# Getting an estimate tomorrow



## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

Getting a price for my front lawn, wish I could have had it done last year when I did my Reno but better late than never. Should be relatively simple job, it's just an L shape, 2M/sqft.

I know nothing about controllers, or for that matter very little about the entire system. Can anyone give me advice, what questions to ask installer? I have about $2500 in the budget, hoping it's enough.


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## DrewSilva (Mar 25, 2020)

I'm going through the same thing, but am installing on about 6500k of turf. I've had a few companies come out and they've varied greatly. 1800-6500, not including plumbing. Due to the front elevation I can't use a traditional PVB and am also adding a second meter (I have extremely high sewer rates). I am providing a Rachio3 for them, which they all did not recommend because they said it makes it difficult for them to do maintenance. I didn't have the heart to tell them I have no intentions of them maintaining the system.

I've been asking what kind of heads they are using. Rotors, spray heads or pgp etc, what kind of material PVC or polyethylene, and what their design plan is (zones). I had one company literally drive over look for 2 seconds and give me an estimate, others have been more thorough and looking at my water service and measuring pressure at the spigot.

To give you an idea of cost I'm going with the $1800 installer, not because they are the cheapest but because they are the biggest company. The smaller guys were much more expensive and honestly felt like they were more driven on maintenance instead of installing. My plumbing is going to cost me $400 for the valve (1" RPZ), $500 for the second water meter horn (have to buy from the city) and $350 in labor for the plumber that will take him less than an hour (Massachusetts).

I was worried about everything at first, but in the end it's just water right? I had no problem finding irrigation companies, the plumbing was the real issue. Good luck!


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

Well the price he gave me was $2500 for 4 zones, split between beds and lawn. Standard controller, rain sensor. Oh price includes plumbing and permits.

I need to find out if getting a second water meter is worth it. Also I was told to water deeply and infrequently is not very practical, you lose too much water to run off. So I'm a little confused about that. He said with me mowing @.5" I maybe watering everyday in summer.


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## DrewSilva (Mar 25, 2020)

I mean it's all relative and water is getting down. You could always provide them with a controller and see if that knocks the price down. I know smart controllers have a soak feature where it sprays for like 15 min allows the water to soak in move on to the next zone and then come back and keep spraying.

Plumbers around here get paid like lawyers, so that might be a good number for you. Call around, google, etc. give yourself some options to choose from.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Get a layout. Make sure you have head to head coverage. What nozzle type? Where will they place the valve boxes?


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

I got a "rough....... um crude" sketch about head placement. One thing that bothers me, feel a little uneasy with is two heads at either end hell strip pointing towards the lawn. I'm sure my neighbors will not be happy since it crosses the sidewalk. We have a lot of early morning dog walkers. I could have another zone just for hell strip but he said every zone I add, the price goes up, and I'm at the high end of budget now.


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## TSGarp007 (May 22, 2018)

Are you getting multiple quotes?


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## Krs1 (Apr 2, 2020)

Sounds like I need to get into the sprinkler business!


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

NJ-lawn said:


> I got a "rough....... um crude" sketch about head placement. One thing that bothers me, feel a little uneasy with is two heads at either end hell strip pointing towards the lawn. I'm sure my neighbors will not be happy since it crosses the sidewalk. We have a lot of early morning dog walkers. I could have another zone just for hell strip but he said every zone I add, the price goes up, and I'm at the high end of budget now.


If your going to pay to do it I would suggest doing it the right way. Still working on my write up but I did everything myself but called a buddy whose a plumber to t into my main line which was pex. I went under a 5 foot sidewalk three times and put each section of my hellstrip on it's own zone. It was a pita and yes the cost will go up at minimum the cost of an additional valve. My hell srip is 2 feet wide and the smallest nozzles cover 5 feet so the sidewalk and street still get wet. But the hell strip is hard to keep green in the summer and with it being on it's own zone I can water it differently than the rest of the lawn.


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## SJ Lawn (May 7, 2018)

NJ-lawn said:


> I got a "rough....... um crude" sketch about head placement. One thing that bothers me, feel a little uneasy with is two heads at either end hell strip pointing towards the lawn. I'm sure my neighbors will not be happy since it crosses the sidewalk. We have a lot of early morning dog walkers. I could have another zone just for hell strip but he said every zone I add, the price goes up, and I'm at the high end of budget now.


You can water the hell strip area at 4-5am ?


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

Well got it installed today.....did an excellent job of not doing much damage. There are some humps from slicing through the turf and a couple spots where the sod was removed and placed back.

As far as the humps go...... they ran them over with the machine to flatten but I can still see them. Should I rent a roller, or is that a waste of time? Also I assume I should water the spots where the turf was cut out and put back? Treat it like new sod? I don't want to water the entire area/ zone because the dew points/ humidity shot up today and next few days. Concerned with disease pressure.


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