Commonwealth Irrigation & Landscape

I normally don't write reviews but the customer service with this company gets worse each year and I've really had enough. Today I received a call from a very rude office worker demanding payment on an overdue bill. A bill I was unaware we had. She told me she had emailed me numerous times and proceeded to read off dates that she claimed she'd sent an email. I explained to her I had not received any email from her. She got very angry, acting as though she didn't believe me or could care less. I've asked for years that they let me know when they are coming out so I can be home. They never do. I'm always told that they don't know when someone is coming until they get things scheduled. That turns out to be the day before, when it's too late for me to change my schedule to be home. They really don't know what "customer" service means at this company and it seems, no one there cares. I did speak with the office manager today and I suggested that she get the office worker some customer service training. From reading the reviews it seems many people have trouble with the customer service.

The best irrigation company in the area! Matt, Alex, and Chris are very knowledgeable of irrigation systems. They installed a new irrigation system in my yard and did an excellent job! I’m very pleased with how everything turned out and with their customer service. I would highly recommend this company to anyone looking to get an irrigation system installed.

I normally don't do something like this. However, Commonwealth Irrigation is beyond frustrating. This is a long cut & paste from notes document. Would you pay $6018.16 for this? Stafford/Fredericksburg/Dale City/Manassas/Northern VA residents need to make an informed decision on whether or not to use this company. Commonwealth Landscaping Service Notes 12 June – 6 Jul Meetings and discussions with MG, Division Manager on service to be done Highlighted areas to address Slate wall stable and not like existing where bump or step on ring and slate shifts/moves Area in back corner water/drainage and when rock removed need to be mindful of how to deal with drainage/runoff Front area under bay window as even/parallel as possible so no slant down towards tree on right corner of house Understandable delay to start date as had to be put on schedule 23 July Day 1 Bxx, Project Lead SME and 1 other showed with MG Bxx upset as he had no idea of the project scope Didn’t have right tools “Dingo” Stated he almost didn’t want to start job Moved a bit of rock around and removed most of slate from rings Didn’t ID irrigation system so needed someone to come and mark/move Left early *Spoke to MG I didn’t understand why irrigation and landscape were not in sync * Explained not happy with start of job 24 July Day 2 Arrived late because of picking up equipment? Jxx, Production Manager with Bxx today. Started back yard but didn’t complete removing rock from all rings Bxx wanted to move to front and get wall built I asked about a “punch out crew” for cleanup and prep – remove remaining rocks and level out/fill in with soil prior to sod and mulch Told that would be done prior to sod/mulch and planting 27 July Day 3 MG walk through and explained concerns *MG –“Temperature high/crew working hard/don’t want to overwork” Bxx and Jxx told me they needed to take out final two bushes in back corner to make an even grade for sitting area Maple tree roots ripped out and exposed Asked Bxx and Jxx if damage to tree and said not an issue Didn’t have correct tools couldn’t get Juniper in front roots out with Dingo *I helped dig out first two roots balls as they couldn’t get out with just Dingo *Had to give my tow rope because old manilla rope kept breaking 28 July Day 4 Started wall but didn’t have right tools – used my line and a level *Bxx said something about not having tools because bag taken to another job. Bxx felt wouldn’t have enough slate had to order new pallet $350 and would use all the original to complete back yard *I asked about back drainage and u-shaped ring with small slate ring – Bxx confirmed he understood Appears to be no communication/integration between irrigation and landscaping – didn’t know where heads where, two front heads where wall being built would have to be re-done and moved at a cost to me? *Seems uncoordinated, unplanned, and and ad hoc – jumping from back to front and not completing anything before moving on *Corner area left completely half finished No rock cleanup or grading 29 July Day 5 Jxx and 1 other show up to lay sod Bxx out sick Minimal clean up and dump a little dirt Drop sod right on top – no cut out or leveling to make sod fit existing grass Didn’t cut out sprinkler head area Arrive around 0830-0845ish left by around 1500 to include hour+ to get mulch in the middle of this time period 30 July Day 6 MG on site and reviewed work. *Admitted if it was his yard/project he would have concerns just as I do. Committed to the team completing and doing a professional job. Stated he would stop in to check work and see if concerns are answered. THIS IS THE LAST TIME MG WAS ON SITE. Half day as worker injured hand 31 July Day 7 Finished front wall and ring around lamp Not filled in with dirt Very unstable No heavy rocks on top to set wall as per what Bxx stated was needed and why he needed a new pallet of slate 3 Aug Day 10 Started in back yard I asked about finishing front, filling in area and was told yes but wanted to get back yard going first Again, the back and forth – front then back never finishing either one!! Left early because of rain 4 August Day 11 No show because of rain Massive mess in back from rain Area I specifically told MG about; where flooding is the worst River of water running to back right area which is a swamp and likely impacting neighbor’s lawn Front wall area under bay window has trench building and large puddle/pool from runoff 5 Aug Day 12 Terminated service with Commonwealth. MG – Division Manager is so out of touch with the project status. Sending Jxx, the Production Manager to remove “Dingo” saying it is no longer needed. *The onsite crew uses it daily to move the slate rock from front to back and in fact the bucket is loaded with crushed gravel and slate stones! 6 Aug Day 13 Received email notification from MG project cancelled and a “final invoice” will be provided for “any work partially completed”. A down payment of $2140.16 was made on 26 June and I don’t see how they can expect more. With the state of my yard and landscaping/irrigation, I believe a refund is owed and have asked for an itemized list of services to compare against what I’ve paid. Front unfinished with sod likely to die Back yard drainage issue, irrigation line exposed, slate piles and torn up yard Front wall loose and no heavy stones Unstable due to many small stones placed within wall 8 Aug Day 15 Received an invoice for $3878 balance due. Included a 2% fee for 30% of total cost down payment. This is a credit card use fee when making a payment, which was paid when making the down payment on June 26th!

