¨        Lawn

¨        Sprinkler

¨        Systems
 

Irrigation Association
 

www.rjmcgrath.com
 
 

 

 

 

 

 


Spring is in the air

 

With the hint of spring in the air everyone is itching to get out of the house and finally enjoy some warm weather. Even though we did not get the snows of the ‘02-’03 winter season, the frigidly cold days of this past December and January were enough to remind all New Englanders that you don’t have to have tons of snow to produce a nasty winter. Soon the swan boats will launch in the public gardens and the Red Sox will hopefully have a season as exciting as last year. With the addition of Kurt Shilling the pitching staff promises to be a true contender for the AL East. We have also made a few roster changes and have added new people to our installation crews and our service team allowing us to get to you faster and more efficient than ever before.

 

Starting April 5th we will be turning on sprinkler systems,

Every year our phones start to ring like crazy when we get those first few hot days in a row. In the past spring months a week of 80° days in a row is not unheard of. When this happens, people want us to come out to start up the sprinkler system as soon as possible. Some times in the past the wait has been very long. It’s not just us; every sprinkler guy gets inundated with work when the heat shows up. This year we will contact you early so we can schedule the spring start up of your lawn sprinkler system before the hot days arrive. We have already set specific days that we are going to be in your area and added enough extra trips to allow for a very flexible schedule.

“Won’t it be too cold?” We were asked. We will leave you an instruction card of steps to take if it does get a little chilly in the first few weeks after the system has been started up. You will also be able to find out information on our web site.

 

How will we contact you? You will be receiving a phone call from us to set the date of spring start up. We will have a list of dates we will be in the area to help you schedule the time that fits your schedule. So sit back, think of warm sunny beautiful New England in the springtime and we will be in touch

 

 


Often it’s NOT about the money.

 

RJ McGrath, Inc. is a community-oriented company. We maintain fountains and lawn sprinkler systems for local community organizations like the Auburndale Community Association. We also donate auction items to local associations during their fund raising events. The Newton Boys & Girls Club and the friends of the Brighton Library is a couple of organizations we have recently assisted. We believe that it is important to give back to the community that has given so much to us each year. Although we have a limited budget of charitable items, if you have a special group or need we can help give us a call and we’ll see what we can do.

 

Did You Know?  If you recommend us for a new lawn sprinkler system and we install it, we will send you a $25 gift certificate to the Natick Mall. Call the office to request a form or email us at office@rjmcgrath.com

 

 

Carrying the correct insurance:

Do the contractors that work in your home really protect you?

One of the largest parts of the overhead costs of a small company is carrying the correct insurance to cover unknown mishaps. It covers the contractor from having to pay large out of pocket expenses when things don’t o as planned. But it also covers the persons whose home the contractor is working on. Automobile Insurance, Liability Insurance, Workers Compensation Insurance, it seems like the list never ends. At RJ McGrath, Inc. we pay close attention to make sure that we are always covered. If one of our workers gets hurt on your property we are covered by our workers compensation policy. Companies that do not carry the proper insurance are putting you in a very dangerous situation.

                                                                                                     

Accidents are never expected and if your contractor is not covered properly the injured person may try to come to you for the proper care and coverage needed to recover properly.

 

During our presentation for a new lawn sprinkler system we show our prospective customer our certificate of insurance. It is something we have found that people don’t think about when dealing with the sprinkler guy. But often times small “side job” sprinkler installers don’t have the proper coverage. Not just in sprinklers, but many other trades as well.

 

So when you see RJ McGrath, Inc. show up on the job you can be assured we’re insured. If you would like to see a copy of or policy contact our office at (617) 332-3339. And if you have other companies on your property doing work, check ‘em out. It may save you accidentally.

 


Down the road with your lawn sprinkler system

 

Lawn sprinkler systems are set it and forget it…. Right?…. Wrong!

 

Test cycles: 

Although they are generally maintenance free, lawn sprinkler systems still need to be checked for time to time. During the season when sprinkler systems run at 4:00AM the are never seen. There could be a problem with a sprinkler being clogged, or not turning or even a small leak in the piping that goes undetected all season. We’ve seen this happen all too often. You should be checking out your sprinkler system about every six weeks during the season. Just a quick walk through can save you a lot of wasted water, dead plants and money. If you have any drip irrigation as part of your system you will want to check those zones more frequently than every six weeks. Many modern time clocks can be set up to run “test cycles”. You can set them for a scheduled time or just run them whenever you want.

