Sanderson & Dehaan Lawn Sprinkling

I’ve used Sanders & DeHann for years for start up & close down Sprinkler service. You really have to plan ahead to get on the schedule at the beginning of the season to get your sprinklers turned on. It’s always been uneventful until this year when someone unexperienced started up my system and didn’t do a complete job. I called and asked to have somebody come out and Check the startup service because not all of the sprinkler heads were popping up. The young man arrived promptly at the beginning of the window, And was very courteous and did everything that I asked. He even suggested that two of the sprinkler heads that were not working very well that I had previously been told didn’t work due to the roots should be replaced because the heads were not working well and low and behold, they work perfectly now! He was fast and efficient and adjusted a couple of the other sprinkler heads so they sprayed further and asked if there was anything else he could do. He also adjusted the timer for the sprinkler system did everything less than an hour! Well, done college friend, And very good hire Sanderson!

.

unknown

unknown

Already sent this 10 days ago.

unknown

A few problems with roots from trees but install was complete and very satisfied with results.

Our saga with Sanderson and Dehaan is far too long to review but I'll do my best to highlight the main points. I should also add a disclaimer: This review also includes some aspects that include Allen Edwin Homes as the two companies worked hand in hand with each other during this process. I'll try to be a fair as possible.
Upon the completion of the home, they were very speedy and quick to install the lawn so we could move in (we have a dog, so this was important). Frankly, the sod looked great. It was high quality, well taken care of, etc. The irrigation was also installed with some haste which was awesome but kind of necessary so the sod wouldn't die off. The sod was so healthy, I could barely mow it (after the mandatory 3 weeks of waiting). The only bad things initially were that we found 2 very large areas that were seemingly always a bog in our yard. Later, I'd find out that this was due to a leak in the water line below the ground in one of the areas. The other is still unknown. The one are was fixed...much later. I also noticed that one of the heads was constantly seeping water, even if the water was off. They would later fix that too, but I shouldn't have to go search these things out. So based on this alone, they deserved an overall grade of "B".
We then started living there and noticed a few inconveniences. The house and the driveway was getting a bit more watered than the actual grass, meaning the irrigation heads were obviously not calibrated...at all. We inquired about overwatering with all of the rain we had previously and they recommended a rain gauge which they could install on the calibration date. Not sure why this wasn't offered or installed on day one? We also still needed to be trained on the Rainbird control panel which was scheduled for a few hours a week or two out (due to their availability). They didn't want to re-calibrate (or initially calibrate in my opinion) the heads until the same day, so we waited. In the meantime, we figured we'd install our fence and deck so that could also be taken in to account during the calibration and save them some work. I asked them to provide us with a schematic of our lines/heads or to come flag them so no lines would be compromised during the installation...neither of which they could provide me with, which frankly is both lazy and ignorant in my opinion. As you might expect, during the fence installation, the third party contractors cut a line which required the water to be shut off (I blame Sanderson/Dehaan for this). They wouldn't come out and repair the line until the impending recalibrate/control lesson date which meant that our new sod started dying. About half of the yard turned yellow during the 90 degree heat with no water. Also a Sanderson/Dehaan issue. When they finally did come out, they sent someone that seemed to know what he was doing. He was very displeased by all of the shoddy work and made everything right as best he could. Being that he had to clean up everyone's mess, he had no time to show us much of anything about the control panel which left us to fend on our own for most of it. He did show us enough to get by though. He also installed the rain gauge. All of this drops their grade down to a "D" at best.
We were also surprised to learn that Allen Edwin felt the need to put a 6 foot asphalt "walkway" through the side of our yard. They shut off the water to the irrigation once again and didn't tell us, along with literally ripping back the 4 week old sod up and on to itself, leaving it to die. I demanded someone come out and fix it. Allen Edwin said they'd get a crew out "this week" to fix it. That time came and went. The following week, our Allen Edwin rep was on vacation so it had to keep waiting. I called Sanderson/Dehaan to address it in Allen Edwin's absence. They had "no record of any repair calls at our location." I was furious. I took it up with Allen Edwin again when he returned. 2 days later, the Sanderson/Dehaan crew patched up MOST of the issue areas. We were so desperate for a living and complete lawn, we just accepted the job that was done and left it at that. While this paragraph isn't necessarily Sanderson/Dehaan's fault and was instigated by Allen Edwin, they handled it terribly. The fact that the two companies couldn't coordinate this unwelcome project without my persistence is frankly an embarrassment for both companies. This merits nothing less than a "F" grade overall. The only reason I'm feeling nice and giving them a "D" is because in the very end (3 months later), we finally have a what seems to be slightly recovering lawn that was at least initially very nice that had been forced through h*** and back by Sanderson/Dehaan and Allen Edwin's neglect and poor project management.

