Irrigation materials
Residential irrigation is built mostly from rigid PVC or flexible polyethylene pipe, with fittings, zone valves, and either spray or rotor heads on the lawn and drip tubing with emitters in beds. Which pipe a contractor uses is largely regional - PVC is common in warm climates, flexible poly where freezing and ground movement matter - and neither is inherently better. What matters more is depth, fittings quality, and whether heads are installed on swing joints so a mower strike bends rather than snaps the line.
Drip is the material decision with the largest efficiency payoff. WaterSense's landscaping guidance recommends drip irrigation for shrubs and edible plants, because it delivers water at the root zone instead of throwing it into the air where it evaporates and drifts. If your beds are currently watered by spray heads, converting them is usually the best value change available.
Swing joints matter more than the brand of head. A head plumbed rigidly to the lateral snaps the fitting - or the pipe - when a mower or a car hits it. On a flexible joint, the head takes the damage and the repair is a ten-minute swap. Ask whether swing joints are included; if they're not in the bid, ask what it costs to add them.
Wire and splices are materials too, and cheap ones cause the most annoying failures. Direct-burial wire with waterproof splice connectors in accessible valve boxes is the standard to ask for. Splices buried loose in soil are a future diagnostic bill.
Ask for the zone map and the parts list. Knowing what pipe, what heads and what nozzles are in your yard means the next repair is quick and the next contractor doesn't charge you to rediscover it.
Choosing irrigation materials
The judgement calls that decide the bill, before anyone quotes you.
- Use drip in beds WaterSense recommends drip for shrubs and edible plants - water goes to roots instead of into the air.
- Insist on swing joints They turn a mower strike from a pipe repair into a head swap. Cheap to add, expensive to omit.
- Ask about burial depth and local practice Depth requirements and freeze practice vary regionally. Ask what depth they install to and why.
- Waterproof splices in accessible boxes Wiring faults are common. Make them findable before they happen.
- Get the parts list in writing Head models, nozzle types and pipe spec. It makes every future repair cheaper.
All irrigation materials
PVC Irrigation Pipe
Poly Irrigation Tubing
Drip Line
Valve Boxes
Fittings and Couplings
Wiring for Irrigation Valves
Where these figures come from
Sources last checked
- EPA WaterSense - Landscaping Tips · retrieved 2026-07-26
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