Opting for the quicker, easier route, we rented a pipe-pulling machine for $180 a day, which saved an immeasurable amount of time and toil. As with any large home improvement project, there are advantages and disadvantages of doing the job yourself and hiring a professional sprinkler installation company to do the job. No one head fits all situations. Then reattach the faucet, install a nipple (a short piece of pipe with threads on each end) into the tee fittings stem and finally connect the shut-off valve into that. Hooking up to your mainwater line is a bit trickier and if you dont feel up to the chore, you might want to call in a plumber to do this portion of the installation. A bubbler head is specially designed to soak a flowerbed without wetting the foliage. Next, match the size of the outlets with faucet and irrigation pipe you are using. Following the string, dig your trenches for your pipes, 6 to 12 inches deep. In addition, note any hardscapes like walkways or a driveway. In return, you'll receive a system layout and a list of all the sprinkler parts youll need, including those not sold by the manufacturer, but available at most hardware stores. Be sure to space them so theyll provide adequate coverage. One of the advantages of these irrigation kits is you dont have to worry about finding your mainwater line and can quickly hook up to an outdoor faucet. However, be prepared because doing the job yourself can be labor-intensive. Mother Earth will thank you, and so will your plants. If you want to know how to install your own sprinkler system, though, here are the basics to know. Hiring a professional contractor to build your system will cost you between $3,000 to $4,000 for a 1/4-acre lot.
Attach one of every valve's lead wires to the white common wire and connect a colored wire to each remaining lead.
Locate the pipe for the water source that you'll be tapping into.
Accomplish this efficiently by using a lawn sprinkler system. Hmmmm something went wrong.
LawnStarter is a startup making lawn care easy affordable and reliable. Different yard configurations and vegetation call for different head styles. Starting at one sprinkler location, assemble all the parts together, other than the sprinkler head, and then move on to the next location and repeat the process.
Your trench should be 8 to 10 inches deep and 4 inches wide. In addition, you will want to research your local ordinances on water usage on the home lawn. Assemble the zone valve above ground, and then cement them to the underground piping. Regulations and requirements vary from location to location. Our cable had 10 wires and each zone valve had two lead wires.
Strip the insulation from the ends of the 24-volt wires that lead from the zone valves to the timer. A Red Ventures Company. Roll out the tubing along the flower bed, keeping it close to the base of the plants. Once you have tested your newly installed lawnsprinkler system and everything works properly, its time for the final step of filling the trenches back in with dirt and replanting any sod you removed. If you've rented a pipe puller, begin by attaching the end of the polyethylene piping to the machine's blade. A standard, surface-level backflow preventer will work, but it must be placed 12 in. 12 Steps to Install a Sprinkler System Yourself, Eco-Friendly Ways to Remove Leaves From Your Yard, The 13 Best Backyard Plants to Grow for Privacy, 16 Landscape Design Ideas for Your Front and Back Yards. The blade will shimmy the pipe down into the ground. Check out some of our favorite lawn care resources.
Thread the adapter into the tee fitting installed on the main water line. Once youve verified your system is flowing properly with no leaks, you can finally cover the pipe and enjoy your new sprinkler system. 
Dig a small depression under the drain, and fill it with sand and gravel.
Set the manifold in the valve box. Sever the pipe with a scissors-style tubing cutter, then slide the rings onto the pipe and crimp each one with pliers. Tip: Most rental dealers will drop off and pick up the trenching machine for a small additional charge. Join a different color-coded wire to the other lead of each zone valve. The main parts of any sprinkler system include: Place stakes or flags in your yard where each sprinkler will go. In this episode, Tom shares a trick to evenly space balusters; Heath shows how to drill holes in studs to run wire; Jenn Largesse builds DIY deck chairs; Richard explains how to deal with a damp basement. Just push the saddle down onto the pipe at each sprinkler head location, then twist the handle to puncture the piping, so water can flow to the sprinkler. We also bought some self-tapping saddles, which provide the quickest way to tap into the polyethylene piping without having to cut or drill the pipe.
