Anyone here install their own lawn irrigation?

[Anonymous]

I have 2 acres and a well. There's no way I can water it with sprinklers and hoses, so I don't try. I take alot of pride in caring for my lawn, so the drought is especially painful because there's nothing I can do about it.

I've had quotes for irrigation before, and they come in at about $9,000. Plus, I've been told that I will definitely need a more powerful well pump, and possibly a bigger well tank also.

Can someone tell me what exactly the well tank is for? I used to think it was a reservoir, but now I'm not sure exactly what it's for and why I'd need a bigger one. I can't find an explanantion with Google.

I'm pretty intimidated by such a project, but I'll never be able to pay that much, so I might as well look into it.

How difficult was the design aspect? What problems did you run into? What brand of products should I look at?

My father-in-law is a home builder and has a plumber on his staff. How much indoor plumbing needs to be done?

My next door neighbor has the same size lot, and he says his system uses 9500 gallons per watering.

[Anonymous]

Oh, two more important questions. What size is your lawn, and how much did it cost you to do it yourself?

[evolutionman 2004]

I'd suggest you obtain a book from Amazon.com the following book: Ortho's All About Sprinklers and Drip Systems (Ortho's All About Gardening). It helped me install my irrigation system on 1 1/2 acres after obtain the proper permits and supplies. I rented the ditch digger after laying out the zones I needed + control boxes. The hardest part was using the ditch digger but that was simplified by some earlier preparation (stakes, string and laying out my lines). The book will help you determine your needed supplies, plans, potential problems, etc.. Of course, the first thing to do is determine what pressure your water supply is capable of producing in order to sustain the system at needed pressure w/out jeopardizing your home water supply (thus, the need of a water "well"). However, if you don't have a week or two off, don't have the knowledge or skills necessary to do the job, health, etc., then paying professionals to do it right the first time will be worth mistakes and headaches later on. Get the book first (any home improvement store should have it) and go from there. The book's cheaper right now before you pay for a project of this size. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Thanks alot. I'll check this out.

[Bluegoose]

Also do a search on brand name equipment like "Hunter" or "Toro" or "RainBird". These manufactuer websites have great info on how to put a system together. Pretty simple stuff after you get past a few basic concepts.

Luck

[Anonymous]

That sounds like the way to go. Let them design it and give me the shopping list!

My neighbor got a quote for irrigation. $7000, $3000 of that is labor. My lot is twice the size, so that's major savings.

[Anonymous]

Anyone have any insight on which brands to consider, or more importantly, not consider?

I know the local landscape services use Toro parts. My neighbor's heads are Nelson. Menard's sells Rainbird, which concerns me a little, because Menard's sells pretty much bottom-middle line of everything. They don't sell top-of-the line of anything.

We don't have Lowe's, Home Depot, or any big home store chain.