# Help with irrigation layout



## ricwilli

Hi everyone
I need help with coming up with a layout of the sprinkler heads on this odd lawn layout. I definitely want to use Hunters MP Rotors and would like to do it correctly the first time. Your help is greatly appreciated.

- Water Pressure = 52psi
- 5 Gallons per 46 seconds
- 5g / 46sec x 60sec = 6GPM
- Front Lawn = KBG Sod
- Sides and Backyard = No lawn. I did a total kill

*FRONT LAWN*


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## g-man

I did a quick draft to get ideas on placement of heads and tweak from here. Where is your water meter? Is it 3/4 PEX? I'm assuming left like mine. Your house layout is similar to mine, but yours is more challenging. I assumed you will want to go underneath the sidewalk for the strip.

I color coded the layout. Some are using the hunter 30psi bodies and the rest is 40psi. There are some though choices. For example on the left side I think mp2000 but they are at the limit of their reach. I think the MP3000 will still be too much dialed down. There is a dry spot that will be a challenge to cover, can you reshape the mulch?

On the right side you will need to use a corner. There is a green dot (MP1000 at 30psi), that might be needed, but I'm not sure. It depends on the reach of the MP corner. You will also see two dot next to each other, it is not a mistake. They have different reach (16' vs 11')

I see 4 zones in the front and I think you should use 5 and maybe 5.5gpm as the design for the zones. Our pressure drops at 6am during the summer.

For the back, no trees in the future or landscape? No patio? Is there a swale on the back that you need to keep some distance from?


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## ricwilli

@g-man Thanks for taking the time from your busy schedule to help me out. Below are my response in blue.

I did a quick draft to get ideas on placement of heads and tweak from here. Where is your water meter? Water meter is on the left section. Approx. 5 feet up from the letter "k" of the word "sidewalk" on the pic. Is it 3/4 PEX? Yes. I'm assuming left like mine. Your house layout is similar to mine, but yours is more challenging. I assumed you will want to go underneath the sidewalk for the strip. Yes.

I color coded the layout. Some are using the hunter 30psi bodies and the rest is 40psi. There are some though choices. For example on the left side I think mp2000 but they are at the limit of their reach. This will be a problem as we get lots of strong winds. I think the MP3000 will still be too much dialed down. I might have to live with some run offs. There is a dry spot that will be a challenge to cover, can you reshape the mulch? I forgot to redo that section. There should only be a 1'x16' section that will not get or get very little water. I'll try and see what I can do about it. We wouldn't want to make that section any bigger as its to big now.

On the right side you will need to use a corner. There is a green dot (MP1000 at 30psi), that might be needed, but I'm not sure. It depends on the reach of the MP corner. I think the MP corner does 12' with 30psi. I have one and can test it out on my above ground sprinkler stand that I made and using to water the lawn. You will also see two dots next to each other, it is not a mistake. They have different reach (16' vs 11')

I see 4 zones in the front and I think you should use 5 and maybe 5.5gpm as the design for the zones. Our pressure drops at 6am during the summer. I was surprised to see this. Coming from the East, our family is not use to the low-pressure water. We thought there was something wrong like a blockage or the water meter not being fully opened. I call the water company and sure enough, they said that our house was receiving the correct water pressure.

For the back, no trees in the future or landscape? No trees. No patio? We will be getting a patio. The problem is, that our house is only a year old and we were told by a few companies, that we must wait till the ground settles. We just don't know the shape and how large we want the patio. There might be some shrubs on the sides of the patio. Is there a swale on the back that you need to keep some distance from? It's a very shallow swale. It starts right behind the 100' mark line on the backyard pic.

-


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## ricwilli

I'm going crazy trying to see how this can be better. @gman is correct about the MP3000 being to much. As well as the MP2000 being used to the max. This is not good as it gets pretty windy here by me. 
I drew something up but I'm thinking this might be to many sprinklers. 5 zones. What do you think?


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## g-man

I actually like it.

Don't worry too much about the qty. of zones. You can mix mp1000 and mp2000 into the same zone as long as you have the gpm for it. The mp stripe are more challenging to mix with mp1000/2000.


