Irrigation
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Irrigation
June 2009
We got our sprinkler/garden watering system installed as a gift
from someone who very generously installed it himself. So the
tubes and pipes are in, and a timer, and fancy looking things
on our outdoor faucets, but when we've gotten the timer to
work, it doesn't seem to shut off proporly and the entire house
shakes violently... among other issues. Can you recommend
someone to look at our system and see what we need, fix it, and
give us a tutorial for dummies on running the system? Thanks,
We're brown thumbs with high hopes!
Ann
The shaking you're experiencing is called ''water hammer'' and the
only long-term guaranteed fix for it is to have a plumber install
an engineered water hammer arrester.
I think you have ''Water Hammer''. If you search on line you'll
find lots of ideas on how to fix it. It is a good thing to fix
for the sake of your pipes. We had a similar problem when our
system was put in. We solved it by turning down the supply of
water to that line slightly. For some reason I can't recall, it
worked. A plumber or fluids engineer could explain it, but I
can't. Anhow. no more water hammer .....yeah!
Happy gardener (and better morning sleeper)
June 2009
I am looking for someone to install drip irrigation in my garden
and sprinklers for the lawn. Any recommendations would be
appreciated.
abby
I just worked with a fabulous irrigation guy -- Bruce Sutorious.
He does everything concerning irrigation, has years of
experience and is very reasonable. I just had him out to repair
my irrigation system and he solved issues economically
(tightening things rather that just knee-jerk replacing things)
and when a small leak appeared a few days later (not his fault)
-- he fixed it NO CHARGE... how great is that. He is local --
lives in Richmond. Best to call him on his cell 510 332 0076.
Oct 2008
I recently moved to a new house with extensive flowers, trees and
vegetables, and I know absolutely nothing about plants! There is
an automatic irrigation system with 31(!) different stations to
set. I'm looking for someone who can advise me on how frequently
and how long to water each station according to what's growing
there, and how to adjust during the seasons. It would also help
to be able to know if the hoses are placed correctly, where more
hoses are needed, etc. Some plants are doing fine, others have
died or are dying. I need to know how to water most effectively
while minimizing water use and death. Would this be a landscape
architect? A gardener? An irrigation installer?
Clueless plant custodian
Any of the folks you mentioned should be able to help you out - landscape designer
or architect, irrigation installer, landscape contractor or maintenance person (not the
''mow & blow'' ones). Pablo
We were in the exact same situation recently. And it didn't help
that before the old owner left, she totally screwed up the system
so that everything was practically dead by the time we moved in.
Anyway, our neighbors use Lara at Bountiful Botanicals
(http://bountifulbotanicals.com/index.html) and so we hired her
(and her team) to reprogram our system, repair some of it, and to
install some bits wherever needed. We really like them a lot and
they seem to be reasonably priced.
Owner of a (finally) Healthy Garden
Oct 2008
Looking for sprinkler repair recommendations. I'm looking for
a reliable individual or company to to come repair my
irrigation system. Ideally I'd like someone who has been in
business for a while so that when I need routine maintenance in
the future I can use this person again. House is in Oakland
Hills; system is fairly small, conventional (sprinklers, not
drip) system. Erin
hi,
i have a recommendation for a great irrigation person. her name is lori
palmquist and she has been in the business for many years. she is a
licensed landscape contractor but specializes in irrigation and really
loves and has become quite the expert in the field. i am also a
landscape contractor and arborist. my company is california landscape
service. i have worked with lori on various projects and although i
could probably handle your irrigation needs, she is the person i would
turn to if anything unusual or challenging came my way with regards to
irrigation. you can't go wrong with lori.
her phone number is 510-528-3638
good luck,
pablo
June 2008
anyone have a good person to
repair a drip system in Berkeley?
Andrea
Paul Mele Irrigation 510-612-2837
He and the folks who work for him are great - they do drip and
sprinkler and will recommend what works for you, reasonable, on
time, and they clean up after themselves. They also respond to
emergency calls about leaks, something I really appreciated the
day the garden was flooding.
Nancy
Last summer we used Rafael's Landscaping and Maintenance for
some major leaks. They were responsive and knowledgeable.
Besides fixing the major leaks, they checked our whole system
which is huge and then did some large, overdue pruning. They
can be reached at 925-933-2218. I got their name off the BPN
list.
linda
hi,
i would like to recommend my gardener/irrigation specialist of
four years adrian de jong, who is wonderful. he is trained to
build and maintain irrigation systems. he works on his own for
$40. he does a great job and is very friendly and knowledgeable.
he can be reached at 415-774-6279 (a 415 cell but based in the
east bay on the oakland/berkeley border).
tabatha
Oct 2007
We have a defunct irrigation system in the garden that needs an
overhaul. Does anyone have any recommendations? Perhaps
someone who's generally handy would do.
Tired of Watering
Call Fidel Lopez at 510-812-7436. He is very good with
irrigation and has helped a number of people we know with the
same situation you have. He is reasonbly priced and is very
reliable.
