Underground irrigation/sprinklers

[JordanEG6]

I have them. My dad and I did it ourselves though. Parts are maybe on the north end of $700 and it's worth it for me. You can water at the proper time frames and it's pretty hassle free with very little maintenance other than purging it out before Winter. Sometimes you'd get a busted sprinkler but the parts are cheap enough and you just switch them out yourself.

[94CoRd]

My go-to for irrigation is Regency. They do have a DIY Class, where they'll teach you everything about the products in your package, install, setup, maintain etc. If you're handy and don't mind waiting around a bit, take a to-scale drawing of your lawn and gardens, and they'll help sketch out your system/zones and build a parts lists for you.

I only have a single zone in the front yard, and two in the back - both run off the exterior spigots (so fairly simple), but with irrigation, especially DIY, its always such a pain making sure you have the right type of sprinkler head and associated parts.

[nagooro]

Welp just bought the Rachio 3 from amazon, landscaping and irrigation going in this week. Whats a reasonable charge to get the double back water valve things tested each year?

[Lex350]

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"Worth it" is subjective, but if you would be moving around hoses and sprinklers above ground multiple times a week all summer then yeah probably. If you are more zen about it and water once a month or so, then no.

Garantee you use more water with them though, because watering will be so easy you'll do it more.

I disagree. I had them on the house I just sold. I used a lot less water. I set them to come on every second day for 15 minutes @ 6:00am during dry times. My water bill was much less than at my previous place. Also my grass was full with no weeds.

[macman64]

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Welp just bought the Rachio 3 from amazon, landscaping and irrigation going in this week. Whats a reasonable charge to get the double back water valve things tested each year?

It ranges - cheapest I have seen is $60 but most are under $100.

[00redLUDE]

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You do need a permit for it.....Older houses didn't require a permit though and don't require updating to add a back flow valve. I run a back flow and have it tested annually at $85 a year. I save the money and blow out my own system.

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Welp just bought the Rachio 3 from amazon, landscaping and irrigation going in this week. Whats a reasonable charge to get the double back water valve things tested each year?

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It ranges - cheapest I have seen is $60 but most are under $100.

Should have done my research before getting my sprinkler installed last year. So the company that did it, did our winterization for $95+GST and now say we need the cross connection testing (back flow test) for $99+GST and then spring start and test for $85+GST. Is there a company that can do the cross connection test for less than $99? Feel free to pm. Thanks in advance

[ExtraSlow]

Just don't do the test. That's the solution many people choose.

[00redLUDE]

Company won’t go ahead with the spring start and test without the cross connection test.

[Tik-Tok]

Whats involved in the "spring start"? I just open all the valves manually until the air is bled out.

[ThePenIsMightier]

LoL!! This is the quality of buried drinking straws! Send them a picture of a fat cock and tell them to choke to death on it!
Thieving pricks!

[ExtraSlow]

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Whats involved in the "spring start"? I just open all the valves manually until the air is bled out.

Sounds like the most important part is the $99 + $85 +gst.

[benyl]

Spring start up is turning on a valve in your basement and then running each zone from the controller.

Unless you get a letter from the city asking for a test, I don’t know why you would test it...

[sk8r3124]

I used to install for Regency Irrigation for a few summers, and we would just install a ballvalve in the furnace room which wouldn't require testing. Then the flood happened and the city changed the bylaw, and companies can no longer install simple ballvalves. Instead they have to install a different type and now require backflow pressure testing every year. Again....I have yet to hear of any request for proof of testing. That being said, if you have any insurance claim to do with water damage.....that's when it may come up and be problematic.

Irrigation installation is really quite simple and in my opinion not worth paying a contractor to do. What I would pay someone to do the plumbing to tap into your water line and create the dedicated hose bib you will be hooking up the system to. If you have a newer yard with no old trees with fat roots, its worth going to home depot and renting a trencher or line pulling machine. If you can get that done....a typical install can be done in a day or two. I live in an older neighborhood and had to manually trench my 5 zone, I would say it took about 3 weekends with a few weeknights "sprinkled" in. Also, I have installed poly and blu-loc, and I will always choose Blu-loc. It is a little more expensive, but not having to mess with all those clamps is a dream, and any small leak can be fixed easier.

Just my 2 cents

[JPB]

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I used to install for Regency Irrigation for a few summers, and we would just install a ballvalve in the furnace room which wouldn't require testing. Then the flood happened and the city changed the bylaw, and companies can no longer install simple ballvalves. Instead they have to install a different type and now require backflow pressure testing every year. Again....I have yet to hear of any request for proof of testing. That being said, if you have any insurance claim to do with water damage.....that's when it may come up and be problematic.

Irrigation installation is really quite simple and in my opinion not worth paying a contractor to do. What I would pay someone to do the plumbing to tap into your water line and create the dedicated hose bib you will be hooking up the system to. If you have a newer yard with no old trees with fat roots, its worth going to home depot and renting a trencher or line pulling machine. If you can get that done....a typical install can be done in a day or two. I live in an older neighborhood and had to manually trench my 5 zone, I would say it took about 3 weekends with a few weeknights "sprinkled" in. Also, I have installed poly and blu-loc, and I will always choose Blu-loc. It is a little more expensive, but not having to mess with all those clamps is a dream, and any small leak can be fixed easier.

Just my 2 cents

Perhaps a simple question, but how deep is irrigation typically installed. I bought a house a few years ago with an extensive system installed, but the previous owner never used it and it has fallen into disrepair. My idea would be to expose the whole thing to understand how it is set up and fix any leaks but I have no idea how much pain I would be getting myself into by taking this approach. Is there an easier way to expose a system other than with a spade?

[cet]

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I used to install for Regency Irrigation for a few summers, and we would just install a ballvalve in the furnace room which wouldn't require testing. Then the flood happened and the city changed the bylaw, and companies can no longer install simple ballvalves. Instead they have to install a different type and now require backflow pressure testing every year. Again....I have yet to hear of any request for proof of testing. That being said, if you have any insurance claim to do with water damage.....that's when it may come up and be problematic.

Irrigation installation is really quite simple and in my opinion not worth paying a contractor to do. What I would pay someone to do the plumbing to tap into your water line and create the dedicated hose bib you will be hooking up the system to. If you have a newer yard with no old trees with fat roots, its worth going to home depot and renting a trencher or line pulling machine. If you can get that done....a typical install can be done in a day or two. I live in an older neighborhood and had to manually trench my 5 zone, I would say it took about 3 weekends with a few weeknights "sprinkled" in. Also, I have installed poly and blu-loc, and I will always choose Blu-loc. It is a little more expensive, but not having to mess with all those clamps is a dream, and any small leak can be fixed easier.

Just my 2 cents

This is the route I took last year. Went to Regency and bought all the parts, installed it myself and had them come and hook it up to the water in the house. So far it's worked out well.

[goldfish168]

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I used to install for Regency Irrigation for a few summers, and we would just install a ballvalve in the furnace room which wouldn't require testing. Then the flood happened and the city changed the bylaw, and companies can no longer install simple ballvalves. Instead they have to install a different type and now require backflow pressure testing every year. Again....I have yet to hear of any request for proof of testing. That being said, if you have any insurance claim to do with water damage.....that's when it may come up and be problematic.

Irrigation installation is really quite simple and in my opinion not worth paying a contractor to do. What I would pay someone to do the plumbing to tap into your water line and create the dedicated hose bib you will be hooking up the system to. If you have a newer yard with no old trees with fat roots, its worth going to home depot and renting a trencher or line pulling machine. If you can get that done....a typical install can be done in a day or two. I live in an older neighborhood and had to manually trench my 5 zone, I would say it took about 3 weekends with a few weeknights "sprinkled" in. Also, I have installed poly and blu-loc, and I will always choose Blu-loc. It is a little more expensive, but not having to mess with all those clamps is a dream, and any small leak can be fixed easier.

Just my 2 cents

The city requires qualified testers to submit results directly back to the city. All that the backflow valve does is prevent potentially hazardous water in your irrigation system leaching back into the city's water supply if there ever was a loss of water pressure at the same time your irrigation valves happen to be on. Requiring annual testing is just a cash grab IMO. I ignored and the city's letter demanding a testing be completed annually last year and never heard back, I'll probably get another letter again this year.

[sabad66]

Is it relatively easy to retrofit a backflow valve onto an existing bib? I'm thinking of going with one of 1-zone Regency's DIY kits for my smaller front yard, but i don't want to run a new bib and drill a hole through my exterior wall etc.

Also to stay within code and avoid any potential insurance issues, does the backflow install need an inspection by city?

[Tik-Tok]

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Perhaps a simple question, but how deep is irrigation typically installed. I bought a house a few years ago with an extensive system installed, but the previous owner never used it and it has fallen into disrepair. My idea would be to expose the whole thing to understand how it is set up and fix any leaks but I have no idea how much pain I would be getting myself into by taking this approach. Is there an easier way to expose a system other than with a spade?

I installed mine about 12" down. I also found an old disused system while digging the trenches. My elderly neighbor told me she forgot my house even had it, she hadn't seen it being used in over 20 years.

Honestly, probably just best to plan and dig for your own system, and cut through or rip out any old pipes you happen to come upon. That way you aren't relying on someone else's plan, which may not have been ideal to begin with.

[sk8r3124]

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I installed mine about 12" down. I also found an old disused system while digging the trenches. My elderly neighbor told me she forgot my house even had it, she hadn't seen it being used in over 20 years.

Honestly, probably just best to plan and dig for your own system, and cut through or rip out any old pipes you happen to come upon. That way you aren't relying on someone else's plan, which may not have been ideal to begin with.

Yup, usually a foot down. To avoid digging up the whole system, you can just troubleshoot where you have leaks the redneck way......turn it on. It will quickly become apparent where your leaks are. Dig a hole carefully as to not cut into the pipe.

[nismodrifter]

A question.

I have a broken pvc line coming off my manifold. I have limited space to work in and must get the repair right on the first try or I am going to have to do a lot of digging.

Are pvc lock fittings reliable? These are the ones with teeth. This type of fitting would work nicely in my situation and if I screw up a measurement there is hope of shimmying the release tool in to get it off.