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## g-man

Also, when I'd discussed the backyard, I understand you won't have the patio right away, but I think you should design for the patio you want. Place the head/zones like you already had the patio in there. This way when you get the patio, you don't have to move all the heads.


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## ricwilli

g-man said:


> I actually like it.
> 
> Don't worry too much about the qty. of zones. You can mix mp1000 and mp2000 into the same zone as long as you have the gpm for it. The mp stripe are more challenging to mix with mp1000/2000.


@g-man Thanks for the response. Just to confirm. I would be adding the precipitation rate of the sprinkler heads to get the amount of heads I can use per zone, that does not go over my maximum GPM? In this case as you suggested, 5-5.5GPM? I will definitely be keeping the MP Strips on there own zones. I'm just hoping that I have enough heads on the strip.



g-man said:


> Also, when I'd discussed the backyard, I understand you won't have the patio right away, but I think you should design for the patio you want. Place the head/zones like you already had the patio in there. This way when you get the patio, you don't have to move all the heads.


The wife and I are trying to figure out the patio layout that we'd like and than we can go from there.

Thanks again


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## g-man

In the hunter tables it list the gpm each nozzle uses based on the setup. A 90 degree mp2000 uses 0.43 gpm, while at 180 is goes to 0.77gpm.

Now that you have the head locations, nozzles and patterns, write the gpm and start adding to see how many heads you can connect in a zone.


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## ricwilli

This is the breakdown of all five zones.

Zone 1
MP2000
90 - 4 @ .43 each = 1.72 gpm
180 - 2 @ .77 each = 1.54 gpm
*Total = 3.26 GPM*

Zone 2
MP1000
90 - 4 @ .21 each = .84 gpm
180 - 4 @ .42 each = 1.68 gpm
360 - 1 @ .84 each = .84 gpm
*Total = 3.36 GPM*

Zone 3
MP2000
90 - 4 @ .43 each = 1.72 gpm
*Total = 1.72 GPM*

Zone 4
MP1000
90 - 3 @ .21 each = .63 gpm
270 - 1 @ .63 each = .63 gpm
MP Corner - 1 @ each .19 = .19
*Total = 1.45 GPM*

Zone 5
MP Strip
MP Corner Right - 2 @ .22 each = .44 gpm
MP Corner Left - 2 @ .22 each = .44 gpm
MP Strip	- 3 @ .44 eeach = 1.32 gpm
*Total = 2.2 GPM*

*I'm thinking of cutting it down to 4 zones. 
*
4 Zones
Zone 1 = 3.26 GPM
Zone 2 = 3.26 GPM
Zone 3 = Zone 3 + Zone 4 = *3.17 GPM*
Zone 4 = Zone 5 = 2.2 GPM

Next is running the Main and Lateral pipes. I think I will run a Main through the house/basement over to the right side of the house. I can than have two control valves on each side of the house. The Backflow preventer will be on the left side of the house.


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## g-man

FYI, for the main thru the basement, you will need to use copper or PEX. Plan for ways to blow the irrigation for the winter.

Zone 5 might be challenge to do both strips in one zone. You will need to go across the driveway. I think you can compromise and add the right strip to the zone 3. It might overwater the strip, but not by much. This way the whole right side is a single zone.


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## ricwilli

I've worked with copper and pex. Sense the house is plumbed with pex, I'll run pex. If I attach the right strip to zone 3, can I do the same with zone 1 and the left strip? That zone would be 4.58 GPM.


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## ricwilli

I had about two hours to waste before life gets in the way again and I decided to work a little on the sprinkler dream. I've stopped attending to the lawn as I think I'm going to do a whole new renovation. Besides, the builder still has to come out and fill a long sink hole. I cut some of the pipes (not glued). I'm running 1" sch 40 pvc. I also purchased the PVB size 1".
I've decided that I will make the front strips two separate zones. Three zones each side. My water pressure is just to low. I don't want to chance it with all the homes that are being built around me.

Does anyone have any recommendations on sprinkler valves? I would like to start piecing together the manifold.


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## g-man

I used hunter jar top type. No real reason why other than it had good reviews and it seems easy to take the top off.

