William (Bill) Tapa

He came out to look at the job and gave us an estimate including a back flow valve that he would have to install in the front yard to bring the system up to new code. He wanted half the money up front and half when completed. He got all of the necessary supplies and returned a few days later. They spent most of the day working on the system and it looked like things were working pretty good before they left. He did install some sprinkling that we did not agree to on the north side of the house where it is shaded most of the time and where we have a lot of ivy growing. He installed the taller lighter mist/spray sprinklers. Everything was working fine until I woke up one morning to what sounded like a fire hose. The tube in the front in the flower beds under the pine trees had come out of the valve and was shooting a large volume of water. Since this was right next to the downstair windows, I ran outside and turned off the water. I called Bill and he came out and repaired the job. The next morning the same exact thing happened. I called Bill and he came out and repaired the job again. Within that same week it happened a third time. This time my brother repaired it and we haven't had a problem since. This could have created a realy problem and perhaps flooded our basement if we would not have been home when the sprinklers came on. When Bill installed the new back flow valve he told us that we would need to call him prior to winter to come out and show us how to winterize it so that it wouldn't freeze and crack. I called him in October and again in November and my call was never returned nor did he come to the house. Also, when Bill and his crew finished the sprinkling system he told me that he would have to send us an itemized bill because he still had some things to figure. To date, we have still not received an itemized bill for this service. A couple of weeks ago (mid May) we turned the water on for the summer only to find that the valve did indeed freeze and crack and water was spraying/leaking from the back flow. I have called Bill three times to come and look at it AND to bring the itemized statement with him. He told me that we were going to having a few cool weeks as far as weather goes and that he would come out. Still haven't heard from him. My brother took a look at the system and found out that you cannot purchase the parts separately so we had to buy a new valve to the tune of $200.00. My brother installed the new valve and it works great. My problem is that I still need an itemized statement from Bill for the work that he did. Should something similar to this come up again, I will really do some digging and checking into Angie's list before I select the first guy to come along. This was a bad experience and I would not recommend Bill Tapa to others for lawn/sprinkler repairs.