I'm planning to have a lawn sprinkler installed. Overall property size is
1/3 acre, less house and driveway.


What kinds of questions should I specifically ask the representative when he
comes by? Apart from the overall design of the system, placement of heads,
types of heads used, manufacturer and warranty, are there any other good
questions to ask?

Since this company is of such excellent reputation, I'd like to rely on
their expertise, but at the same time I want to go into this fully informed
as to potential pitfalls.

A year or so ago I sent my yard info off to Toro to have them spec out a
system if I were to do it myself. The system was so intimidating, I decided
a professional install would be the way to go. Is it likely that a local
company would install a system very similar to the one Toro spec'd out, or
was that system overkill (to sell more Toro heads and equipment)?

I'd really like to have a sophisticated controller since the sytem is likely
to be spec'd out with several zones, and there is a difference in the type
of grass and amount of sun present in each zone. Any recommendations on
this kind of equipment? Is there a difference in the "high end" controllers
and the el cheapo versions?


Tony,

I installed my system myself, but might suggest a couple of questions
to ask. Are they going to use PVC pipe or vinyl hose? I think the
PVC is better, it should be less prone to failure. Are they going to
use rainbird sprinkler heads? I think these loose the least amount of
water to evaporation; this is a big deal in a very dry climate with
high water prices. Do they include plumbing in an anti-siphon device
for the water supply? This is most important if you are watering up a
hill as the water in the pipe will want to drain back into your
drinking supply, most plumbing code requires this. Does the
controller allow zones to come on and off at different times, with
some zones overlapping in time? I had to use two el-cheapo
controllers to get the water on the dry parts for 4 hours, while just
lightly watering other places for an hour at the same time. Do the
attach drains for pop-up heads? Some sprinklers pop up out of a
bucket, and can hold water. I just put six inches of gravel under the
bucket and left the drain open, but for a professionally installed
system I would want the drains installed. Are they going to re-sod or
seed the trenches they dig for the pipe? You might want to find out
if they are going to leave big patches dirt in your yard. Good luck
with the process, DIY sprinklers are more like a hobby than a one time
thing - they take a lot of tweaking and adjusting to get just right,
having a system installed would be nice.

- James B