Copyright 2022 This Old House Ventures, LLC. Consult the local building department to see if you need a building permit to install a sprinkler system. Before you rush out to purchase all your DIY irrigation supplies, you need to determine several important aspects about the flow of water through your system. Place a riser into each tee connection along your PVC pipe. at a time and tamp the soil with a rubber mallet. Gone are your days of dragging sprinklers all over the yard to quench its thirst. Then top the bare soil with sod or grass seed. That, plus how much water each sprinkler head utilizes allow you to install the correct amount of heads. If you dont feel comfortable working around electricity, call in an electrician or someone who has experience with wiring. Connect a garden hose to the pipe, turn the water on high and push the nozzle under the walkway to blast a hole clear through to the other side. Please come back later and try again. You will feel it click when it locks in place. Using your layout of the area, place a landscape flag or stake in every location where you plan to install a sprinkler head. After you have flushed the system of any possible debris, you can now attach the sprinkler heads to the irrigation system. And a properly designed sprinkler system provides total coverage, ensuring there arent any grassy areas that are left either parched and dry, or over-watered to the point of drowning. To make a swing-pipe connection, thread one 90-degree elbow into the drain fitting and another into the bottom of a sprinkler head. Cut into the 3/4-in. Many homeowners choose to hire a contractor to install a sprinkler system, as constructing a DIY sprinkler system can be a challenging project for someone to complete on their own. If you receive your water from a well, you need to know the size of the well pump, which is usually noted on the outside of the pump or in the owners manual. The feed line needs a drain installed at its lowest point. If necessary, join pipe sections with couplings and PVC cement.
How much does it cost to build my own sprinkler system? Get easy-to-understand, actionable yard tips that will give you the greenest grass on the block. Follow this blog to stay tuned with what you need to keep your lawn in tip-top shape year-round. Hook each stake over the tubing and press it into the dirt . Polyethylene pipe is joined together with barb fittings, which can be secured with common hose clamps, but stainless steel crimp rings are easier to install. A landscape flush with green grass, healthy trees, and colorful flowers increases a home's curb appeal. Backfill the hole 4 in. A solar generator gives you backup energy from the sun should your electricity fail. Note that it's often necessary to place two stakes very close together and on opposite sides of the tubing to hold it down. To tunnel under walkways, attach a pointed sluice nozzle to a length of PVC pipe. In this review, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the five best solar generators on Amazon to help you find the product thats right for you and your home. "}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I get rid of rust spots? Cooper? 
Use 90-degree elbows to join the PVC water pipes in the trenches to the zone valve pipes protruding from the valve box. Run 1-inch schedule 40 PVC pipe from the main water line to a backflow-prevention device and then connect it to the manifold. Next, you will want to flush the system by turning the water back on. But by the end of the season, the beauty disappears as the leaves fall to the ground. A step-by-step process on installing your own underground system. Now that you have mapped out your area for installing your home sprinkler system and designated zones based on the plants growing there, you will need to select the best sprinkler head types for each area. Manually open each valve and allow the water to flush the pipe and then close it, moving onto the next valve and repeating the process. Attaching to a spigot is the easiest method of getting water to your sprinkler system and is suitable for those in a climate not experiencing extreme winters. Draw the crimp rings together with crimp-ring pliers.
