DIY Home Sprinkler System

[Summerof79]

I am pretty handy and repaired my brother-in-law's sprinkler system this last weekend. had to cut out and rebuild a section of the plumbing intake and sprinkler system.

I talked to a buddy about how easy it was, and he suggested we rent a trencher together and put in our own sprinkler systems. I would be wary to tie directly into my water main because it is metal and was buried in the mid 70's. I could however tie in relatively easily to a line that runs into the garage and supports a faucet in my court yard.

Anyhow wondering if anyone has done it. I only want to do the front of my house and the back if full of huge oaks and I would not want to trench through the roots. So basically I could cover the front of the house with three or possibly four runs. The math seems simple enough, the process seems simple enough, the electrical seems simple enough.

Seems like the toughest part of normally installing a sprinkler systerm is tying into the existing water system? Or am I missing something?

 

[HornHuskerDad]

Summer, I had a professional irrigator design my system for me. There is some engineering to it - pressure drops and so on - that I was not equipped to do. I paid him to tap into the water main and install the shutoff and pressure relief assembly. Then I took his layout, bought the PVC, fittings, valves, wire and controllers and did the installation myself. Fortunately the soil on my property was very easy to trench. It took me a few days to complete the installation (I have a huge lot), but I saved at least 2/3 of the turnkey price a contractor would have charged.

HHD

 

[RayDog]

Just a guess, but I would worry about having enough flow through a standard hose fitting, unless you designed the system with a lot of smaller zones.

 

[NEWDOC2002]

Absolutely have it designed. Some of the main companies will do it for you for freeee (they tell you to buy their stuff though).

 

[Blain]

The TCEQ changed the rules regarding irrigation that went into effect Jan 1, 2009.

Here's a good place to start.The Link

You have to make sure all of your hydraulics are correct. Your zones have to be matched precipitation and hydro zoned. Check with your water supplier and your city on their backflow and design requirements. Cities with a population over 20,000 are required to have an irrigation inspector who will inspect your system and sign off on your permit. Your backflow will also have to be tested before you put the system into service.

These are just a few of the areas that you need to make sure you address.

 

[brntorng]

I'm doing this now. Yes, it must be engineered, but it's not rocket science. The web is full of information on how to do it.

You absolutely must pay a licensed plumber to install a code compliant tap into your water source. To do otherwise could make you liable in the event of contamination finding its way into our water. This involves a double check valve to prevent contamination of the water supply as well as potentially upgrading some of the pipes to improve your flow and pressure. This upgrade will reduce the cost of your system because the more pressure and flow you have minimizes the number of valves, pipes, and sprinklers.

Use Hunter sprinklers and valves. Virtually every contractor considers them the best and most reliable. Purchase from Sprinkler Warehouse in Houston. Great prices and service. Hunter recently purchased a sprinkler head product line called MP Rotator from Walla Walla, an agricultural supplier. These are fantastic sprinkler heads that will save water and also reduce the number of sprinklers you'll need.

Make sure you get a controller that will work with your local water restriction schedule. Again, Hunter makes some that are easy to program. If you're geeky, consider the ECXTRA line from Toro which you can program from your computer. If you're really geeky, consider the EP units that tap into daily transpiration rate data from the web and adjust your watering accordingly.

Don't skimp on valve and sprinkler quality or you'll have the opportunity to replace them sooner than you'll like.

"Call before you dig" to avoid hitting underground utilities.

 

[Summerof79]

Thanks guys- The engineeering is pretty simple really with only one run potentially having any lift, Knew about the backflow preventer. Didn't know about the code changing on the first, maybe my system is already installed!

It will be a ******* nightmare to bring the line under the slab of the driveway if I don't tap into the smaller line. Hell my neighbor's house has been sitting empty for a while now.. his water line is right where I need it...

Thanks guys- gonna have to start checking out nearby bars for plumbing trucks..

 

[Blain]

The engineering is not just about elevation changes. You have to figure your pressure losses through each component.