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Everything went well. The pricing is a bit high. I can't deny the quality.

A neighbor recommended this company after several failed attempts to find a service provider that could service our sprinkler system unit.  We had no issues with the serviceman who winterized our system, just the billing, communication, and tone. 
After paying for a yearly service contract before, we were asked to pay $50 to turn-off our system for this year.  No problem and it's a very reasonable price.  I called Commonwealth and paid this over the telephone that day.  The serviceman wrote "Already Paid" on the Winterization invoice once complete. 
A week passes and we received an invoice in the mail for $50.00.  After calling and speaking with someone, she put me on hold to come back adamantly telling me that I was incorrect and that I had only paid for the yearly service contract and not the $50.00.  After some needless debate, she put me back on hold.  Another person answered and told me that she was aware that I thought there was a mistake.  I told her there was no mistake on my end and to check their deposits against my account. 
She came back after searching and told me it had been corrected.  Thus, they never posted my payment to the account and insisted that I was in error.  Before insisting that the customer is absolutely incorrect, make certain it's not an error on your end.  Such puts a very bad taste in one's mouth to have to push the vendor to correct an error. 

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Based on contractor's performance installing a new zone for my irrigation system, I requested they install a French drain in the front/side of my house to try to mitigate the water pooling up on my lawn, which was caused by sub-surface water flowing down from a hill on the adjoining property.

Before contracting to have the French drain installed, I conducted a fair amount of research to familiarize myself with what constituted a typical French drain installation.  From my research, it appears that a typical French drain will consist of a trench that is at least 12" deep and 6" wide, with a pitch or slope of about 1 inch per 10 feet of linear run.  The trench should be lined with permeable landscape fabric, about 2" of aggregate gravel laid in the bottom of the trench, a 4" perforated French drain pipe with sock then laid on the aggregate gravel, a 2" layer of aggregate gravel then laid over the top and sides of the French drain pipe, the permeable landscape fabric then wrapped over the aggregate gravel, and finally, soil and turf replaced. 

As I casually observed the installation of the French drain, it appeared that all the above steps were taken.  In addition, the contractor's crew determined that I had a blockage in an existing drain used to route water from my gutters down to the ornamental ditch that the French drain would flow to.  Since this existing drain would be running parallel to the new French drain, the crew dug up and replaced this drain also, as they felt it might be contributing to the wet condition I was experiencing in my yard.

All in all, it appeared to be a very good installation as I could see the results (a drier yard) almost immediately (within several weeks).