The front lawn looks good. The balance feet helped. What are the plans for the back? You can throw some cheap seeds from Menards (avoid annual ryegrass) and kill it later.


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## ricwilli

I went with the jar top. I purchased 8 for now. I know I will need more for the back. At least I can now do the manifold for the valves. The back is going to be a nightmare. It has a lot of rocks and pebbles. I have no idea how I am going to remove all the pebbles.


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## ricwilli

I have 15 feet on each side of the house. Should I put the sprinklers against the house so that the sprinklers spray away from the house?


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## ricwilli

Any input on running sprinklers against the house and sprinklers spraying towards the house? I'm asking for the sides of the house. The width is 15 feet. Thanks


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## Ge0rdi3brit

You need both for true even coverage.


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## g-man

^+1 and think of mulch beds on the sides. The sides dont get a lot of sun and the grass is thin. A mulch bed helps avoid growing grass in the shade.


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## ricwilli

Thanks for the response. The left side of the house does not get a lot of sun, but the right side does. The left side of the house has lots of moss on the ground. Looks like I'll be having problems on that side. I was trying to avoid mulch beds around the sides of the house. Would a 2 feet wide mulch bed be enough? I also have a basement, should I have any concerns with the sprinklers spraying water toward the house?


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## g-man

@ricwilli install complete?


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## ricwilli

@g-man Thanks for checking in. Unfortunately its a no. We've been living in hotels on the weekends because of my daughters soccer traveling team. I didn't have the time to work on it. All the sprinkler parts is sitting in the garage. Looks like I have to take days off of work in the spring to get it done.


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## SwBermuda

Hey @g-man here is my incredibly crappy layout compared to what @ricwilli put together.


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## ricwilli

My lawn journal - https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=9538&p=234904#p234904

So I took advantage of the weather yesterday and went outside for a bit.

I dug a hole to the main 3/4" PEX water line.



In this pic, you can see the main PEX water line going into the basement. I will tap into the main water line in the basement. It will than come back out and up where I will connect the PVB. I will add a cross pvc after the PVB where the right side will go to the valves, the left will be for drainage and the bottom will go back into the basement and ran to the other side of the house connecting to the valves that will control that side. The line in the basement will be a 1" PEX line.



Hole all covered up waiting till it gets warmer so I can glue all pvc.


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## ricwilli

Does it matter what layout I use? Thanks


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## g-man

It depends. The one on the right might be better if the center pipe is larger diameter than the branches. But the one on the left can also be better if you use a larger diameter on the first split.

There are other factors to think about. Let's say you want a tree in the future or the cable TV company needs to bury a cable, then the one on the left might be better since it keeps the pipes away of center of the front yard.


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## ricwilli

@g-man Thanks. Luckily I did not buy PVC for the backyard and I will be able to use the 3/4" PVC that I purchased as branches. Will 1" PVC trunk be enough with 3/4" branches? Took some time last night and drew how I will need to run the pipes. I had to redo Zone 2 based on your response and tree. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make it better. I'm a little concerned about Zone 6 and 7 as the GPM's is over 5.5. This is a lot of PVC  .


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## g-man

To lower zone 6 and 7, you can move the one of the 180 from each of them to zone 8. The two at the end of the of the backyard.

Definitely use 1in PVC or poly for those backyard zones until they start to branch out. The flow thru the pipe reduces at each head, so the pressure losses are less.

On zone 2, I think you should go right next to the driveway in the bottom right side of the square instead of the middle of the front yard.

Overall, it looks good. Print out the design and have it close by when digging. Renting a trencher will save you a lot of time on the backyard. You might not be able to use it in the front since all the utilities are in our front yards. Call 811 to have them mark it.


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## ricwilli

Good idea with moving those two heads to zone 8. I will update it. Thanks. Looks like I'm maxed out. Not to sure what you mean with zone 2. Are you saying that I should connect the bottom right corner mp1000 90 to the mp corner strip side on zone 2?


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## g-man

What I mean in zone two is to connect the mp1000 180 next to the 21 feet in your drawing with the mp 1000 90.