Here's a good website to use to get started.The Link

 

[brntorng]

Call Union Jack Plumbing if you're in Austin. There are none better.

If you have an expansion joint running across your driveway you may be able to lay up to four 1/2 inch polyethylene pipes (Funny Pipe) in the joint and then cover it with expansion joint caulk. Worked for me.

If that doesn't work, it's possible to trench under the slab with a special water jet and pipe. A nasty messy job, but possible.

 

[brntorng]

One more thing that simplifies the design and improves the performance of your system: Use the 30 PSI pressure regulated sprinkler bodies from Hunter. That way, as long as you're getting at least 30 PSI to the sprinklers they behave consistently and predictably. Grade changes, piping pressure losses, source variation, etc. have no effect. Those, coupled with the MP Rotators, and you'll have a sweet system.

 

[Summerof79]

burntorg - good ideas- I was thinking about perhaps just cutting though the concrete gap deeper down. I guarantee you there is rock beneath the slap and no water jet is going to cut through that easier than renting a concrete saw for a few houes.

 

[brntorng]

Since the hoses running through the slab will probably be a bottleneck, make sure you don't exceed 7 feet per second of water velocity through the hoses. This is one of the more obscure specs that's easy to miss if you just focus on pressure and flow rate. Apparently anything faster than 7 fps stresses the plumbing.

My slab had two expansion joints that had been filled with redwood 1x4s. Removing those gave me room to run four 1/2" (0.700") funny pipes through each joint with room for joint caulk on top. Since there were some nails driven into the 1x4s before the concrete was poured I used a large diamond circular saw to remove the nails and clean up the joints. Then, on the ends, I had to cut a bit deeper so the hoses would be deep enough to avoid getting hit with an edger. I suggest using the heavier walled polyethylene hose so it's more durable. What you want is the pipe with ~0.500 inside diameter. You'll find some with something like 0.600 id that's intended for drip systems. Also, these polyethylene lines should only be used after your valves, not before the valves where they'll be under constant pressure.

 

[HORNINTHEUSA]

Finish one project before you start another

 

[Blain]

Industry standard is to not exceed 5 feet per second.

 

[brntorng]

I've read 7 is the recommended maximum, so 5 sounds like an excellent target to provide some margin.

 

[Blain]

5 fps is the maximum, I'm in the industry.

 

[brntorng]

To be more specific, what I've read is that for pressures higher than 80 psi or pipe greater than 2" then 5 fps is the max. For pressure less than 80 or pipe smaller than 2" (the case for most residential irrigation) 7 fps is the max. This may very well be an outdated guideline and I certainly wouldn't argue that staying below 5 fps in all cases is sound practice. In my system I targeted half of 7 for plenty of margin and room to expand, if necessary. PVC and polyethylene pipe is cheap.

So, do you agree with Hunter parts and MP Rotators?

 

[Blain]

MP Rotators are great heads for the majority of the soil types (low permeability rate) we have in this area, especially east of IH35. The MP's have a low precipitation rate, allowing the water to penetrate the soil, minimizing runoff.

Hunter has a new SolarSync out right now. It's a quick reaction rain sensor, Rain Clik and solar sensor all in one. It's a mini ET station.

Are there other products out there that are better in one scenario or another vs. Hunter? Sure. But, you definitely will not go wrong with using all Hunter products.

 

[brntorng]

I had not seen the Solar Sync. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Smurfette]

so... any of you guys who know how to fix the sprinkler action want to come fix mine? My puppy dug up all of the wires and tore them out of the wall...

 

[Texas___Fight]

And after you’re done with Smurfette you can use your experience to come put a system in my lawn. I will pay for all the parts and keep you (de)hydrated with plenty of beer and Bar-B-Q.

 

[BrothaHorn]

If you have kids just hook up a water hose to one of those old time sprinklers and have your kids move it every so often..I was my grandma's automated sprinkler system during the summers