Sometimes DIY projects are really fun and rewarding. Sometimes they can really become and mess and more work than one anticipates. The last 15 years of putting in sprinkler systems has taught us a few things. We have also worked on many systems installed by DIY installers. We have written this post to help show homeowners what to expect when installing their own sprinkler system, and possible pitfalls to avoid.
The life of your Well
The starting point of any irrigation design is properly determining your wells capacity. Every sprinkler system needs to be designed to run the well non-stop. If it is designed improperly the well will constantly turn on and off. Properly determine both your static and dynamic pressure to avoid this. Sometimes you can call your well installer for help.
Future Maintenance
At Spinniken we have learned how to properly install systems to help avoid maintenance down the road, that is why we can easily offer a 5 year warranty on our systems. For example, we always have a map of the system when done, we compact our buried holes, we triple clamp our main line to avoid leaks, we make sure not to overheat our poly pipe when installing fittings, we never carry on a wire after a valve (for easy valve location down the road)… etc… etc.
All sprinkler systems cost some time and money to maintain but you will spend much less time and money on a properly installed sprinkler system in the future. This is a major point to consider. If a sprinkler system is done with the wrong pipe sizing the entire system may need to be redone.
Improper Coverage
There are many factors that go into a properly covering sprinkler design. You have to consider shade, sun, pressure, flow, sprinkler type, nozzle size, and more. Have you ever seen a yard in the summer with green and brown patches throughout? This green and brown patching is due to an improper design. One could read multiple books on the subject of sprinkler system coverage and still learn something new every day.
The amount of work
If you have not installed a sprinkler system before you may be surprised at how much planning and work is involved. We commonly see homeowners take up to a month to install a sprinkler system that we could have installed in 1 day.
We are happy to discuss your sprinkler system design if you would like some help deciding if you would like to attempt to install the system yourself. Some less complicated systems can be much easier designed. Check out our Irrigation Design page for more information. Also our Irrigation Installation page is a good place to start if you are thinking of having us quote an installation for you.
