# New System Cost Estimates



## XLT_66 (Jul 17, 2018)

Hey, guys. I've got a few people coming over in the next few days to give me some bids on design and install of a complete irrigation system.

Total grass coverage is about 6,000 sq ft. All three are licensed irrigators and insured. Two of the three install Hunter products only.

I'm curious if there is any rule of thumb for how much these systems should cost? $500/zone, etc?

Also, I've got septic subsurface drip system (think garden drip system type hosing) snaking back and forth about 8" under the grass one whole side yard and about half of my back yard. Anyone have experience with wither or not I should have these areas zoned on their own so that I could potentially water them less than the rest of the yard?

Any other tips or things I should look out for?

Thanks!


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

$500 - $800 per zone is fairly reasonable from what I've heard


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

It really depends on the shape of the yard. Ask for layouts of the heads, valve box locations. They might not want to share that until you pay them.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

Irrigation installation prices can vary a great deal depending upon general cost of living in your area. Our full system cost $3338 and has 8 zones. (7 zones with rotors and 1 zone with drip irrigation for the shrub/flower beds). That's a price of $417.25 per zone. That price included all plumbing work with a code-compliant backflow device. Price per zone can vary quite a bit depending upon how many rotors you have on each zone. Our zones each have from 4 to 6 rotors.

Something else to watch out for is the specific irrigation layout being planned by each contractor. It helps if the head layout matches the watering needs - generally keeping heads in different logical areas of the lawn in different zones.

Your installer should consider pressure (psi) and flow (gpm) availability from your water supply, whether a well or municipal water, and size each zone appropriately.

Lastly, it's easier to get matched precipitation, particularly if you have a low volume water supply (little gpm) if quarter-circle heads are not on the same zone with full-circle heads. For larger lawns, this is generally done by having large areas have the perimeter heads on separate zones from the interior heads. At 4000sqft, you may not require interior full-circle heads.


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## XLT_66 (Jul 17, 2018)

Here is a layout of the lot. The mesh portions on the side and back yard are a rough layout of where these septic lines snake back and forth under the soil to disperse the effluent. So, if we opted to put this area on their own zones, we'd end up having these somewhat strange edge zones, I guess.

Municipal water comes in on the top/left of the lot.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

XLT_66 said:


> Here is a layout of the lot. The mesh portions on the side and back yard are a rough layout of where these septic lines snake back and forth under the soil to disperse the effluent.


 OK, I misunderstood what you meant with the earlier mention of a "septic subsurface drip system" -- given my new understanding (sorry), I think that should entirely be separate from the irrigation system and shouldn't require any difference in zone layout as it should be deep enough to not interfere at all with the lawn or the irrigation of it. However, I have no firsthand experience with that -- presumably if that is common in your area, the irrigation installers should have some knowledge of what to do with it. I'm going to go back and edit my earlier post to remove what I said there, so as not to confuse other readers.


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## XLT_66 (Jul 17, 2018)

Hey there, anyone care to chime in on this design? Improvements?

The installer says he prefers to put the valves for each zone near the zone. In this layout, the valves are sort of in the middle of yard sections so I am asking that they be perimeter based.

This is all Hunter equipment, MPs and PGPs.


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## unclebucks06 (Apr 25, 2018)

Its not terrible but he is trying to save a few bucks. Im not a big fan of the triangle section, it requires alot of heads and he sacrificing a few causing it to spray the house. The back yard could use a couple more imo, hard to say without distances.

What heads is he using?


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## unclebucks06 (Apr 25, 2018)

Never mind on heads. I see it now.


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## unclebucks06 (Apr 25, 2018)

Do you have weak psi or gpm?
Running very few rotors per zone. Seems like he is trying to push the distance vs using more heads.


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## XLT_66 (Jul 17, 2018)

Have good pressure. The reason he has so few heads in the back is that it all has to be perimeter based because you can't put anything in the center.

Zone 3 and 6 have low head count. Zone 6 is one head at over 5 GPM. He couldn't add it to 3 because it would go over 14 GPM..I cant recall his max he was shooting for but I think 12.

The front and side yard is all MP heads. The left side has to be perimeter based as well because of septic lines.

Anything I can tell him to add, specifically? I posted my septic layout previously.

He's turned in the plan for permit but if we need to add a couple more heads, tell me where and let's see what we can do.


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## unclebucks06 (Apr 25, 2018)

Ok i didnt realize perimter only.

I would like to see a head half way on both sides of back yard but it wont kill ya the way it is.

I think he should add a few more in the triangle and use shorter radius' heads to keep off the house.


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