod laid. We were instructed to water daily for 30 days. We did. Now a year later I am again searching sod installers to replace the weeds we have . The sod laid by Baptista did not root as it was supposed to; since no round-up treatment was provided (that explains the lower price...guess you get what you pay for) the weeds all reappeared. We are very disappointed in Bapttista Farms but have myself to blame as I didn't question why a round-up treatment was not required.

I contacted Battista Farms over the Christmas break to inquire about getting an estimate to replace the weeds and dead sod in my back yard with new sod.  I promptly received an email response and a subsequent telephone call to schedule a site visit and estimate.  Marcus was prompt and professional in explaining to me what services were available and made recommendations based on my particular wants and needs with regards to maintenance and use of the yard.  Marcus provided me with a price estimate and told me roughly how long the job would take to complete and how quickly it could be scheduled.

After some time to plan the expense, I contacted Marcus again to schedule the work. The crew was available to do the work a short two days later.  The day of the work I received a phone call advising me that the crew was on their way.   I live on a narrow, private road and they were very careful to situate the equipment to minimize any impact to my neighbors or passing traffic.

Diego introduced himself and took the time to check his access route and clearly understand my goals for the project.  They off-loaded 6 palettes of bahia sod while they used a sod cutter to loosen the topsoil and they raked the area clean of any weeds or other vegetation.  They placed the sod and rolled it to ensure contact with the native ground.  They did an excellent job with cleanup.  I am following the instructions that Battista provides with their installation and the yard is really looking quite nice. 

I would recommend Battista's products and services to anybody who is looking for this type of work.

They did a good job but the sod squares were not placed as close together as i would have liked..

The crew showed up promptly. I went over the area with man in charge, he understood exactly what I wanted done
and that it was inportant to me to not cut out old sod close to the many trees I have. The fellows did a great job, putting down over 6 1/2 pallets of sod. They were finished in about 3 1/2 hours and cleaned up the area. He gave me information on how to care for the new sod.