Fidel Fan
June 2007
Re: Gardener, natives, pruning, upgrading irrigation
Francisco Mayo is your guy. He is a great person to work with
all around. We had our front yard re-sodded and had the
irrigation updated. Our irrigation system was old but worked
perfectly well. Francisco used our existing system and it works
better than before. All the other landscape people we
interviewed wanted to tear out the old system (because it was
''old'') and start new. We couldn't be happier with the result.
He also does landscape upkeep that incorporates design and
knowledge of plants. Our yard upkeep did not require that level
of skill and he pointed us to a more appropriate gardening
service. We will be using Francisco for future landscape design.
Francisco is professional and bids competitively. He can be
reached at 510-527-1355 or cell 510-207-4974.
Rachael
March 2007
If anybody is looking for someone reliable and affordable for
irrigation system installation, I want to recommend Anthony
daRosa. He also does repairs, which is how I originally found
him. He replaced my cheap ''Home Depot Special'' valves with
quality brass parts, rewired and reprogrammed my system and
cleaned out and made sure the whole system was working
efficiently. I haven't gotten my new water bill yet, but I know
it's going to save me a ton of money just having efficient
irrigation. He is extremely knowledgeable and didn't mind
explaining what he was doing while he was doing it. His email
address is anthonydarosa@yahoo.com
Rachel
August 2006
We are looking for someone to re-sod our front yard and fix the
existing sprinkler system. Everything is in place so we don't
want anyone fancy - just hard-working and reasonable. The posts
on UC parents are older and some phone #'s no longer work. Thanks
for any assistance
Rachael
I would like to recommend Maria for anything landscaping
related. She and her son do sod and sprinklers. They do a
beautiful job. They just put sod in the front of my house and I
couldn't be happier. She also does other large jobs as well as
regular maintenance, planting, pruning, and clean-up jobs. She
is very reliable and has been doing landscaping for 15 years.
You can reach her at (510)233-9261
Lexie
For sod installation and irrigation systems, I had an excellent
experience with Pablo Soto last Fall, (cell:685 1013, home 925
755 2937). Even though he lives in Pittsburgh, he does his
work often in the Berkeley area. He seemed extremely
knowledgeable and proud of his work. He was responsive and
quick at the task. His crew was a joy to have around. His
fees were reasonable. My lawn looks marvelous now
Karen
I highly recommend Juan Pablo Escalante for this kind of job--
this past spring he and his crew put in our front yard
(involving laying sod)as well as installing both drip and spray
irrigation system, and it's done really well over the summer
with minimal effort on our part. He also constructed a
beautiful stone retaining wall which gives us great pleasure,
and simultaneously replaced the aging corroded pipe which
brought water to our house from the street (his brother is a
plumber). He's very nice, clearly competent, and quite
reasonably priced.
He can be reached at 510-385-5314
Paula
We used Vince's Landscaping in May of 2006 to level a small area and
install sod.
No sprinklers, though they do provide that service. Very professional,
reasonable
cost. I got his name from a friend who used him for a total yard
landscaping. We
were both very pleased.
Web site: http://www.vinceslandscaping.com/
Nicole R.
Fidel Lopez is an excellent gardener/landscaper for the basic
type of job you are looking for. He isn't long on design
details or innovation, but, if you know what you want, he is
honest, reasonably priced and does a good job. He is also an
excellent irrigation person which is where most ''basic''
gardeners fall down. I have used him for many years and he has
done jobs for many friends and neighbors (he pretty-much has
lock on the Upper Rockridge neighborhood for maintenance
services). His cell number is 510-812-7436
Fidel Fan
March 2006
I'd like a referral for someone to put in a small lawn and install irrigation (none exists
currently).
Need someone who will do a thorough job with soil prep, weed control, etc.
Any ideas?
Thanks
I would like to enthusiastically recommend my gardener Luis Ramos for yard and lawn
maintenance and general landscaping. Luis has taken excellent care of my front and
back gardens for about 3 years. He (and his crew) weed thoroughly and do a great job
trimming plants and trees artfully. He also did a wonderful job installing and
maintaining my irrigation system. Luis has always been dependable and willingly tends
to my special requests. He is reasonably priced and I couldn't be happier with his
work. His phone number is (510) 967-2246
ljf
This is in response to the request for someone looking to put in a small lawn and
irrigation system. Matt Horn landscaped our tiny Berkeley backyard and found a way
to give our kids a small patch of lawn - along with other planter boxes and plants.
Matt also built the planter boxes in our yard. He helped make our tiny space feel
much larger than it is - and it's beautiful! He gave us a reasonable bid, always
came on time and charged us exactly what he bid for the project. As a result of the
excellent job he did on our backyard, we hired him back to take down a dying pine
tree and to trim another tree on our property. Again, he was very reliable and
conscientious. I highly recommend him for any landscaping or tree trimming projects.
He can be reached at (510) 658-6088. Please feel free to contact me if you have any
additional questions regarding Matt Horn.
Catherine
Nov 2004
Any more recent recommendations (2004) for a small job
putting in a new irrigation system in our front yard and
revamping sprinkler system in back yard. The persons
recommended in the archives are dated or too busy or we
can't get ahold of them.
