Step-by-step guide

Underground lawn sprinkler systems might take some time and effort installing but once connected your long and annoying watering days are over. Smart sprinkler layout and good timer settings will do the entire watering job for you!

 We present to you a short step-by-sep guide to help you understand the basics of underground sprinkler instillation. Reading the guide will give you a wide perspective of what’s required for installing an underground lawn sprinkler system. In addition, at the end of the site you will find some links divided in to different subtopics (but make sure that you truly understand all the elements required before starting). After reading this just clear some time off your schedule and get started!

Planning your sprinkler system

For starts, find out your soil type and local weather conditions. This will help you better accommodate the right sprinkler head to your grass type and your local climate. Heat and wind might affect the sprinklers water distribution and must be taken in consideration when planning a sprinkler layout. Look for the basic information in this site under soil and grass types and checkout other links associated to this topic at the end of this site.

Secondly, you need to measure the flow rate of water to your house (in gallons per minute, GPM). To do that, simply open your outdoor faucet to its maximum and fill up a regular size bucket for precisely 5 seconds, measure the amount of gallons inside and multiply by 12 now you have the GPM rate for your house. Remember those GPM figures and write them down you will need them for choosing the right sprinkler heads for your lawn.

The third step is to sketch a simple plan of your back yard and house hold, be sure to maintain the exact proportions when drafting the plan (you probably got the old house plans laying around in the garage somewhere). When designing the sprinkler and hose layout take notice that sprinklers need some overlapping to avoid dry spots. It’s better to work with a sprinkler catalog, calculate the sprinklers range/diameter and GPM rates and find the model that will fit your lawn (take notice that the systems GPM rate will not exceed more then 65-75 percent of the total households GPM rate). Make a list of materials you will need for the system (pipes, tape, sprinkler heads…), figure out the exact amount you need with your local hardware store sales man using the drafts you sketched earlier.

Water supply

You must separate the new sprinkler system you’re installing from the regular house water supply. Simply install between the house and outdoor pipe conjunction a stop valve, allowing you to control your sprinkler systems water supply.

When constructing the outdoor system make sure you leave a free outgoing hose adapter for other domestic purposes.

Don’t forget before starting all the underground work an anti-siphoning vale. Use different pipe sizes attached with male connectors in order to maintain a high water pressure in the system. Respect diversity, give each system part a special place (faucet, valve, elbow…) a different pipe size.

Pipes and trenches

Start the trench digging exactly beneath the down going pipe and end it with an elbow connection 7-9 inches deeper from the ground level. Remember your back yard is not world war one combat zone; the trenches you dig should be only as wide as a shovel and about 9 inches deep, getting deeper by a ¼ inch every 6 feet. Enabling a slight slope in the trenches will help the pipes to drain. Separate the trench from the lawn with running plastic sheets, one for sod/seed and one for dirt it will prevent future damage to your lawn.                 

Lay down the pipe peaces you cut after measuring the trenches and sprinkler outs you’ve planned in the layout program. Enable system continuity by matching T-shape and elbow shape conjunctions in the relevant spots, for instance, a sprinkler out should have a T-shape connector; a meeting corner of two pipes should have an elbow shape connector.

The next step is adding the sprinkler heads to the T-shape outs you attached earlier to the pipe line or grid. Double check the final sprinkler height (that should be exactly parallel to ground level).  To avoid risk of people tripping over sprinkler heads, make sure that when all work is done the lawn will look totally flat without any dirt lumps or small sprinkler pitches.

To improve sprinkler steadiness, attach a wooden peg or steal stake about 15 inches long embedded to the ground next to the sprinkler, attach the vertically going pipe to the peg\stake with a string of wire.

Testing the system

With the system still uncovered test it by opening the water at half rate. Examine the system carefully for leaks, typical leakage areas are connections but also take a close look at the pipe-run, it might have been accidentally damaged during work.

After identifying and marking leaks mend them according to the type of system that you purchased. Check the system again, this time with full water flow and fix the leakage areas accordingly until your system is totally leakage free. Finally, finish the job by simply filling the trenches with earth and pack the loss ground.

To further improve the efficiency of your new underground system consider adding an automatic timer, you can find one in the selected links at the end of this site.