Sprinkler Winterization?

Has this changed? I get a letter from Loudon government saying that I need an inspection by October. It seems pretty clear.

I would be wary if the letter came from my sprinkler company but it comes from the local government.

Am I being scammed here by the government?

 

Nope. I called Loudoun Water and they confirmed that the inspection is required annually. Prices from vendors may vary.

 

My letter said 15 Nov.

 

Yes, not to mention that Allen Sprinkler does shoddy work. I had a terrible experience and will never use them again.

 

Have you used Allen's Sprinkler since it was sold.

We used Allen's Sprinkler and under the old ownership I would have agreed with you 110%. They sucked. Bad workmanship, shoddy ethics.

Then the company was sold to new owners and I do have to admit that the customer service has improved greatly.

 

Yes, they told me they were not responsible for cutting through my sump lines and ruining my sump pump. The owner never even called me to discuss it after his employee saw the damage and agreed it was their fault. When they installed it they knew they damaged the lines and just covered it up. They should stand behind the work regardless of whether it was sold.

If you had such a bad experience with them, why would you use them again?

 

I have a maint contract with them and under the new ownership I have not had any problems.

 

We have only been a customer of Allen's Sprinkler since June 2007 and have only seen them for the fall turn off/spring turn on. Our experience with them has been good, both with the service person and the phone support.

An acquaintance of mine used them also. Like us, Allen's was the sprinkler contractor when they purchased their house - neither of us were the homeowners for the original install, we just carried over the fall/spring thing with them. This acquaintance is not happy at all with Allen's and felt they were treated poorly. This has not been my experience, but I took that into consideration when I began this thread asking about the winterization procedure.

I'm hearing some negative things but haven't experienced them myself. This could be due to a change in ownership - or not.

 

Under the new ownership, Allen's Sprinkler's arrived this spring to turn on our sprinklers. They told me a different date from the one that they actually arrived, so when they surprised me with a phone call on my cell telling me that they were at my house, I begrudingly gave them one of the codes to my garage door so that they could access the system.

One of the employees called me several minutes later to tell me that they also needed the water turned on to complete the system turn on, before I could say anything else he casually mentioned he found a key on top of our refridgerator (I know, not the greatest security) and opened the door to our house. I almost dropped my lunch when he said that. When I inquired if he set off the alarm, he sheepishly opened the door so I could hear the 10 decibal shrieking.

Now, I know that this guy had the best of intentions, but they caused a great deal of pain on our part. We had a house left unalarmed for the remainder of the work day, did not know if anything was disturbed in the house, and later had to change all of our codes. When I immediately called the new Allen's Sprinklers to describe the situation, I talked to the owner and he was very apologetic for the incident but it still rattled our core a bit.

I was giving them the benefit of the doubt until we got the new pricing list, so we're switching to Affordable Sprinklers.

BTW--We have had our sprinkler system for about 3 years and have never gotten a letter from Loudoun County regarding the backflow inspection--are we supposed to be receiving them?

 

That totally should not have happened, regardless of good intentions. I already went ahead and continued our fall/spring for this year with Allen's but for sure next year I'll seriously consider switching companies.

I never received any letter from Loudoun Water about an inspection. And I'd also like to point out that Loudoun Water is not a branch of Loudoun County government - it is a separate entity just as Washington Gas is.

 

I called Affordable Sprinklers and asked about the backflow inspection. He told me that they don't perform them, but recommended another person (and gave his contact info). He said I would have to contract for the back flow inspection with the other company. Perhaps they provide different service to customers who used them for installation, but he didn't even ask me who installed our system. His turn off rates were $20 lower than our installation company. Just FYI.

 

Virginia Backflow Technol0gies got my vote.I called several companies listed on the form Loudoun Water provided, and the prices fluctuated wildly.He was the most reasonably priced,was quick and efficient and took care of sending the paperwork to Loudoun water. 571-309-9987.

 

If I may ask, what was the high end of the price range and what did you pay?

 

The highest quote was $ 175.
I paid $ 45.

 

I paid $100 from Allen's Sprinkler

 

$99.95 with Affordable. Too bad that nickle saved won't even cover a piece of bubble gum like it used to.

qzpmal

 

We paid $80 with Allen's. We use them for our seasonal turn on/off so maybe we get a bit of a discount.

 

Also, rates vary according to the number of zones you have.

 

Well, I have 6 zones.I'm not sure how that matters with regards to the backflow, isn't that just one device??

 

You're right the backflow is one device, the price range of winterzation I "think" has to do with the blow out of the # of sprinkler heads. We have 18 sprinklers, but 4 drip line zones as well.