A co-worker recently asked me, “if you know all about sprinkler systems why don’t you put one in your house?” I replied to him “I don’t have the time and I can not justify paying someone else to do it. Even though I know the benefits of a sprinkler system and how to install it, I don’t have the time and I do not want to spend approximately $5000.00 on a sprinkler system. I also knew that he wanted me to install one for him as well. I really have no ambition getting back into installing sprinkler systems as a way to make money. You see we live in a newly developed neighborhood where most people set out yard sprinklers in the evening. Some are more sophisticated than others but are pretty much the same.
Just when I think I have ended the conversation, he tells me “Surely with all of your experience you could come up with another way?”
As I stood there and reflected on what he just said, I was hit with a REVELATION. What if I could install sprinkler heads and attach them to a timer directly connected to my faucet? Then I wouldn’t have to spend money on a costly water source, installing wiring, control valves and a length infrastructure of pipes under my house.
I told him, “There is a better way and I plan on doing it.”
I already had a garden hose and a lawn sprinkler, but the coverage was less than adequate. So then I need a way to apply my layout and design skills to a system that could be temporary.
Here is what I want in a system:
- Commercial grade sprinkler heads, the same heads that are used on professional systems. Not these, impact heads or $30.00 fancy rotating spray heads from your local hardware store.
- A stand-alone timer. Like the one featured in the Budget Sprinkler Article. With the goal of controller multiple areas of my yard at once, just like a commercial grade irrigation controller.
- Ability to install the system with minimal effort and time. After all, it must be easy!
- Cover my yard efficiently. I do not want to water the neighbor’s yard, or waste water by spraying the roads and sidewalks
- Ability to easily move heads and adjust them as I see fit.
- Lastly, bury the pipe and heads when I get time. With my initial focus on saving time, this ultimately led me to place the heads and pipe above ground. However, I do want the option to come back later and bury it when I have time.
So what does this look like?
Well, I have not purchased it yet, but here is the idea. A timer installed on a faucet, garden hose running from the timer to the first head, then transitioning to “Flex Pipe” (this is what 90% of commercial grade systems are installed with), and then feeding at least 1 more additional head.
The hardest issue I have found is sourcing the materials. I was trying to keep it as simple as possible and from all one location, but I was unable to do so. I narrowed a list of suppliers to 2. Drip Depot and Amazon. Drip Depot has an excellent supply of irrigation materials, but they lack some of the fittings that are required to transition from a garden hose to flex pipe. That is where Amazon comes in.
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