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

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" wrote in message
news:ApiVf.380$up2.321@fed1read07...
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

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" wrote in message
...
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" wrote in message
news:ApiVf.380$up2.321@fed1read07...
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

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

"Richard Miller" wrote in message
news:TojVf.383$up2.97@fed1read07...
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" wrote in message
...
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" wrote in message
news:ApiVf.380$up2.321@fed1read07...
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

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 morning hours, before the sun comes up,
and the water will soak down to the roots with little lost to evaporation.

Richard Miller wrote:
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

"Richard Miller" wrote in message
news:TojVf.383$up2.97@fed1read07...
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

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.