How To Set Sprinkler Timer

Here'southward an amazing DIY tutorial on how to install a backyard sprinkler organization prepare on a timer. Photo instructions included.

By Cole Mayer

My backyard was, until June 9, half dirt, one-half weeds. My married woman and I moved into our new house in December, and we oasis't had the time to do anything nonetheless (plus snow tends to get in the mode). Over the weekend of June 9-12, my wife (a teacher thankfully at present on summertime break), parents and uncle (all retired) helped install a sprinkler arrangement. With me as a freelance author and her as a instructor, having my family assistance fabricated information technology possible to still pay bills. Read on to notice out how we did it, and how much coin we saved.

Footstep 0: Planning

I helped my dad (through the magic of the internet, him beingness 2 states away) draft this plan for the sprinkler arrangement in the lawn. Information technology'due south difficult to tell, but there'due south two sprinkler zones for the yard, color-coded orange and yellow, and 2 drip zones for gardens and planters. Each circle is coverage from ane caput. Nosotros decided to focus our efforts on the sprinklers, every bit I could exercise the drip zones myself.

My uncle recently helped his son/my cousin put in an irrigation organization, and my dad did information technology for his own business firm, then we have some idea of what we're doing. Of class, as yous accept probably guessed past now, no plan survives contact with the enemy – in this case, slightly incorrect measurements and my wife deciding she wanted a little more grass, a little less planter area, and the other changes. The area for the shed was too going to be grass, pregnant information technology would demand coverage, too. Look closely and you lot can encounter the orangish and yellow lines – the two sprinkler zones, dubbed zones vii and viii respectively, every bit there are 6 zones in the front yard. Zones 9 and 10 will be drip zones.

I also have to business relationship for my wife wanting to paint a fence mural. Though information technology's non on the plan due to the change, information technology will become in the play surface area, where the shed is on the programme. Because we had to extend a trench and use a 360 degree sprinkler caput, the the paint will exist sprayed on a daily footing. Fifty-fifty if I changed which fence the painting is on, due to the current of air we have in our area, the mural will inevitably get wet. On top of coverage, I have to recall about types of paint, otherwise the sprinklers volition just destroy the mural. All of this should have been in the plan, just was decided after I sent the original idea to my dad, who was an urban planner for 35 years. My proffer is to thoroughly plan out everything beforehand, rather than having a general thought, or, like me, y'all will have to practise more work in the long run.

With the changes to that area, I also had to factor in the foundation of the house itself. Specifically, standing water from the sprinklers and how the area around the foundation was graded. With the corner sprinkler head removed and another added downwards the line, with, as mentioned, 360 caste coverage, it volition hit the wall and foundation. I'll have to monitor information technology in the future, and slope away with topsoil.

Finally, I should have decided where I desire to put things on the lawn – like a burn down pit – before sending my dad the original idea. Slightly left of the porch on the programme, at that place'due south an area where blue, green and regal coverage circles overlap. This is probably my best place for the burn down pit – cinder block, stone, or a metal that won't rust, depending on if I want to build or purchase – due to the overlap. It shouldn't block whatsoever of the sprinklers from providing coverage to other parts of the lawn. Only, it wasn't part of the original plan, and then I have to play it by ear.

With the planning done (generally), it was fourth dimension to showtime creating my lawn. A warning before we really start: If you practice the sprinkler system yourself, you volition be sore. It volition hurt. You will probably go blisters, even wearing gloves. Have knee pads handy, go gloves that fit, and take Epsom salts set up for a warm bathroom.

Preparing the backyard: weeding

The lawn was overgrown, as yous volition meet below. I sprayed weed killer and took a trimmer to what was left. Trimming took 3 hours and left my hands incredibly sore. I probably should have waited longer to let the weed killer work; take that as a word to the wise. My wife'southward uncle came out for a weekend and he volunteered to utilise a hula hoe to help clear what was left of the weeds where the sprinklers needed to go.

The Install

Step i: Trenching

My married woman and dad rented a trencher while I was at work on June ii. Though there was confusion with a gentleman who thought he reserved the trencher – I had tried earlier in the week and was told that, at Domicile Depot, goose egg for hire could be reserved in advance – they successfully towed the machine back to our home. It took most of the twenty-four hour period to trench, according to the plan. The chain got stuck multiple times and took some percussive maintenance with a rubber mallet to get the chain realigned. As noted above, the plan inverse, which meant mitt-trenching the side by side 24-hour interval.

1.2: Paw trenching

For the hand trenching, I highly recommend a cutter mattock. My uncle, who was a volunteer fire-eater, got his from an emergency services supply store for almost $l. Information technology was worth its weight in gold. My backyard was one time a riverbed, with many rocks. The axe head part of the mattock was surprisingly perfect for digging into the ground and cleaving pocket-sized rocks, while the adze office allowed me to make the trenches deeper. My married woman and I would switch off, her with a narrow shovel or trowel to sweep away the dirt I dug up, giving me a intermission from swinging the mattock.

