Sprinkler installation, designed around your yard

What is sprinkler installation?

Sprinkler installation is the process of designing and burying a permanent watering system: a tap into your water supply, a backflow preventer, valves that split the yard into zones, buried pipe, pop-up heads sized to each area, and a controller that runs it. The design decides everything. Almost every failure homeowners blame on "cheap parts" is really a zone that was asked to run more heads than the water supply can feed.

Signs you need sprinkler installation

• You are hauling hoses and moving a sprinkler around the yard on a schedule you keep forgetting
• Parts of the lawn are visibly browner than others every August, in the same places every year
• You have just laid new sod or seed and the establishment watering is more than you can keep up with by hand
• Your water bill is high but the lawn still looks stressed - a sign of watering at the wrong time, not too little
• You travel in summer and there is nobody to water while you are gone
• You are landscaping from scratch and the yard is already open - trenching costs far less before the sod and hardscape go down
• A local watering restriction limits you to specific days or hours, and hand-watering inside that window is not realistic

Seeing something not on this list? Browse irrigation problems by symptom →

How sprinkler installation actually works

1. 1

   Measure the water supply - before any design exists

   The installer measures static pressure at an outside spigot and flow rate in gallons per minute, and identifies the service line size. These two numbers set the hard ceiling on how many heads can run at once, which is what determines the number of zones.

   Watch forA quote produced without anyone measuring flow and pressure. This is the single most common cause of a system that "never worked right": zones designed on assumption, heads that mist instead of throw, and dry arcs that no amount of nozzle-swapping fixes afterwards.

2. 2

   Zone the property by hydrology, not by geography

   Zones group areas that want the same amount of water at the same time - full-sun turf, shaded turf, slopes, and beds are separated. Spray heads and rotors apply water at very different rates and must never share a zone.

   Watch forRotors and fixed sprays mixed on one valve because it was convenient for the trench route. That zone can only ever be right for half of itself; you will overwater one part to keep the other alive.

3. 3

   Head layout and head-to-head coverage

   Heads are spaced so each one throws far enough to reach its neighbours. Sprinkler distribution is heaviest near the head and thins out at the edge of its arc, so overlapping the throws is what produces even coverage rather than a ring of green with a dry middle.

   Watch forHeads spaced to the edge of their rated radius to save on parts. It looks fine on paper and produces permanent dry wedges between heads.

4. 4

   Backflow preventer and the point of connection

   The system ties into your supply and a backflow preventer goes in to stop irrigation water - which sits in pipes over soil, fertiliser and pet waste - being drawn back into drinking water. The device type and its testing rules are set by your water utility or local code, not by the installer.

   Watch forA vague answer about the backflow device. This is the part of the job most likely to need a permit and an inspection, and in many jurisdictions a specifically certified person. Ask which device your utility requires, in writing, before work starts.

5. 5

   Trenching and pipe

   Pipe is pulled or trenched in below mower depth and below your local frost consideration, sleeves are run under driveways and paths, and valves are grouped in accessible boxes. Utility locates are called before anything goes in the ground.

   Watch forNo utility locate ticket. Also watch valve boxes buried under future mulch or planted over - you will need to reach them, and digging for a valve you cannot find is a miserable afternoon.

6. 6

   Wiring and controller

   Low-voltage wire runs from the controller to each valve, with spare conductors pulled for zones you might add later. The controller is mounted somewhere reachable - garage or exterior - and programmed with a starting schedule.

   Watch forNo spare wires pulled. Adding a zone later then means trenching a new wire run the whole way back, which can cost more than the zone. Ask for at least two spares; it is inexpensive at install and expensive after.

7. 7

   Commissioning, arc setting and a real schedule

   Every head is run, arcs and nozzles are adjusted to keep water off pavement and walls, pressure is checked at the furthest head, and the controller is programmed by zone rather than one blanket run time.

   Watch forOne run time applied to every zone. Shade, slope, sun and bed zones have genuinely different needs, and a single schedule guarantees that something is being overwatered to keep something else alive.

8. 8

   As-built drawing and handover

   You should receive a drawing showing head positions, pipe runs, valve locations and wire colours, plus the make and model of heads and controller so you can buy matching parts later.

   Watch forNo as-built. Five years on, when a valve fails or a fence post goes through a lateral, the drawing is the difference between a one-hour repair and a day of exploratory digging.

What does sprinkler installation cost?

Most residential in-ground systems land in the low-to-mid four figures, driven by zone count, yard size, soil and how much hard surface has to be sleeved under. Backflow device and permit requirements vary by utility. See the Cost Guide for the breakdown.

See the full sprinkler installation cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →