# What little things to look for to avoid big things later



## SixString (Mar 2, 2018)

Hi all,

***Warning, long post. To skip to actual questions I am asking skip to "*** Questions Start Here ***" section below

After two summers of experimenting with a two-year DIY above ground system (1" poly → ½" tee fittings → swing joint →PRS40 →MP Rotors) connected to hose bibs, I succumbed to my own ego (and lack of PSI thanks to a regulator) and decided to take the professional irrigation plunge. Largely thanks to this site inspiring my own deep research, I feel like my level of knowledge is a little bit higher than that of the average enthusiast.

I've always been drawn to paying attention to the finest of details in any topic that I become interested in (e.g. custom fitted golf clubs down to the number of wraps of grip tape, visited the Taylor guitar factory in California so that I could personally pick out the specific piece of wood used, and other miscellaneous self-admittedly nutjob/weirdo extra steps most likely not needed). :lol:

Although, that same personality with sometimes extreme levels of thoroughness has made me very successful at my own profession, I do realize that I'm not the norm. Unfortunately, I've witnessed thousands of examples of a lower than ideal dedication to their craft by others, regardless of the job or industry. What ever happened to "always do your best"??? I'll get off my soapbox now and back on topic.

Although I have consumed hundreds of hours of information regarding everything from NTEP cultivar studies and top golf course superintendent's turf management best practices to soil nutrient dilution effects and ideal climatic temperature to humidity ratios, I will still admit that what I know is miniscule compared to the collective group. In addition, I'm a pretty intelligent guy, but I still make some stupid, dumbass mistakes.

***Questions start here***

I am very interested in hearing from the forum about "avoidable problems" that you feel could have been avoided if at the time your system was installed you had spotted the cause of the eventual issue.

What type of things should I be on the lookout for to make sure the installer isn't "cutting corners"?

What are some "tricks of the trade" that may not be common best practices that I should assume each contractor would do?

What are some glaring indicators of parts installed incorrectly that aren't obvious to the under-informed?

Does anyone have any hindsight stories or examples of ways you would do it differently now because you know better?

The installation has already been started, but he believes it will probably take two more days to finish as he isn't working with a crew. Fortunately, I'm able to work from home over the next two days. I want to be very clear that I am in no way trying to micro-manage a professional, but I have to live here and he doesn't so I want to ensure the high level of quality that has been promised is executed completely throughout the job, and not just in the spots that he points out to me "what he had to do".

I did plenty of research on contractors and received four bids. Ultimately, I have confidently gone with a guy who has been in the irrigation industry for over 30 years. Coincidentally, he lives in the neighborhood next to where I live. In fact, I noticed his lawn every time my family and I would take a walk to see the newest houses fill in the subdivision. Even before I noticed that a van with irrigation signage was always parked next to his driveway, I admired his 100% KBG lushness. One early evening a few weeks ago and after the first two bids, I knocked on his door and scheduled an appointment. After meeting with him, I came away impressed with his design and his thoughts on overall lawn methodology. He ended up not being the lowest bid, but he wasn't the highest bid either.

Some details of the system:

•	Only two-thirds of my current "turf" square footage will be irrigated. The other third is being significantly regraded and hardscaping being added as part of a significant excavation of our backyard when we have a deck and "outdoor living space" constructed beginning in October. We're a corner lot with no sidewalks, good size front yard, one large side yard, one small side yard, and a small backyard. The small side yard and back yard are being omitted from this install.
•	8 zones will go in now, but a Rachio 3 16-zone controller is being installed to plan for future expansion of zones to the regraded area and to irrigate trees and plants installed during our other outdoor construction project.
•	All sprays are Hunter PRS40s with Check Valves. There is a mix of 4" and 6" for the lawn depending on the sloping of where they are going to sit. He is using 12" sprays in some of the landscaping beds.
•	All heads will be Hunter MP Rotors. They are a mix of MP3000s and MP2000s depending on the distance needed.
•	I've asked for all heads to connected via swing joints.
•	He has already tapped our main line with a 1" copper pipe from our basement and ran the pipe out to a Wilkins-Zurn 975XL Reduced Pressure backflow preventer. In addition, a Sioux Chief HydraRester for water hammer reduction is being put in.
•	A FEBCO 622F Full Port Ball Valve was used as the main shutoff valve and is located in the basement.
•	The mainlines will be 1" Cresline PVC SDR 21 - 200 PSI - ASTM D2241
•	From the mainlines, 1" 80 PSI Centennial SDR 19 - ASTM D2239 poly is being installed via pipe puller.
•	He's running 1 ½" PVC as conduit underneath our driveway to 
•	18 gauge, 600 volt wiring is being used
•	We have four 4-year-old Red Maples on our lot. Although, we didn't originally choose them, we're not yet ready to decide if we want to get rid of them. Therefore, if we're going to keep them, I want to make sure their root systems develop down and not out. Each tree will have three Rainbird 36" Root Watering System tubes installed.


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## XLT_66 (Jul 17, 2018)

Well, as someone who just had a system installed, the biggest thing that is driving me nuts right now is that the installer trenched right along the borders between grass and rocks, etc. At the time, it seemed it was sort of an effort to keep the trenches to the perimeter as much as possible but now, it has basically ruined my edges between turf and adjacent media. We've had a mess of rain lately and all the loose dirt has washed into the rocks, etc and I no longer have the crisp grass border that used to. In hindsight, I would have thought more about exactly where the trenches would go and then asked for them to hand trench outward a foot or two for perimeter head placement. In short, don't trench near the edge of things...it'll ruin it.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Make sure there is an easy attachment to blow out the system if that's going to be a requirement.

I had broken out a special zone for an area that requires more water. It's by itself and competes with three trees, yet the rest of the zone is so large that I would be irrigating daily just to address the problem spot of 20 sqft, while the other 9000sqft are just fine.


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## NanserbE (Jun 29, 2018)

Direct sun needs direct water. Make sure every part gets water.

Make sure that every head is sprayed by another head.

Almost all spray rotors and most nozzles don't have their advertised reach.

Don't mix regular arc rotors and spray nozzles (didn't look like you were planning on it) as they deliver water at very different rates.

Take a ton of pictures of the lines so you'll know where to dig later if you need to add more heads and do repairs.

Skip the class 200 for the main and have the installer do 1.5" Schedule 40. Rocks and shovels will easily take out that thin walled class 200 PVC.

A blow out port is a must if you live in an area with a frost line over a few inches.

Flush the absolute piss out of that system before you install the nozzles. Turn each zone on with the spray nozzles uninstalled to blow out all that debris. Like 2 minutes a zone or more. Flush flush flush.

Break the zones up into shady areas and sunny areas. Your shady ones won't need nearly the water that your sunny ones will. Too much water is just as bad as too little.

If you have any inclination to run a drip system now is the time. Funny pipe is incredibly cheap and can 1/2 can supply hundreds of emitters or more. Rainbird makes a control valve with a 30psi regulator and screen that is fantastic. Run the line everywhere and just know where you have to dig to get to it later if you plant anything.

Read everything on irrigationtutorials.com

Otherwise what you have looks great!


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