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## ricwilli

g-man said:


> On zone 2, I think you should go right next to the driveway in the bottom right side of the square instead of the middle of the front yard.


I will do that, but also keep the connection to the mp1000 360 in the middle, correct? Sorry, for the stupid questions, just trying to make sure I do it correctly. Another question, the supply line to zone two will be 1 inch, should the rest also be 1 inch?
Thanks


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## g-man

I think you can do this.


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## ricwilli

Thanks for taking the time to draw it up. I've updated the layout.


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## ricwilli

Little update. Dug up the holes for the sprinkler boxes. They are low but will be raised with stones. They are all covered up now. Hopefully they don't get filled with water.


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## ricwilli

Ok, so I think I got everything I need to do this project. Separated the zones with their required sprinkler heads and plumbing. I'm sure I'll be needing something while doing the install. Now waiting on the weather to warm up more.


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## ricwilli

I am also going to see if I tackle the gutter downspouts and run them underground.


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## ricwilli

My body is aching from being in the crawlspace and digging.

This is the connection in the crawlspace for the PVB.



PVB connected.





Going to irrigation box. Zones 1, 2, 5, 6





PVB Out coming back into the house crawlspace.



Ran the pvc across the basement to the other side of the house.



To outside.



To irrigation box. Zones 3, 4, 7, 8





I purchased this controller on sale last year. I don't know if I should stick with it or purchase another one with more zones for future use. I did not know I was going to be using 8 zones from the start.



The system is filled with water from the main water line being tested for leaks. It will remain under pressure from here on out. Will run the valve wire from the irrigation box to where I want the controller today. Maybe call it a day. LOL......


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## TSGarp007

Did you do anything with the gutter downspouts or just leave them in place? I thought about burying one to get it away from my house for aesthetics, but my redesign took so long that I skipped it.


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## ricwilli

TSGarp007 said:


> Did you do anything with the gutter downspouts or just leave them in place? I thought about burying one to get it away from my house for aesthetics, but my redesign took so long that I skipped it.


Not yet. I will tackle the downsouts when I rent the trencher. I have two options. 1) Just extend the downspouts, (four of them) 12 feet away from the house with pop-up emitters. 2) Attach the downspouts to a 90 feet schedule 40 pvc tubing all the way to the end of the backyard. This will have to be done to both sides of the house. Option one will save me a TON of money but will have soggy soil. I am also battling neighbors downspouts as well.


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## TSGarp007

What about a French drain? That should help with the moisture from the neighboring yard.


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## ricwilli

TSGarp007 said:


> What about a French drain? That should help with the moisture from the neighboring yard.


That would be more expensive than running pvc to the backyard. lol. I also thought about catch basin in front of the neighbors downspout and tap it into the pvc that would discharge out the backyard. I think if I eliminate my downspout and have it discharged to the backyard, the soil won't be as soggy. As of right now the soil is taking on four downspouts on each side of the house.


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## ricwilli

Ok, I think I'm at a point where I'm going to need the trencher. So now I have to decide when to do it. I also think I'm going to do just the front and side lawn. I'm going to wait till the patio gets done to do the back. I have a feeling that the back layout may have to get changed. Which stinks because I will have to rent the trencher twice. But I will not overwhelm myself.
Questions that I do have are:
- Should I kill the grass before trenching?
- Should I level the lawn before trenching?

Trench filled.





I manually trenched through the mulch bed for zone 2 as I would not be able to drive the trencher through it.


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## ricwilli

Hey all,

811 came out and marked the ground. So the trenching starts this weekend. Will be renting the 24" trencher from Home Depot. Front trenches will be 10 inch deep. Sides and back trenches will be 18" deep (just the downspout drainage pipe trenches). Trenches will be 4 inch wide. Going deeper on the sides and back to lay the 4 inch PVC gutter downspout drain pipes.

I'll be starting the manual digging around the markings today. Hopefully the clay has soften up a bit with all the rain we've had. Wish me luck.


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## DiabeticKripple

what program are you using to get the arcs on your map? or did you hand draw them?