Slide a crimp ring onto each pipe and insert the barb fitting. pipe for the sprinkler system. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io. They'll also give you a template so that you can sketch your property boundaries. In-ground sprinkler systems are available from professional contractors, but theyre not cheap, costing on average between $2,500 and $3,500 for a one-quarter acre lot. Keep unwinding the spool back and forth throughout the flower bed; space the tubing 12 inches apart. Turn off the water to the house at the meter. The gauge then tells you the water pressure per square inch (psi). Next, you want to install the valve manifold by digging a hole slighter bigger than the valve manifold box. However, make sure you prime it before repainting to make sure the new paint layer adheres well. The fit is so snug that it doesn't need a crimp ring. Finally, adjust any nozzles that are spraying off course. Spread it at least 4 inches deep and it will also deter weeds from sprouting. Tip: Save money and avoid extra trips to the home center by buying PVC fittings in multi-piece contractor packs. 2022 MYMOVE, LLC. Irrigation companies such as Rainbird have made the process of installing your own sprinkler system relatively easy by offering irrigation system kits, which are suitable for irrigating medium to small-sized lawns of 1,000 to 3,000 square feet. Use Teflon tape on the threads. Youre using less water and your lawn, trees and other plants will be happier with a consistent and controlled watering schedule. Send them the sketch and they'll return a detailed plan for your landscapeincluding specific instructionsand a list of everything you'll need to buy at the hardware store to put the system together. Nancy Foreman notes that one of the biggest mistakes people make, other than not placing the heads properly for 100 percent coverage, is not digging the trenches deep enough. How we test gear. Connect the stakes with string to indicate where the pipe will lay. For this installation, we used Rain Bird, a company thats been designing and manufacturing irrigation products since the early 1930s. We equipped this system with three types of heads: spray heads for small grassy sections, rotary heads for the larger areas, and a bubbler for the flower garden. To build your own sprinkler system, you need PVC pipe, sprinkler heads, risers, and a control valve. After the ball valve, install a brass nipple and the reduced-pressure backflow preventer. Lay your pipe into the complete trench to make sure you have enough. Lay your PVC pipe along the trenches and lay the appropriate sprinkler heads and connectors at each landscape flag or stake. Of course, the kits do have some limitations, as you cannot expand upon the system as it affects the quality of the service and the amount of water sprayed. The steps for determining your flow rate are basic: Tip: Nancy Foreman notes that the most important thing to remember before you actually install a lawnsprinkler system is knowing the water flow rate in gallons per minute (GPM). Set the timer and run a test to make sure that each zone and all the sprinklers are operating properly.
If digging the trenches by hand, dig the main water-supply lines first, followed by the shorter branch lines. However, it is one of the more challenging projects a homeowner can take on themselves. How to Install an In-Ground Sprinkler System, Depends on the size of your lawn. If the line is copper, solder on a copper tee. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Installing your sprinkler system is doable if youre willing and able to put in the work and time required to do it right. Now you need to run the PVC pipe. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Push the barbed fitting all the way into the pipe; no glue or hose clamp is needed. To connect the head, install either a swing pipe or a threaded riser in the top of the fitting. deep, but 8 to 10 in. WARNING: Check with the local building department to obtain all necessary permits, and contact a one-call center to have the local utilities mark any buried electrical cables, gas lines, or sewer lines. At flowerbeds and trees, connect drip-irrigation tubing to the pressure reducer and microfilter coming from the underground PVC pipes. You accomplished a difficult DIY task of successfully installing a home lawnsprinkler system. Glue a 90-degree PVC elbow onto a male PVC adapter. For an above-ground connection, cut away a short section of pipe in the supply line just big enough for you to slide a slip tee into place. Make any required adjustments to the spray patterns and program the control box to the days and hours you desire the system to operate. Then, shortly after the tap, install a full-flow ball valve. Use string to mark where the pipes will go. However, with the right preparation and parts, your DIY home lawnsprinkler system will be up and running before you know it. And the sprinkler components are affordable, readily available, and easier than ever to assemble. Explore our City Guides, Cost Calculator and Top Deals, plus check out your inbox for our welcome email & moving checklist. Many manufacturers will custom-design a system for you that is specific to your yard and region of the country. If you are tired of playing the role of the human sprinkler system, manually moving portable sprinklers from one area of the yard to another, you may be considering installing a DIY in-ground sprinkler system. 