Bushmasters, Inc.

We had a communication problem. One could speak English, the others really couldn't. The day that they came to tear out the old driveway. I called Zach, the boss, and he said he would come by later to sign the contract. He advised that the workers were sub-contractors. They were getting ready to pour concrete and I noticed they hadn't laid any gravel down. They said that the concrete would not crack if they laid it in August, that nothing bad would happen and if so, they would come back and fix it. The next day they came to take out the frame, and they cut it instead of laying the boards. Right now, there are hairline cracks from one end of my house to the lawn. I have called and texted and emailed multiple times. The first time he described that he was in a seminar and was not reachable. He sent somebody out to see a hairline crack that had formed. I called again and he said again he was out of town. That was last week. The work was done the last week of August, but we noticed cracks only one week after it had been laid. I have had no contact from Zach and I paid him cash. 2 LONG CRACKS IN CONCRETE ONLY ONE WEEK AFTER BEING LAID, NO CONTACT, WORK COMPLETED BY QUESTIONABLE CONTRACTORS BY ZACH. MUST NOW HIRE SOMEBODY ELSE TO COMPLETE WORK. WILL NO LONGER HIRE BUSHMASTERS FOR FUTURE YARD WORK.

I advised him that we had some sandstone rock in the soil, especially in one area. After (1) day with 2 personnel trenching & digging, their complaint was "too much rock". I showed them where the existing waterline started and stopped, they couldn't find the pipe by hand-digging, so they rented a small trackhoe, and immediately pulled up the existing 1" water supply line to my house.  The damaged  portion of the line was cut out, and the sprinkler system was attached at the same location. When the water was turned on for testing, it was learned that they had pulled the other end of the line loose from the house about 25' away, and under a much deeper hillside landscape. The water was also pumping directly at my basement foundation; which caused some leakage into the carpeted basement, through the concrete joint. The water was shutoff for the night, resulting in us having to go to a hotel, as there was no water available in the house. The trackhoe was rented again for the next day, and the hillside was opened up, the remaining 25' of pipe was pulled out and replaced & reconnected with a new one. After successful hookup, the hillside was "roughly" put back, with a massive area now devoid of grass.  He said he would replace that sod. He did not.

   It became evident that he wanted to finish up and get out of this project as soon as possible. The trenches dug were haphazardly filled back in to about 50% level. Almost all of the spray heads were between 4" above grade down to 2" below grade. Only about 10% of the heads were correct height. The Valve covers were also higher than grade and most were tilted 30 degrees out of level. The Back Flow Preventer was supposed to be put in a flower bed; but it was placed out into the yard about 5' in front of the flower bed.  That does not the area to mowed with the riding lawn mower, so the beat answer is the removal and re-placement of the mechanism. 

 The Sprinkler controller was placed in an agreed upon location; but the installation of the control wire was placed very unprofessionally,  stapled to a column, across a pergola, along about 20' of siding, then into the storage room.  The wire was loosely stapled up on the side of the house with the coil still showing for about 20' on the sagging line. This wire will eventually be partially hidden with new trim & paint. 

No instructions for the controller were offered.  He tried to leave without showing the system perform. No numbering of the system was offered. I made him adjust the height of 4 of the worst installed spray nozzles. Then paid him just to get him gone.

I later hired 2 people, one was a former sprinkler installer, plus myself for a total of 30 additional manhours to correct the sprinkler head and trench deficiencies (less the large sod area, still undone.)
I reprogrammed the controller, after I obtained the manual online.

I thought I might be having a problem with the controller (I found through the factory that I had been supplied an obsolete version that had since been replaced with 2 newer models), so I texted him, asking to get the warranty issues addressed. He replied with statements that I did not have a warranty, and my project had cost him a week's worth of work, with his regular customers, and he would try to come out sometime in a week, or so.  

  I responded that he should just tell me where to pickup a new controller, so he would not have to come back. No response, so I told him to forget it. This person who started the management of this business last year; has no sense of customer satisfaction. Based upon my ordeal, it is my opinion that this typical 2 man company is not capable of providing the services that they advertise.

Bushmaster's went above and beyond.