How to Choose the Right Sprinkler Installation Company
You never want to let just anyone into your private sanctum, and your sanctum includes your home and yard. This makes finding just the right company to work with a priority when finding someone to do work for you, whether it be a repair or an installation. It pays to take your time, do your due diligence, and ultimately pick the perfect professional for the job you have in mind.
This is certainly true when it comes to choosing a company to install your new sprinkler system. Below are a few things to consider as you navigate your way through that process.
Know What You Want
The first step in the process is knowing what you want. Start with a vague idea, and you’re apt to get unsatisfactory results. So, the first step is to know what you want. Start with something general such as “a green lawn” and then figure out what it takes to get there.
Do Your Research
Always research things yourself and question what others tell you, researching to see if the information is correct. It is a good idea to become familiar with all the pieces parts involved in sprinkler systems. Educate yourself about the sprinkler installation companies in your area, read local reviews, and ask for recommendations from friends and neighbors.
Design the Sprinkler System Yourself
Installers don’t always make good designers. Invest yourself in your sprinkler project to the point of providing the required design. The design process teaches you ahead of time all the things you’d otherwise wish you’d known. Furthermore, you end up getting just what you wanted in terms of quality and functionality. Ensure enough depth in your design for pipes to be buried so that their tops are ten inches deep. Pressurized main lines should be a full eighteen inches deep.
Design Considerations
The primary consideration when installing a new water sprinkler system is coverage. What you want is “overlapping coverage.” A poor installation may provide “full coverage” but does so by running longer. Such an installation costs more to use and uses water inefficiently. Something else to plan for would be the places that you do not wish to be wet, such as sidewalks, driveways, porches, and more.
Take Bids
Next, take bids on the cost of installing the project you have designed. Nobody will be able to slip anything by you as you’ll be conversant in the sprinkler installation lingo. A variety of bids permits accurate price comparison. As long as they understand their work and pay attention to detail, any qualified installer can install that which you have designed.
Pay Attention to Communication
The Internet abounds with sites that provide reviews for those that are shopping to peruse. While there is much to be gleaned from online reviews, a certain number of online reviews are fake. Positive reviews of any product are for sale, and others are illegitimate fakes. Therefore, take everything that you read there with a grain of salt. Do read online reviews—also schedule meetings in person with those you deem most promising.
Many benefits accompany face-to-face meetings. One is that it allows one to use their native discernment. You can tell by how a person looks you in the eye things that are not apparent over the Internet. A person’s handshake speaks to their character, as does their manner of speaking and general demeanor. It is impossible to access this information online and is apt to make all the difference in your overall satisfaction.
Test Your Water Pressure
Sprinkler systems require specific water pressure to provide optimal results. If your water pressure is too low, the sprinkler system will not be able to perform adequately. If your water pressure is high, the pressure puts enormous stress on the system’s components, such as its heads, fittings, valves, and so on. By performing a water pressure test upfront, you’ll then be able to devise the perfect system for your particular lawn, with the correct number of zones and highly satisfactory results. Protect Yourself
There are many ways that you can protect yourself while at the same time ensuring you find the best contractor possible for your job. One of the first is checking contractor references, even when your first impression is a good one. Don’t sign on with a fly-by-night company, or they might disappear, taking your money with them and leaving behind a job undone.
The second way homeowners protect themselves is by making sure they get a lein release from the contractor they hire. A waiver of lein signed by the contractor ensures that the homeowner cannot be held responsible for the cost of the building materials ordered by the contractor. When the contractor signs the lein release, they accept this responsibility themselves. Otherwise, the homeowner is liable for the contractor’s debt to the materials supplier.
Another bit of advice is to provide no more than 50% of payment in advance. Always hold back partial payment – a minimum of 10% – until the completed job matches your expectations.
Hire Locally Established Installers
It helps to keep two things in mind when searching for the perfect water sprinkler installation company. One is that there is a lot of turnover in this particular business, and there are benefits to working with someone that has roots in the community and apt to be there in the future should anything go wrong. The other is that by hiring a local company, you automatically make yourself one of the most accessible clients they have to serve.
Finally, don’t be trapped by thinking that you can’t or shouldn’t be involved in your project. You can, and you should. The only way to be sure you’re hiring the right person for the job is to a) know what you want and b) recognize it when you get it.