Andy's Sprinkler Drainage & Lighting

Went ok for all zones d

Gavin did a great job!

Excellent service.

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Good job. All is well.

Declined due to price

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The technician was profession, polite, and explained the work that needed to be done and the costs associated. A major plus was the team of two technicians were able to start the work right then. 2 1/2 hours later, the work was done and to my happy surprise, the work came in slightly under the amount initially quoted.

The sprinkler system check-up was part of an Angie's list discount program. Their phone receptionist was friendly and responsive. Two representative from Andy's ran through the system to ensure it was working properly. They were knowledgeable and professional. However, I did notice today that at least one current sprinkler head was clearly not spraying where it should have, and they should have pretty easily caught it. Not a huge deal, though. Also, I did feel some upsell pressure/suggestions, and they didn't explain clearly how the Angie's list discount was figured into the final price.

Upon inspecting the system, he told me what he thought the problem was. He said that all but 3 of my nozzles were working just fine. He also said I needed to replace all or most of my 4 inch pop-up spray heads with 6 inch pop-up spray heads. He said that you never install a system with 4" heads on a lawn with St. Augustine grass. It's typical to use the 4" heads on Bermuda grass, but NEVER on St. Augustine. He said the heads would cost about $20 a piece. I have 55 heads, and told him I couldn't possibly replace all of them right now at that cost. I questioned why we needed to replace the whole head. I asked couldn't we use the existing nozzles. He had every opportunity at that point to offer a lower cost alternative, but he insisted we needed to replace the whole spray head. He also said that using the existing nozzles wouldn't reduce the cost that much and questioned why I would want to use old nozzles. I also mentioned that I was shocked to hear that the company who installed my system didn't use the right size pop-up spray, as they were a local, reputable company that came highly recommended to me. I also mentioned that the City of Austin had done a free audit of the system just a few years earlier and never mentioned that I needed a higher pop-up spray head. He didn't really have a response to that. He did offer to go back over the property to see how many of the heads really needed to be replaced right away. After he went back and checked, he said I might be able to get by with only replacing 33 of the heads for now. He wrote an estimate of the total cost. The charge for each head would be $18.45 (about $610 for 33 heads or $1,000 for 55 heads). He said he would cap the labor at $270 (3 hrs. @ $90 per hour). I was shocked. I told him his estimated cost for the 33 heads plus labor was nearly 50% of what I paid for the entire system to be installed just 9 years ago. He said it made him feel bad to hear that, but he didn't offer any other options on the cost. He said the labor might not run the full $270 (depending on how long it took them to change out the heads). I told him I wasn't prepared to schedule the work right now. I then called Wilson Irrigation, the company that installed my system. A technician came to my home, thoroughly inspected the system. He agreed that the heads were sitting too low (since my lawn had gotten healthier over time). The system was installed right after the home was first built, and the St. Augustine sod had just barely been laid. He said 4-inch pop-ups are customarily used on most lawns with St. Augustine. He also said there was no need to take out the 4-inch pop-ups. Instead, they could add an extension to each head and raise it up to the height that was needed. The cost would be $1.65 per head ($90 for 55 heads -- compared with $1,000 quoted by Andy's). He dug up the grass around one of the spray heads, quickly put the extension on one of the pop-ups, turned on the sprinkler system and showed me how it immediately provided a spray that would adequately cover the area it was supposed to cover. He estimated his labor for 3.5 hours at $307. Additionally, he said there were 3 areas where he wanted to add a 6-inch pop-up spray head at $10.25 per head. That's $8 less than what Andy's was going to charge for each of those heads. I feel that the tactics used by the representative of Andy's were totally unprofessional. I can't imagine how anyone would want to deal with a company like this that basically doesn't hesitate to rip-off customers by charging highly inflated prices for materials and recommending installation of new materials as the only way to address the problem. This was a typical "bait and switch" type of tactic. I got a regular system inspection for half price (saving $47.50) only to turn around and have them telling me I needed to spend about $900 to $1300 to repalce the heads on my system. If you decide to use Andy's, all I can say is "buyer beware." I haven't attempted to call Andy's. I would typically let a company know first-hand why I decided not to use them. In this case, however, I feel no obligation or desire to have any further contact with them. I think it would be highly unlikely they'd be interested in changing their sales tactics based on my feedback.