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## ricwilli

Wow!!!! What a day. Dug up the trenches next to the 811 markings. Had help from the kids. Wouldn't have finished the manual labor today if it wasn't for their help. Thanks kids (not like they are on this forum). LOL! A bit of pics below. Had more but would have been to much. Don't mind the wavy markings. I actually let my 11 year old mark the ground. All of it. He had a blast doing it. Renting the trencher tomorrow morning.


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## ricwilli

DiabeticKripple said:


> what program are you using to get the arcs on your map? or did you hand draw them?


No program. I used a compass.


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## g-man

Uff, it turned to be a hot day to work in the yard.


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## ricwilli

There is no way I will do this ever again. The work you have to do afterwards is brutal. Specially when your crossing trenches. Trenching 10 inches is doable, but when you start trenching 18 inches, that's when things get worst. All that clay and boulders. I am exhausted and not even done. I have to clean out the trenches that got crossed. I am so exhausted I had no energy to take more pics. Everything I see is brown with so much dirt/clay that I've seen today. LOL!

Edit: I showed my wife how to use the trencher and she did 80 percent of these trenches while me and the kids cleaned out the crossed trenches.







6 inch trencher.


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## ricwilli

g-man said:


> Uff, it turned to be a hot day to work in the yard.


I like this weather. The wind made it even better. I did get a tan.


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## DiabeticKripple

That's why I plan on using a pipe puller with blue lock.


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## bernstem

If you can use a vibratory plow, it is much nicer (and faster). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZSn9JKnzPk


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## ricwilli

Those Puller/Plows are pretty neat. Unfortunately for me, I would have had to rent the trencher anyways as I'm also installing 4 inch gutter drain pipes at 18 inches deep.
Body is aching today but anxious to get back to work after I get out of work. Can't thank my wife enough as she has also been helping me put in the drain pipes. Handling 4 inch, 10 feet pipe is really a two person job.


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## ricwilli

All done with the gutter drain. Just need to add the transition caps from gutter to drain and add stones at the exit of the drains. What a PITA. All this could have been easier without the drains. This has become a whole family project. All hands on deck.


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## ricwilli

I was also able to drive a 1.25 PVC pipe underneath the sidewalk. I will than slip a 1 inch pvc pipe in the 1.25 pipe for the sprinklers.

Tools I used to get the pipe underneath the sidewalk. Yes I used WD40. The clay is so compact, it was getting stuck in the pipe and the pipe underneath the sidewalk. Once I started using the WD40, it got way easier. I sprayed it in and around the pipe. I got two more to do, and this will be my technique again.


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## g-man

It is a lot of work now, but I'm sure you will like the end results. For the pvc under the sidewalk, drill a thru hole on the other end so that you can use a screwdriver to turn the pipe thus turning the tip to "drill".


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## jht3

Wow. I am impressed. I replaced and relocated 11 heads this spring. Most only a few inches, another 3 feet. By hand. And it took all day and wore me out with all the rocks and roots I hit. Can't imagine doing what you did.

Keep it up. Your hard work will pay off.


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## ricwilli

I was able to install zone 1 and 2 piping. I will install the sprinklers at a later date. Though I don't know if not installing them is a good idea. Dirt might get in the piping. I'm going to put tape over the openings tomorrow morning before it starts raining. I took some random pics.

Zone 1 and 2



I decided to install a fifth valve on both sides of the house. I added them just in case I want to add water to the mulch beds.





I chipped at this boulder but I need to get at it again.







Underneath sidewalk


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## ricwilli

g-man said:


> It is a lot of work now, but I'm sure you will like the end results. For the pvc under the sidewalk, drill a thru hole on the other end so that you can use a screwdriver to turn the pipe thus turning the tip to "drill".


Gotcha. I'm going to try it on the other two that I have to do. I was using the channel lock pliers to turn the pvc while pulling it out. Worked really good.


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## ricwilli

jht3 said:


> Wow. I am impressed. I replaced and relocated 11 heads this spring. Most only a few inches, another 3 feet. By hand. And it took all day and wore me out with all the rocks and roots I hit. Can't imagine doing what you did.
> 
> Keep it up. Your hard work will pay off.


Yeah I rather move the sprinklers a couple of inches than do this.