A month or so after the installation of the French drain, I experienced a power outage in my house.  When the Spotsylvania Power Company came out to determine the cause, they found that the insulation on a power line coming into my house had apparently been cut during the French drain installation.  In addition to the power line being nicked, the power company employee advised my wife that the French drain pipe had been routed over the power line, and that would cause water to pool under the ground where the line was.  I advised Commonwealth's owner of this and he did not seem to be concerned about the situation.  A month or so later, my power went out again, and again the Spotsylvania Power Company came out and found another issue with the power line where the French drain crossed it.  I observed as they dug up the line and as they dug, a significant amount of water pooled up in that area, so much that they had to take 5-gallon buckets to dip enough of it out so they could get to the power line.

After going the winter and seeing a significant improvement in the amount of water pooling in my front/side yard, I asked Commonwealth to extend the French drain 36 feet across my back yard.  The 2-man crew arrived as scheduled at about 7:45 a.m. and began work.  I went out to advise them of an electrical line in the vicinity of where they would be digging the trench and observed that the trench was being dug what seemed to be very shallow.  I asked them about this and they advised they were digging it 8 inches deep.  Since they had apparently done such a good job on the front yard, I thought they knew what they were doing and had a reason for digging it so shallow, so I did not question this any further.  At 9:15 a.m., it appeared they had finished, and a few minutes later, they left.  I had asked them to dump the leftover dirt in an un-landscaped part of my yard, but a few days later while cutting the lawn, I noticed what appeared to be only bout three wheel barrows of dirt having being dumped.  Feeling that the excess dirt from 36 feet of trench should have been significantly more, I took a closer look at the drain and found that it was only 30 feet in length instead of 36 feet, or 20% less than what I had contracted for.  I then dug up the upper portion of the drain and found it to be only 5 inches deep, with no landscaping fabric nor any aggregate rock - just a 5 inch deep trench with the perforated French drain with sock laying in it.  I then went about half-way down the drain and dug up another section, where I found the same condition as I had found in the first section I dug up.  I then went to the beginning of the extension and dug it up, finding it to be about 8 inches deep there with a little aggregate rock at the bottom, but no landscape fabric.

I contacted the owner about this and he came out and concurred with what I had found and advised that this was not an acceptable installation.  He then sent another crew out to rectify the situation.

I was not at home when the second crew finished their work, but it was apparent that they had not installed the additional 6 feet (20%) of drain called for in the contract.  I again contacted the owner and he sent the crew back to install the additional 6 feet.  While observing them install this additional 6 feet of drain, I noticed they did not line the trench with landscape fabric.  I asked them about it and they then lined this 6 feet with the fabric and finished the project.  After they left, I went back and dug up some of the previous section to see if the trench had been lined with landscape fabric when they re-did the original extension.  They had not, instead they had installed a layer of landscape fabric only on top of the aggregate rock instead of completely around it.

I contacted the owner again on this and he advised (paraphrasing somewhat here) that the landscape cloth as well as the sock covering the pipe are designed to keep dirt material from being able to enter the drainage system.  Clearly having dirt enter the  pipe would cause clogging and slow water entry.  The fabric location will not hinder the performance of the pipe and it's ability to allow water entry into the perforated pipe. 

Doing some more research on the landscaping fabric, I found, from several authoritative sources, that it is installed to keep dirt out of the gravel, which preserves the porosity of the gravel, promotes percolation of water through the gravel, and prevents erosion of the ground surrounding the drain. 

I again contacted the owner that my concern was not the location of the landscape fabric, but the lack of it being placed in the trench to line it before the gravel and drain were installed.  I further advised him that if he felt that not installing the landscaping fabric before placing the gravel in the trench was acceptable, I would go with that and consider it a completed project.  As of yet, since May 21st, I have not heard back from the owner, so I assume he feels leaving the landscape fabric out of 30 feet of the drain is an acceptable installation.

Back to the front yard.  After my issues with the installation of the drain in my back yard, I dug up the drain in the area where I had the power line issue.  As I dug, it began to fill with water at a level over the drain pipe.  I dug up a section about two feet wide by five feet long, all of it filling up with water at a level over the drain pipe.  I confirmed that the trench had been completely lined with landscape cloth, which was not done for the 30 foot section in the back yard.  I confirmed that the drain was routed over the power line and that there was about a 2 inch rise in the level of the pipe as it crossed over the power line, negating about 20 feet of the typical 1 inch downward slope per 10 feet of linear run.  Apparently, the Spotsylvania electric employee was correct when he advised that the routing of the drain over the power line would cause water to pool in that location.  