Step 2: Lay the pipe

The beginning part of this step is like shooting fish in a barrel – connect the pipes and lay them into the trenches. We used 1-inch pipage, though depending on how much h2o flow you need, based on the size of your chiliad and pipe length, you might need ¾-inch pipe. Be sure to get parts that match that size. Now for the not-as-easy function: To connect a sprinkler head to the pipe, merely use a T-joint, gluing each new end of the cut PVC pipage to the T. A ratchet cutter is best for cutting the pipage. If possible, get colored pigment. Nosotros didn't have any and in some cases, when checking our work, we had to feel to meet if there was any articulate glue. Colored gum makes it a snap to see if you've glued a joint. From the T-joint, which should be pointed down, use funny pipe to connect to the sprinkler head, with an elbow on each end.

We managed to get about half the pipes in the ground that Friday, June three – we still had more manus-trenching to do, and we were running out of free energy in the afternoon. It was at that signal nosotros decided that, to save on both PVC pipe and needing to make the trenches deeper, nosotros would use funny piping, which is much more flexible and smaller. Trenches can be shallower than what is needed for PVC pipe, and don't have to be straight lines. I highly recommend this route if you are doing your own system, or adding to an existing system.

After two more than trips to Dwelling Depot and a trip to an irrigation supply store, we had the parts parts we were missing – elbows for turns in the PVC pipes and extra T-joints to account for the changes in plans. By Saturday afternoon, 290 feet of pipes were laid, T-joints cut in, and sprinkler heads fastened via funny pipe.There was one x-foot piece of pipe leftover.

Step 3: Connecting the wires

3.1: The timer

The difficult role is out of the way. Connecting the wires from the valves is surprisingly simple. Beginning, we ran sprinkler wire from the water principal to the original timer. Once we had the length right, it can be cut and later buried. The original timer, put in by the landscaper provided by our business firm architect, is pretty complicated. The second timer is far more intuitive – I can set a dial to Zone 1 (my Zone 7, since the original timer couldn't take 4 more zones), hit a push button, and the sprinklers plough on. The just problem, and a modest ane at that, is the timer only allows one zone to be on at a fourth dimension.

3.2: Valve wires Each valve will have two wires. I for a common connection, one for a unmarried connection. I like to utilize the red wire as the mutual wire. Take one wire from each valve, twist them all together to connect them, and utilize a water-resistant wire cap, usually pre-filled with a silicon-based sealant to forbid corrosion. Next, each individual wire. Exist certain to write down which wire went to which valve. For example, my Zone 7 is the green wire. Cap each one.

3.3: Connect wires to timer

The final wire pace! The timer should have a color-coded arrangement to push the other cease of the sprinkler wire into. Common, Zone 1, etc. At that place might also be places to put in a wireless pelting sensor or upgrade to more zones, but that's for another time.

Step 4: Adapt the heads

The last major stride is adjusting the heads of the sprinklers. Be sure you've put both the filter and nozzle in the heads by this point. We used rocks to prop upwards the heads, taking into account at that place would be topsoil and sod. The heads I used had notches to indicate the start and cease of the arc of water. Simply past twisting the head, nosotros could change the arc. We mostly used 90, 180 and 360 degrees, simply whatsoever part of a circle is possible. A minor screw on top of the head changed the distance the water could achieve, upwards to 12 anxiety on these detail heads.

By the finish of Saturday, I had a working sprinkler system, controlled by a timer, with excellent coverage. Simply, my battle is merely showtime.

Pace 5: The garden drip zones

Remember the two drip zones? You can see the new water valves we installed in the bigger box to the left in tiptop part of the photo. The drip valves, which won't fit in the buried box, each bespeak a different way – handy to know at a glance which valve covers which half of the thou. One time raised garden boxes are made, I'll know where I need to run the baste lines to. As they don't have to be buried, the baste lines will be significantly easier to install for future gardens and plant beds.

Stride half-dozen: Finishing touches

As information technology stands, my backyard withal looks like that last photograph. We have a lot of large rocks to remove from the backyard that we dug up. My married woman and I volition bury the pipes – ensuring that the sprinkler heads are kept in their same, upright position.

Ane last piece of advice: Before burying the pipage, have a pic of where the pipes are, for future reference. If possible, apply a drone for a bird's-center view photograph of your thousand. I popped out a screen from a window on our second flooring and climbed out on the roof – a bit more unsafe than having a robot do nearly of the work for you. Also, my panoramic photograph is stretched out, so I'll probably have to rely on the sections I photographed separately. A bird'south-eye view, however, is perfect. I plan on building a pergola with swinging chairs around the burn down pit, so I need to know where I can dig to anchor the pergola posts. Hit a water pipage is non my idea of a fun weekend.

But for the immediate futurity, I'm done. The drip system will be for the coming weeks. With the sprinklers running and hooked up to the timer, I feel similar a water wizard, able to control h2o with a button press.

I've saved the best for concluding: how much nosotros saved. For the entire backyard, a contractor wanted $half dozen,000. That's for parts and labor. While I still need to get topsoil and sod, I've only spent $600 or so in parts – and that's before returning parts we ended upward not using. Labor was taken intendance of in feeding my family unit dinner and keeping them hydrated, in office with beer. As Andy Dufresne said in The Shawshank Redemption, "I think a man working outdoors feels more like a human being if he tin can have a bottle of suds."

On summit of saving money, I have the satisfaction of knowing I did the work, by my own hand. I didn't simply pay someone to do it, I did it myself. And that's one of the all-time feelings in the world.

… and it works:

Source: https://www.homestratosphere.com/how-to-install-a-backyard-sprinkler-system-on-a-timer-6-steps/

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