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## ricwilli

Valves are permanently attached. This took longer than it had too. When you don't do plumbing everyday, you have to think a little bit harder and measure like six times. Well for me, a lot more harder and measure eight times. LOL! Zones 1, 2, 5 and 6 plumbing all done. Just have to attach the sprinkler heads.





This looks like miles of plumbing pipe.


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## g-man

It should be ready to fill. Hopefully before the 2-4in or rain we are supposed to get. Put tape in the open connections to avoid dirt to get inside the pipes.


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## ricwilli

I was going to start the plumbing on the other side of the house and install the sprinkler heads later on, but I think I'm just going to install the sprinkler heads today on the finished side. 
I was also planning on leaving the trenches on the finished side open throughout the rain so that the dirt under the drain lines could settle with the rain. Is this a good idea? The clay is getting hard like rocks. Hopefully the rain will soften it. I can see myself working outside in the rain these next few days. I also can't wait to see how the drains work.


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## TSGarp007

Kind of cool to see how you can dig trenches in the dirt and it holds it's shape so well. And your surgical sod cutouts. Mine is pure sand and just disperses like dry sand at the beach. Your yard looks like the kind that someone might aerate. I would double check the depths of all your beautiful PVC work and make a note of the shallowest parts for any future aerating. I was so happy when I was done gluing my last PVC fitting on my project... I used about 250' of PVC and 1,000' of Blu-Lock. The blu-lock was considerably more expensive, especially due to the fittings, but man was it easy. I don't think I would have finished the project going all PVC... but back to your project, it looks great! Imagine a morning coffee while watching your new sprinkler system do it's thing...


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## ricwilli

WE HAVE WATER!!!!!!

It's been raining like crazy here and today is going to be another full day of rain. Trenches are filled with water. I am hoping that they hold up till tomorrow so I can start the plumbing on the other side of the house. Working in the wet clay is not easy. Today is going to be a long day thinking about the trenches.
Even while it was raining I was determined to do something. I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. So I went out in the rain and started flushing out the sprinkler heads. For a couple of minutes my heart sunk into all that wet clay around me as some of the sprinkler heads were not popping up while I was flushing them. It took me a moment and I decided to cover the output of one of the sprinkler heads with my fingers. Once I did that, one of the non working sprinkler heads popped up. Not being 100 percent sure that the pressure is the issue, I changed the sprinkler heads to the MP Rotors. And like magic, all sprinklers where popped up and working. Grabbed my heart from the wet clay and walked away. LOL!!! I took advantage of the wet clay and started leveling and filling around the sprinklers. It's going to be really fun putting that wet clay back into the trenches. I'm sure my kids will have fun. 😂😂😂

Here are just a few pics of the sprinklers on. You hardly can see them on with all the brightness and mess on the ground.


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## ricwilli

TSGarp007 said:


> Kind of cool to see how you can dig trenches in the dirt and it holds it's shape so well. And your surgical sod cutouts. Mine is pure sand and just disperses like dry sand at the beach. Your yard looks like the kind that someone might aerate. I would double check the depths of all your beautiful PVC work and make a note of the shallowest parts for any future aerating. I was so happy when I was done gluing my last PVC fitting on my project... I used about 250' of PVC and 1,000' of Blu-Lock. The blu-lock was considerably more expensive, especially due to the fittings, but man was it easy. I don't think I would have finished the project going all PVC... but back to your project, it looks great! Imagine a morning coffee while watching your new sprinkler system do it's thing...


I couldn't justify the price of the Blu-Lock. Gluing pvc is just to easy to go the Blu-Lock route. For me anyways. Yes, working in sand must not be good at all when it doesn't stay where you need it to stay. I'm trying to picture myself with a morning brew looking at the sprinklers, but all can see is clay all over the place.🤣


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## TSGarp007

Don't get me wrong, PVC is definitely more cost effective, and it's really easy. But with the blu-lock all you had to do was think about putting a fitting on and it was done. Looks great!


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## ricwilli

So I finally finished the other side of the house this past weekend. Zone 3, 4, 7 and 8 are installed. Also the extra zone for the mulch bed.











