How To Install a Lawn Sprinkler

Installing your own lawn sprinkler system can be a very rewarding experience if done correctly. After all, it is just moving water through a pipe from point A to point B. It doesn’t get much easier than that. Unless of course you start to think about the layout of the system, the backflow preventer, the valves and how they sit in the valve box, the wiring back to the control panel, and installing and adjusting the sprinkler heads. Sounds like a lot and it can be but in the end it is just moving water through a pipe from point A to Point B.

So how do you get that water moving through that pipe in the first place? The first thing you have to do is measure your yard and layout where the sprinkler heads need to go to get the best water coverage. You will also need to locate where you want to place the valve boxes and which valves serve which zone.

From your sprinkler layout plan you can figure out what supplies you need and how many
sprinkler heads you need, how many valves you need and a good estimate on the amount of pipe you will need to buy.

Before you start digging make sure you have all the underground utilities in you yard located. Call you local underground utility locate hot line and they will locate and mark any underground power, phone, cable, gas and water lines free of charge. If you do not get your lines located you will be responsible for any damage your digging or trenching does to any underground utilities, not to mention the fact that you can seriously injure or kill yourself if you dig into a gas or electric power line.

There are a couple of ways you can dig your pipe into the ground. You can dig your trenches by hand using a shovel or sharp shooter shovel, which will make nice pipe sized trenches for you. Obviously this will take the most amount of time and work. Another alternative is to rent a trencher which will save time and work but will cost you more in rental fees. The third alternative is to rent a trencher that installs the pipe as it goes. This is the quickest and easiest way to get your pipe in the ground without making a big mess of your yard.

The main issue a do it yourselfer will have installing a lawn sprinkler system is time. Most professional installers can install a lawn sprinkler system in an average size yard in 3-5 days depending on layout, yard size and soil conditions. Doing it your self will probably take a little longer, but the results can be the same as a professional install if you take your time and plan well.