Thanks
Jennifer
I'd like to recommend the Accurain irrigation system to
gardeners and landscapers, the website is
www.accurain.com. It's been installed in my backyard for 3
years now, and is amazingly effective and versatile. Check
out their website, you'll be impressed.
pallas
I can wholeheartedly recommend my colleague, Lori Palmquist, 528-3638, for
any irrigation work- new, additions, repairs, etc. Lori is a licensed landscape
contractor, easy to work with, and her rates are very fair. She knows what
she's doing!
Cecelia
July 2003
Hi -- We're looking for someone to install an
irrigation/sprinkler system at our new house. It's a large,
sloping lot, with established lawn and plantings, not a
simple job, so we need someone who's experienced and
reasonably priced. Ideas?
Chris
Call Patrick Cearley (pronounced ''Curly'') of Walen
Construction at 510. 569.7959. He did one job at my
house in Oakland in spring 2002 and another one in my new
house about 6 months later. Both involved a new sprinkler
system and some landscaping. He gives a very detailed quote
and has lots of good ideas and will even select all your
plants for you. His work is very high quality; he is very
well organized, and extremely pleasant to deal with. I
thought his prices were reasonable for the amount of work
we had done. A plus for me was that he is also very good at
dealing with neighbors, which can be an issue when you are
having yardwork done. At my new house, my new neighbors
were a little suspicious of us (they'd had a bad experience
with the former occupants of our home, I suspect) but after
Patrick talked to them they warmed up towards us
appreciably!
Fran
Several people in the last digest asked for recommendations
for skilled individuals to either replace existing
irrigation systems, install new ones, or do complete
landscape overhauls. I've recommended him before, and I'll
do it again: Andy Packer, Acorn Landscaping, 510/915-3720.
You can see our back yard in Upper Rockridge if you want to
view his work. The project included building three set of
stairs, leveling large portions of the sloped yard to create
three terraces, installing a complete irrigation system,
laying sod, creating largescale planting beds, and more.
To visit us, call Andy and tell him that I posted on his
behalf, and that he has my permission to tell you where to
find us, and his work!
Darcy
We highly recommend Anthony Mattison ( 510- 654-
6357) for installing irrigation systems and repairing
them.
He is very responsible, efficient and experienced.
We recommended him to many of our friends and they
were all very happy with him.
N. Berkeley resident
German (Herman) Dub\363n will do a wonderful job of
installing and maintaining a lawn, as well an irrigation
system if you choose. He just installed these for us, did a
beautiful job, and charged very reasonable rates. Call him
at 510-536-0357.
gearhart
March 2003
We want to install an underground irrigation system for our
front yard.
We have a fairly small
front yard but the system will need to go under a
sidewalk. Thanks!
I recommend Lori Palmquist, 510-526-3638 for irrigation
design and installation. She is an experienced, insured, and
licensed landscape contractor who especially likes doing
irrigation projects.
Cfl
Aug 2002
We just had our inadequate sprinkling system assessed and
enhanced. After talking to many people who seemed like
they just wanted to bilk us, we hired Paul Mele (a referral
from Berkeley Irrigation Equipment Co.), and I was very
impressed with him. He seemed very knowledgeable and
honest. I believe his rate is $45 per hour. His number is
(510) 536-6253. Please tell him that Lisa and Scott
referred him.
2001
We are looking for someone to repair our outdoor watering system. One of
the major underground pipes burst, and there is also some electrical work
involved. Any suggestions? Thanks!
-Elizabeth
Call Irrigation Equipment Company in Berkeley on 8th and Greyson. The number
is in the phone book. They will have recommendations. There is (was?) a man
working there named Bruce Sartorius who did some work for one of my gardening
accounts (when I was doing gardening professionally) who was very reliable
and good at what he did.
June
The sprinkler system in our yard was installed by Ramos Happy Yards (before
we moved in). According to our landscape designer, Katrine Benninger (who is excellent, by
the way), they did a good job installing the system. We also had them put in an extra drain,
and they did a good job with that as well. One caveat is that they have also been doing regular
lawn and garden maintenance work for us, which has been somewhat haphazard (it seems to
depend on who actually comes out that week). They also did not seem to be able to make the
fine-tuning adjustments on the sprinkler system.
-Stephanie
2000
Can anyone recommend someone affordable to put in a small yard's sprinkler
system from scratch? I am taking a yard from rocks and concrete to bare dirt
to, I hope, a paradise with grass and plants. I need an irrigation system
before I put down the sod, etc., though. Thanks for any recommendations.
Lynn
Darcy
In the past I've recommended our stellar irrigation guy, Andy Packer:
Acorn Landscaping (510) 915 3720
[Editor] phone number for Andy Packer updated 2/2004]
Call Irrigation Equipment Company (IREPCO) Their number is 841-9651. The
address is 2818 8th street, Berkeley. There's a fellow who works there part
time named Anthony DeRosa who does irrigation. I hired him to repair and
replace irrigation at one of my jobs and he did a great job and did it when
he said he would.
If he's not available they'll probably have other referrals. good luck.
June
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