Pipe 1 on the left going under the sidewalk.



Other side on strip.



Pipe 2 going under sidewalk.



Other side on strip.



I had the patio installer come out and make the outline for the patio. Patio will be 450 sq ft. The patio is really close to the sprinkle heads. So I didn't install those two heads just in case I need to move them.



While changing out the MP Rotors, I noticed that they were not flushed. I was trying to figure out why. I actually removed the sprinkler top to see if there was any rocks in the head, and nothing. So I removed the entire body and noticed that the rotor was now flushed. I than realized that I screwed in the elbow that goes under the sprinkler head to far in. I found a couple that were not flushed, so I had to remove the body and retape the elbow threads. I didn't feel good just backing out the sprinkler head and compromise the teflon tape. Oh well, live and learn.

Not flushed.



Flushed.



Right now everything is connected and tested. All I have to do is fill in the trenches. This has been a very difficult task for me and my family. I rented a machine to dig the trenches, I'm going to need a machine to fill them. I contacted the patio installer to see if he does this kind of stuff and he said yes, he can do it. He is going to give me a quote.
My next step is to install the sprinkler controller and test the sprinklers again.


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## ricwilli

:evil: :evil: :evil: I looked out the window yesterday and noticed that only this trench was full of water. I did not realize that this much water was coming from the neighbors gutter towards my yard. The others were noticable, but not this one. 
I am really tired of digging and plumbing. To think that I should dig to get to the 4 inch main drain and tee off it so that this water coming out of the gutter could drain, is dreadful. My other option which may be a better idea, is to run a plastic edger along the fence. This would serve two purpose. 1, keep the water on the neighbors side while it runs down to the pond. 2, I can run the mower and trimmer along the plastic edger without damaging the fence.


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## TSGarp007

Water in the trench is ok. Does it look like once the water level was above the trench opening, the water mostly drained away? I only see water in the trench and one little puddle. I guess what I'm wondering is maybe if there wasn't a trench, the water would have just run down the existing slope, and you would have never noticed?


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## g-man

A better option. Once you are done filling the trenches, add soil in this area so it is slightly above the neighbors yard.

The other option is later buy the other type of elbow for the gutter and offer to swap it for them so the water exits towards the pond instead of the side yard. It is like a $2 elbow.

By the way, are they growing a pasture?


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## TSGarp007

Kind of looks like they are actually mowing in the picture...


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## jht3

I don't see how you screwed the elbow in so deep as to interfere with the riser. You use a big wrench?

I thread them by hand to snug them up, no Teflon tape either. They don't leak, but when if they did it would be underground where I'm trying to water anyways.


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## ricwilli

The neighbor is a single mother with one child and they are both mentally challenged. She also has two dogs. To make the long story short, she doesn't mow the lawn. Front and back. She has two dogs that she lets out in the back and NEVER, EVER picks up after them. Smell is horrendous. The reason why you see the lawn mower out, is because the other neighbors called the city and gave a complaint about the lawn. They came out to give her a warning. She's been mowing the wet grass full of dog waste for the past two days with that battery operated mower. Those chairs that you see on her lawn have been there for over two weeks. She just cannot do it mentally. I will probably offer to build them, once I'm done with my stuff. But she will need to clean them before I even touch them with all the dog waste in that yard.
With all the rain that we've had, that trench has never been full of water. As soon as she started mowing the lawn, the water is now coming to my side. One thing I did notice before she started mowing, is that the ground about 10 feet before the end of my yard, on my side, was deteriorating. Washing away. Makes sense now as her lawn is not that dense on that part of her lawn as the dogs are always there and the water is coming to my side. Will probably have to do what g-man said and add soil to the area. But I am also liking the idea of the plastic edger not to damage the fence.


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## ricwilli

jht3 said:


> I don't see how you screwed the elbow in so deep as to interfere with the riser. You use a big wrench?
> 
> I thread them by hand to snug them up, no Teflon tape either. They don't leak, but when if they did it would be underground where I'm trying to water anyways.


