With weather issues and some unexpected issues coming up during sprinkler system repairs, we haven’t quite finished all our sprinkler turn-ons yet, and we are still getting more daily, but it has slowed immensely. Today Jesse needed to make up some hours so he spent the day in Meridian doing startups and delivering window screens to customers that we completed in our shop. There are still 5 remaining in Meridian, but half of them are because Jesse couldn’t get access even after letting them know we were coming.
This week is going to be EXTREMELY busy, and since it appears it is going to rain most of the week it will obviously slow our service calls down a bit, but also keep yards watered for us to give us time to reach everyone. So here is our proposed schedule:
Monday: Jesse will be rebuilding 8 Irritrol sprinkler valves, (we don’t like Irritrol because they are problematic), fix a few sprinkler leaks, run 40 feet of poly pipe underground and through a crawlspace, and finish a main & drain project he had left over from Friday because he needed additional parts after store closing time. If there is time after that he will do a few start-ups. Jacob and I will be installing two sprinkler timers, replacing two PVB’s and repairing two additional PVB’s, as well as the backflow test on those and others we have scheduled.
Tuesday: Jesse will be spending the day digging up and replacing a main & drain valve that we had to reschedule because of rain, and hopefully it doesn’t get rained out again. Jacob and I will replace one PVB and then do a load of backflow tests. Time permitting we will work on scattered sprinkler startups throughout Boise.
We have had to turn jobs away because we just don’t have the manpower to take them on. Finding more help has been harder than I thought it would be. Again, I think people would rather collect their unemployment than actually work. We don’t want those with that type of work ethic to work for us anyway. I need one or two more people like Jesse. Jesse works harder than anyone I have ever had the pleasure of working with, not only with our company but when I supervised maintenance at 400+ unit apartment communities for several years in the Portland area 25 years ago before going into business for myself.
Wednesday: Jesse is supposed to paint a Gable vent that was put off last week due to rain but it may end up having to be put off again. He then has a punctured sprinkler line to repair that was damaged when a contractor accidentally hit it while working on a fence post. We have done that on occasion when working on posts, but we fix them ourselves as part of the job. Not sure why this contractor isn’t taking care of it, but hey, more work for us. Jacob and I have one PVB to replace and then more backflow tests and will try and work in sprinkler startups as well. Once Jesse is finished with the punctured line he will be finishing out the day on sprinkler startups likely in Nampa.
We haven’t scheduled any major repairs for Thursday or Friday yet, so we will be using that time to play catch up on sprinkler startups and backflow tests and a few new lawn aerations. I am sure other stuff will come in for those days, but for right now it is pretty quiet.