In short, after a

Contractor crew (three persons) arrived at approximately 9:15 a.m. on the date scheduled and worked on yard as called for in contract.  At approximately 12:45 p.m., they left.  A day or so later, we took a closer look at their work and found that there were still a lot of leaves left in the flower beds.  Apparently, only the leaves that could be blown out with a leaf blower were removed.  Many leaves still remained in the flower beds that were stuck to the ground due to them being wet from a recent rain.  There were still a number of weeds in the flower beds.  There was still a significant amount of debris and weeds in the ornamental ditch and, again, it appears that only the leaves that could be blown out with a leaf blower were removed.  The mulch appeared to have just been dumped in the flower beds, with no attempt to sculpt it around the plants and trees, or to level it out in a contoured manner.  Many of our ornamental stones were also left covered by the mulch.  The edging to the flower beds was done by shovel instead of a machine.  When the crew left, there were a great many muddy shoeprints left on our sidewalk and driveway, which I pressure washed off a few days later myself.

We advised the owner of our issues and he rescheduled another crew to come out the next week to redo the cleaning.

The second crew came out and improved somewhat on the job from the first crew, but it was still lacking as there were still weeds and leaves in the flower beds, ornamental rocks were still covered by mulch and debris was still in the ornamental ditch.

We advised the owner again of our concerns on the quality of the clean up performed and he advised he would send another crew out to redo it again.

We were out of town when the third crew came, but when we returned, we found the clean up to be somewhat satisfactory in our opinion, but not nearly as good as the jobs our previous contractor had done for $600.  I still had to get out and broom brush the mulch from tops of the ornamental rocks in the flower garden and also smoothed out the mulch somewhat, as it appears little was done to contour it nicely over the width and length of the flower beds.  I previously used a neighborhood company whose crew got down on their hands and knees to carefully lay the mulch, sculpting small craters around the base of trees, and really smoothing out all the high spots in the mulch.  This was not done in this case.

On the initial visit, we asked the crew to add trimming the bushes in the flower beds to the contract, which was done at a cost of $48 (one staff person for one hour of work).  When the second crew returned to redo the work, we were advised the cost of the trimming would be about $96.  When we called the contractor's office on this, we were advised that since there were two workers present, we would have to be charged for two hours work, instead of the initial one hour cited by the crew member on the first visit.  I understand what a staff hour of work is, but I could not understand that if there was only an hour's work in trimming the bushes for one person, why were we charged an hour's work for each of the two crew members?  Also, it appears what trimming was done was just to trim the tops off the bushes - no trimming or shaping of the sides of the bushes was apparent to us.  I routinely trim the same bushes they trimmed and it usually takes me 20 minutes with a battery powered trimmer, not the two hours of labor I was charged.

As I mentioned above, for the past several years we used a contractor who operates in the neighborhood and he charges about $600 for the Spring clean up.  We decided to go with Commonwealth on the Spring clean up this time based on our previous experience with them in installing an additional zone in our sprinkler system  (I posted a review on this project) and installing a French drain in our front yard (for which I also will post a review), and the fact we wanted to essential "bundle" all of our yard related services with one company, to include fertilization, weed control, over seeding, and aeration.  This is the main reason we were willing to pay $1,000 for a job that had costs us $600 in the past.  In this case, this just didn't work out well for us.

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Not well laid out, so distribution is uneven in the yard.  Major PVC and flexible lines buried too shallow (2-3 inches in some spots) and individual lines to sprinkler heads even worse.  Multiple cuts during rototilling and I'm afraid to aerate the yard.

Took no responsibility for shallow line installation and charged $75 to repair. I've subsequently repaired cuts myself.

Rude phone reception was the last straw.

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I was extremely satisfied with the way Commonwealth Irrigation conducted business, and was absolutely impressed by the way they conducted training on the system before the job was completed.

Commonwealth maintains my sprinkler system to close it for the season and re open it in the spring.  I have always been pleased because they are great all around. Professional and competitively priced.  I do not hesitate to recommend them, call Tracy.  They also have a package/service contract? that includes winterization and re start and some service calls that seems a good value.