I used my hands. No tools. Before taking on this project, I used Hunters sprinklers on diy stands to water the lawn. They would leak a lot of water without teflon. Thats when I did my research and found that Hunter states to use teflon to prevent leaks around the inlet threads of the sprinkler heads. https://www.hunterindustries.com/support/sprays-effects-pipe-dope-abs-plastic. I am trying to get even coverage of water on the lawn. Without teflon, some sprinklers might leak more than others. But I completely understand what you are saying though.


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## ricwilli

This is where I am at, at this point. I connected the controller and tested the sprinklers. I still have to set all the sprinklers to the correct settings. I've slowed down a bit now that the system is in place and trying to recover from these muscle aches. :lol:

Rachio 3 controller



A little cleaned up.





We are going to have the patio installer level the back and sides of the house. To much work to do it manually.







Upset when I opened this box. I forgot to fill around the box with dirt and water from all the rain filled the box. :evil:



As of now, I'm waiting for the patio guy to do there thing. Then I will set the sprinklers, kill the lawn, order topsoil and level the lawn/ground.


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## ricwilli

Hey all. I'm having a problem with number 13 not getting enough pressure. The one to the right is how I connected zone two. 12 is not in use. Looks like I connected this in series. Anything I can do to get even pressure? Now is the time for me to make any drastic changes before leveling the lawn. Man I thought I was done digging!!!!


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## g-man

Hmm, that change in layout added a lot of more pressure losses. And mp corner there might not be needed. What about using an mp right/left end there? The others are rainbirds? Are they close to the 0.4in/hrs like the mp?


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## ricwilli

I was avoiding making a trench between 5 and 8 to get pvc under the sidewalk since I already had to make one on zone 1. Big mistake. I was planning on going to siteone to get mp left and right today after work. I'm just going to dig the trench on 8 and push a PVC pipe under the sidewalk like the original plan. I'll just cap off the other end by 10. Shouldn't be to hard.

Everything sprinkler wise (not controller) is from Hunter. Even the Center Strip. https://www.hunterindustries.com/en-metric/node/6091


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## Ngilbe36

ricwilli said:


> I was avoiding making a trench between 5 and 8 to get pvc under the sidewalk since I already had to make one on zone 1. Big mistake. I was planning on going to siteone to get mp left and right today after work. I'm just going to dig the trench on 8 and push a PVC pipe under the sidewalk like the original plan. I'll just cap off the other end by 10. Shouldn't be to hard.
> 
> Everything sprinkler wise (not controller) is from Hunter. Even the Center Strip. https://www.hunterindustries.com/en-metric/node/6091


Wow. All I can say.
I just read through the whole thing. Thats a ton of work. Nice job. Some day I will take on my yard. Reading this just pushed that project further down the list though. Haha


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## CenlaLowell

How much would you say you spent on the system as of now?? @ricwilli


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## ricwilli

Yeah, this was a lot of work. The cost for everything is hoovering around $1600-$1800.


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## ricwilli

CenlaLowell said:


> How much would you say you spent on the system as of now?? @ricwilli


Want to let you know that the money I spent does include all materials to reroute all of the house downspouts to the back of the backyard. That's about $300. That's something someone may not want to do.


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## RVAGuy

ricwilli said:


> I did my research and found that Hunter states to use teflon to prevent leaks around the inlet threads of the sprinkler heads. https://www.hunterindustries.com/support/sprays-effects-pipe-dope-abs-plastic.


Even though Hunter says not to use it, they Oatey people say their stuff is compatible with ABS. I trust the people actually making the chemical more than a blanket statement from Hunter. Though they don't say it outright, I believe they are concerned with clogging even though they state pipe dope makes the plastic brittle. Hunter will never admit it, but the MP Rotators are really prone to clogging.
https://www.oatey.com/products/oatey-great-white-pipe-joint-compound-with-ptfe--275767012


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## pdefeo

RVAGuy said:


> I trust the people actually making the chemical more than a blanket statement from Hunter.


I would tend to trust those with nothing to gain from the sale of a product


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## jayhawk

Enjoyed your write up, pics. Wish I had more of them for my yard.

You probably know but for those reading, the pvc from Ewing, SiteOne is amazingly bendable if one tries (less fittings, risk) ....not so much depot's brand.


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