UPDATE 7/29/2013:

One guy from Sodco (Ryan possibly) has been trying to make up for the bad experience. He came out and readjusted 1 or 2 sprinkler heads, gave us some advice on certain areas of the yard, and went out of his way to assist us with some bald spots that were due to this whole mess. Unfortunately and despite his best efforts, this was all negated when 1 week ago, Sodco installed a new lawn directly across the street where our digital cable tv service box is and cut our TV cable entirely. We've been without our digital TV since. (For those that don't know, you need to call MissDig to ensure this doesn't happen in your yard prior to the service. Before the service provider can come back and fix the cable, MissDig needs to come back out and mark everything once again. The spray paint is still on my lawn from the last time... :-/.) Sodco/Sanderson/Dehaan hasn't even acknowledged this issue or even apologized for the inconvenience, let alone do anything to make it right.

Lowering the D grade down to an F.

Wonderful company! We worked with Jon Dehaan most of the time and he was the definition of professional and courteous. All the work was done in one day, and the tear up of our lawn was very minimal. We had some well problems soon after they were installed and they came out for free multiple times to help adjust our settings and make sure it was the well, and not the actual sprinkler system. Jon even dropped by the house the other day because he was in the area and saw me outside just to ask how the well situation was going, and told us that if there was anything else he could do just to let him know. All in all our actual system works great.

The plumber was an hour late and took longer than expected. The yard was flagged 10 days before they were scheduled to install the sprinklers. I asked if they could come any earlier and they did make it a few days earlier. They broke one of my new landscape lights, but accepted the receipt for a replacement light as a deduction from the bill. The young man who came to do the orientation was great. On time and thorough.

The quality was acceptable.
The costs seem to be on the higher end of local irrigation firms.

Yes, completed in one day. Brought several workers. Had to remove and replace fencing to access back yard. Left markers for each of the sprinkler heads so a lawn rolling company would not roll over the new sprinklers.

Sprinkler system included in new home construction. Main valve issues from the beginning were never fixed properly even after a service call.

We contract them for two years to do the start up and for the take down of that system. So we pay two years in advance. I still have the work to be done in the spring and probably fall of the next year on this contract before I could pay again. It’s less than $200 for having them start it and having them shut it down four different times. It’s a good deal if you buy ahead of time. They are the ones who come back since they had installed the irrigation system. There are other companies like the lawn guys who offer to do that, but I don’t want them to do that. They didn’t install it and they don’t know where everything is. So I will always use the company that put it in to come back and take care of it. They know where all the sprinkler heads are. They have mastered out and they made the drawings to do the work. Their estimate was fair and it has probably been at least five years since we had it done. There are a couple of companies that have come out. Their estimate might not have been the least expensive, but was the most comprehensive one compared to what they were going to do and what they offered to do. So I like them. They are a local company. We will keep on using them.

Very happy overall with the experience. Nick was the technician who serviced my system and was helpful in explaining overall function as well as service requirements, ..etc

It is basic job and I would probably know if they did something wrong. They've always been responsive and punctual.