The Pond Gnome Process
Serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, Arizona (AZ) & Surrounding Areas
What Is the Process for Having a Pond Built?
The Pond Gnome does its best to keep our processes fluid and simple so that it’s easy to choose us as your professional pond contractor!
Your Choice, Our Pleasure
First and foremost, we want you to be comfortable with choosing The Pond Gnome as your contractor. To that end, we attempt to supply you with as much information, research and knowledge as possible in our Pond Blog, as well as our individual pages on ponds, pondless features, remodeling, urban wildlife habitats, and pool conversions. Please feel free to take your time browsing around our website.
Can We Talk?
Once you’re ready to chat with us about YOUR project, you can do so by giving us a call, sending us an email, completing our online form, or booking a mutually convenient time to talk using our online booking system. We would appreciate it if you would send us some photos of the pond you wish to renovate or the building site so that we can speak to you intelligently about the project and make the best use of your time.
The Onsite Visit
Once you’ve made the decision to choose The Pond Gnome as your contractor, we arrange a convenient time for an on-site consultation. This involves a pond professional/designer meeting you at your home and designing and laying out the pond or water feature that you’re interested in. We take our time at this stage, as well, to make sure that you’re getting exactly what you have envisioned. The consultant then writes up the contract, collects the deposit (which is typically 50% of the contract amount), and you are put on The Pond Gnome’s schedule for next in line for our award-winning construction crew.
If you happen to send the consultant away without a contract because you would like to take more time to consider the decision, we do have a small consultation fee, which can be applied toward the contract for up to 30 days from the on-site appointment. This may seem a bit unusual at first, and many reputable experienced contractors are beginning to charge for their valuable time, gas prices soar, etc.
Now that we have a contract in place, and you are officially part of The Pond Gnome family, we will keep you posted on scheduling updates, etc., and we’re always as close as your phone if you have any questions or concerns, or decide to make the water feature bigger before we get started. 😉 A few days before the scheduled start date, you will receive an email confirming that start date, letting you know exactly what to expect of us, and making suggestions on how to make the construction process as easy and smooth as possible.
The Build
The construction crew will show up the morning of the scheduled start date. This timing shifts a bit, depending on the time of year. In the “winter,” our crew show up between 7 and 9 that morning, depending on materials aquisition time, traffic, line at the coffee shop, etc. During the summer heat, our crew will arrive around 6 am to get started so that the guys can complete their work day before the brutal heat hits.
The average pond or water feature takes about a week to install. Once the installation is complete, either the Project Manager or the Consultant will walk you through your new water feature and go over some maintenance tips. You will also receive an owner’s manual with pertinent information, and we will collect the final payment on the contract at that time so that we can pay our Gnomes, and they can in turn pay their rent and go to the grocery store.
It’s Not the End...
But that’s all! You will receive a monthly newsletter from us with all kinds of seasonally appropriate information. If you chose a living ecosystem water feature, you will also receive weekly pond tips for the care and maintenance of your feature, along with other tidbits of information. And we remain as close as your phone or email for questions or concerns. You may also receive an invitation to the occasional event or party that we host. You are part of our family now, and we would never leave you hanging, so check our blog often for new stuff.
Why Is the Pond Gnome Different From Other Contractors?
Right off the bat, you may be wondering how The Pond Gnome is different from other contractors. Here are a few highlights of those differences:
We service what we build. It just infuriates us that some contractors say that they’re “too big” to service what they build. In our minds, that’s simply standing behind your product.
Our team is always in uniform and driving a company vehicle with signage so you know who it is showing up to your front door and poking around in your back yard.
We have business systems in place. No one is perfect, and our greatest fear is that something will fall between the cracks. We do our level best to prevent that from happening. Business systems also help ensure that The Pond Gnome will be around when you need us year after year.
We have separate divisions for construction and maintenance. Both teams receive specialized continuing education on their positions, as well as cross-training on others.
We show up on a schedule. When we set an appointment or a start date for a build, we’ll be there. Occasionally, because life is what it is, things get rescheduled due to vehicle issues, vacation schedules, sick days, etc., but overall, you can count on us.
We have been told time and time again that we are the cleanest contractor that anyone has ever worked with. We take great pride in that!
Our construction crew does one job at a time. That means that we won’t be pulling on and off your jobsite. When we start, we are there until the job is finished. And we do all the work ourselves, without hiring subs, so our team is the only team that you will see in your yard.
Our greatest joy is exceeding our clients’ expectations! You can check out what some of our clients have said about our work. And we’re always striving to add more to that list!
As you might have already noticed, we have a reputation for having a very educational website. We hope it helps you with whatever project you’re working on, whether that’s hiring a professional or doing it yourself. And it’s transparent, in that we give you all the information you’re looking for, including pricing.
We look forward to hearing from you soon about your project!