This was perhaps the most challenging experience we have had with any contractor we have used for any reason.  The system flooded some areas, and left others overly dry.  We were unable to use our yard for nearly the entire summer due to the flooding.  They refused to admit that the original design did not take into account the variables (sun, shade, grade, presence of a geothermal field, etc) despite our problems, and repeatedly attempted to claim that there must be some other source of water in the area, which of course, there wasn't.  We had our geothermal system checked for leaks, and it was fine.  Much of the communication was condescending - as though we were the problem - while our yard was completely unusable.



Perhaps of most concern, while they were responsive to our requests for reviewing the problems, ultimately they were unable to solve them.  We had to hire another irrigation contractor to correct the irrigation balances, change the head layout, etc.  Commonwealth simply did not exhibit the expertise required to figure out how to solve the problems.  They were quickly solved by the second contractor.



This is my first negative post on Angie's List.  I anticipate a  "slick" and defensive response based on our prior interactions, but felt it necessary to share our experience as the prior positive Angie's List reviews were the main reason we chose this company.

I am installing a fence. In doing so, I noticed that the sprinkler system installed was well onto my property. The company did not use the survey that was offered to them by my neighbor. No big deal, my sprinkler system had to be moved as well and it's a fairly common occurrence. I spoke with both my neighbors and called commonwealth irrigation. Tracy, who answered the phones, had to be the most unprofessional person I've dealt with in a long time. She does not listen, speaks over me, and quickly escalates a simple issue into a yelling match. My first call went ok, except that I requested Tracy call me back to let me know when they were coming out. This is common sense, because if the lines aren't moved completely off my property, they would only have to come out again. The company came out at some point and moved the sprinkler heads. No one notified me or even checked to see if they moved them in compliance with the land survey. So at least one sprinkler head and the underground lines are still on my property. I called and spoke with Tracy again today. Today she advises me the company has no way to mark sprinkler lines so I can make sure that the fence posts don't ruin my neighbors system. In fact, and I quote, Tracy advised to go ahead and put the fence posts in, and if damage is done to the system they would come out at that point and fix it. What? No, I'm sorry I'm not doing that to my neighbors. This company needs to come out and move all lines out of the way. Tracy informs me that since I'm not a customer, she will not deal with me and will not call me back to let me know when and if this system is finally going to be taken off my property. Tracy has terrible active listening skills, and screams the same sentence over and over again making a simple issue into a huge ball of stress for everyone involved. I shudder to think how this woman deals with problems from her customers, if knowing that they have installed a sprinkler system on someone else's property does not encourage her to act. She has singlehandedly cost her company an extra visit to the site, and decided that it would be okay if I put fence posts through their water lines. Somehow I doubt management at this company would be happy about that. So now I sit and wait to see if I will be graced by the presence of this company to finally move this system, above ground and underground OFF of my property so I can put a fence up.

The irrigation system works well so far.  I do not recommend buying the super duper RainBird control system as it costs more than it is worth.  That was my choice tho.  It takes too long to have someone come out to make a repair.  The lady that answers the phone at the office should not be allowed anywhere near a phone relative to talking with costumers.  The best that can be said for her is that her personality is that of a hemorrhoid, and will be the reason I will not contact Commonwealth Irrigation at the end of the warranty period.  I won't give her name but a comic strip detective character's name was similar.
I asked for two Crepe Myrtle trees to be planted which was done, but in the most unprofessional manner possible.  They simply dug a hole and planted the trees.  No additional planting soil was included, and no mulch or working of the surrounding soil was performed.  Just a hole with the tree thrown in the ground.  This is not how a good landscape company would plant a tree especially considering how much we paid for it.
If you want an irrigation system, then Commonwealth Irrigation will most likely give you a good one., but be prepared to wait for repairs, and just put up with the office phone lady.

They did a great job on rebuilding our sidewalk, but the yard work (planting seed and fertilzing the yard) was horrible.  They used a contract company and they did not provide initial instructions and when I called the company, I got conflicting information.  I spent $4000 dollars and lost the yard within 3 months.  I called them out to complain and they wanted me to spend another $2000 to fix the problem.  I will never use this company for yard maintenance.