Sprinkler System

[Richard Miller]

I'm buying a new house with a half acre lot and it comes fully sodded. They want $3700 for a Sprinkler System. I think that's to much. So after they put in the 20,000 square feet of sod I will have to go and lift up the sod and not only put in my water sprinkler system but I will run extra PVC pipes for my drip system that they won't put in. So I'm going to kill two birds with one stone. I will hire labors for 6 or 7 dollars an hour. This way I can do it like I want and for my personal needs. I know a little about sprinkler systems. I'm fairly smart so I can learn as I go. I'll run two PVC pipes in each trench, one for the sprinklers and one for the drip. So what advice can you give me? Are there any good books out there?

Thank You Richard Miller

[Dwayne]

I dont know where your located, but winter may be a concern. My sprinkler requires me to shut off the water, open the drain valve, then open all the sprinkler valves. That allows the water to drain out of the lines so they wont freeze and burst. In in USDA zone 5, Kansas.

Dwayne

[Richard Miller]

No Dwayne, It will be in the Dallas Texas area, so that won't be a problem. Tweaking the system will be an art so not to jack up my water bill. It rains

5 times more there than Phoenix which is where I'm at now. I had a $153 water bill one month because I'm out there like a fool hand watering everything everyday in July and having a great old time until my water bill came so now I have to learn how to set the system to just get enough water for everything.

Richard

[Dwayne]

Find out how much water your grass needs per week, then take an empty can and set it in your yard. Then check it every 10 minutes you run your new sprinklers until you get that much water in the can. Then you will know how long to run our sprinklers each week. I think our grass only needs 1 or 2 inches per week here in Kansas.

Dwayne

[Not]

The manufacturers' web sites (such as Rainbird) have all the information you will need on planning and installing. I know in non-freezing areas they use PVC piping; here, where it freezes in winter, they use poly, and they have a machine that pulls it into place without trenching.

After you visit the web sites and see what you are going to do, my only advice would be to buy what you need at an irrigation supply house, rather than one of the big boxes. You will get a better grade of materials, and better advice.

To save water, set it to early morn> I'm buying a new house with a half acre lot and it comes fully sodded. They

[All Homophobes have latent hom]

Richard,

I live in the Dallas area also. $3700 is not a bad price for 1/2 acre, so think about it carefully before you decide to do it yourself. My builder installed my system and did a good job. The pros really know what they are doing. I've had my system for 6 years now and have had few maintenance issues. If you decide to let the builder do it, insist on a diagram that shows all the underground plumbing or have them wait to cover it up so you can make your own diagram and take pictures. My biggest regret is not knowing where all my plumbing is which makes it frustrating for future projects.

If you do decide to do it yourself, rainbird used to have a free design service and I assume they still do. Check their website for details.