 

If you would like to know how to set up a test cycle for your system, give us a call at (617) 332-3339; we’d love to help.

 

The 5 year tweak:

When a sprinkler system is first designed and installed it is laid out for the shape of the existing landscape. The customer is no longer required to spend the magnitude of hours needed to keep up with lawn watering. As time goes by, though, something slowly starts to happen. The landscape changes. Plants grow faster with their newfound water source, landscape beds start to creep out and the shape that was designed to five ago has changed. Sprinklers may now be tucked under a plant and the plant is interfering with the sprinkler spray missing parts of the lawn that were once covered. Plants also grow tall and sprinklers that were behind plants throwing water over them may now be buried. Some plants removed, some added.

 

It is a good idea to really give your sprinkler system a thorough check up every five to seven years. We have seen many landscapes that have gone fifteen plus years without any upgrades only to find out that a major renovation are now needed. If your system is more than five years old, this year is the time to check it out. It you can check out yourself, but if you would like us to do it we would be happy to.

 

 

Text Box: Is your lawn sprinkler controller capable of handling the town mandates? As we start the year off, we are about 5” below average rainfall. Water restrictions may pop up in many smaller towns that do not have the resources the MWRA provides. Water restrictions are very commonplace and some controllers do not have the capability to do odd/even watering, some older controllers are hard pressed to even calculate every other day watering. Give us a call (617) 332-3339 with your controller’s model number and the restrictions your town has and we will let you know if your controller is capable of handling what your town requires. People within the MWRA water district generally do not have restrictions placed on them due to the enormous resource called the Quabbin Reservoir. In 2002 a very dry year no restrictions were imposed.

Text Box: CONSERVING WATER How a rain sensor can save you time, money and embarrassment Have You Ever Been Driving Down The Street During A Rainstorm And Seen Someone’s Lawn Sprinklers Running? Is it happening to you? In this day of high water costs, water restrictions and increasing awareness for water conservation, something as simple as a rain sensor can save you a lot. Some towns now even require a rain sensor as a mandatory part of the sprinkler system. Reliability and installation: In years past rain sensors were not very reliable, difficult to adjust and confusing. Today’s rain sensor is a simple and very reliable device. A rain sensor can be installed on any electrically operated lawn sprinkler system. The device is mounted on the outside of the home as shown in the picture to the right and usually takes less than an hour to install. For a detailed explanation of how the device works check out our web site at www.rjmcgrath.com. Savings: Rain sensors can save a tremendous amount of money on your water bill each month. In those communities that do not allow a sewer deduction meter the savings are even greater. We did a few quick calculations on how much a rain sensor could save someone living in Newton and it came out to be as much as $20 per rain day. The savings are obviously greater the larger your system is. One of the biggest savings is the embarrassment you save when your sprinkler system does not run during a rainstorm. Text Box: Here are a some tips for reducing the cost of operating and maintaining an automatic irrigation system: ¨ Know how to run your irrigation controller and change watering times. ¨ Adjust the watering times (number of minutes.) and the frequency of watering (daily, twice a week, etc.) based on weather conditions. ¨ Change your settings to adjust for seasonal differences and reset the timer when needed. ¨ Install a rain shutoff device or soil moisture sensor. ¨ Check your system regularly for leaks, broken heads, and other problems. ¨ Only water after the sun has gone down. Many irrigation experts feel the best time to water is between midnight at 4 a.m. because evaporation is kept to a minimum. ¨ Adjust your spray and sprinkler heads to avoid watering pavements and other non-landscape areas. ¨ Water areas in the shade about 30 percent less than sunny areas. ¨ If possible use drip irrigation to water trees and shrubs. ¨ Develop a separate drip-watering schedule for trees, shrubs and flowerbeds. ¨ Aerate in the spring and fall to loosen soil and reduce runoff. ¨ Avoid oscillating sprinklers and sprinkler heads that produce mists or fine sprays. These devices result in evaporation losses. ¨ Understand ET. Evapotranspiration. ET is how much water is removed from the ground due to evaporation and plant use. Very important for proper scheduling. This tells you how long to run your system for.

ANNOUNCING

24 HOUR

EMERGENCY SERVICE

We have a 24-hour emergency on call service man.

Call 617 351 6565 for info.

Different after hours rates apply.