The person who took my call was pleasant, knowledgeable and efficient. They were able to schedule my work very quickly. The day of the appointment they called and said they would be there early if that was all right, which it certainly was. The technician, Joe Stukey, and his helper arrived as promised. They quickly diagnosed the electrical problem and got the sprinkler system working. After thoroughly checking everything, they found several minor problems and presented me with an estimate for repair. I agreed and they did the work efficiently and quickly. After testing the system again, Joe re-programmed the controller. He then explained what they had done and made several suggestions for improving the system and gave me estimates to consider. Joe was pleasant, efficient and professional.

Chris Russek managed the project and was exceptionally responsive and professional. His team worked very hard to finish the project as quickly as possible. We encountered unforseen demands from the City inspector regarding extra work needed in order to obtain a permit to do the work. Chris and Andy's Sprinkler and Drainage did a lot of extra work to appease the City, and did not pass along any of the cost to me.

Called Wednesday May 5 to repair a broken sprinkler head, Andy's came out and did repair, commented on age of system and suggested a proposal to update. Quote presented said that while not sure what would be required, more effiecient heads and pattern coverage with overall work max capped at $3,700. I agreed to this without a competing quote -- perhaps a mistake . . . Work commenced on Friday May 7th, and continued Saturday when it was to be completed. Got call from crew leader with news that could not be completed Saturday and it would be finished Monday morning, waited until 12:30 pm on Monday no phone call and no workers showd up; ultimately work was not finished until after Wednesday May 12 -- understaffed or over worked? While quality of work and professionalism is not a question, not as responsive with progress updates -- seemed to do almost complete replacement of working existing pipes and sprinkers heads, work crew seem to be missing any English speakers -- best I could understand from speaking with spanish speaking work crew was that they were told to replace all they could with "new better" - except for Home Depot controller that had been replaced in previous 3 years. Good quality work, started and 95% completed rapidly, took almost another week to complete final 5%. Seemed a bit pricey.

I ended up going with another company. The company is good, but we just didn't decide to use them. They were professional and punctual.

We were very satisfied with them. They came when they said they were going to and the price was what they had quoted and the sprinkler works like a charm. I think their prices were comparable and I would give them A's on all categories. I would recommend them to others and continue to use them in the future.

Overall people were very nice and professional. Had right equipment and worked hard. Office oversold what could be done in an hour so the job cost more than expected and didn't actually identify which valve went with which station, just where the valves were in the field. I had to do that after. This contractor has a higher hourly rate than others, but two people come. One is a technician and one is an assistant, laborer. Sometimes this may be better and sometimes not.

Brad gave an accurate estimate of what needed to be done. He arrived with a crew of 4 other men who worked all day to complete the work. The workmen were careful not to disturb or injure delicate plants and bushes. They buried the bed lines under existing mulch. They cleaned the lawn of their debris and returned the soil and sod neatly. Brad works along side his workmen and is always on the job with his men.

He was so kind and helpful to me. The plumbers messed up my yard and when he came to do the sprinklers, he offered to help with the sod in my yard. I was impressed with that as that was not even part of his job or what he came here for. That was very nice of him to do that for me. I use them every year and I am very happy with their service. I would highly recommend them.

Andy's workmen arrived on time and promptly diagnosed the problems. This was a big job, taking 5 1/2 hours to complete. By the end of the day, three trucks with 6 guys were working on my sprinkler system. They fixed the problem and spent time making adjustments to the system to optimize proper function.