[jbov]

I recently bought a house that has a very bare front/side yard. There are only a few boulders and the red dirt ground cover.

It appears that I have drip irrigation installed behind the house and by the front door (on the other side of the driveway from the bare sections). However it is an old house, and I can't figure out if the drip irrigation is operational, and if I could extend it to the bare areas.

My questions are:

1. How can I troubleshoot the existing system to see if it works? I see the tubes coming out of the ground in some places and there are some "sprinkler-type" heads in the back, but I don't see any sort of master control, or point of origination.

2. What plants (if any) I can start this time of year without drip irrigation.

3. Obviously there are a number of variables but how much do drip systems range in cost? Can I get someone to come over and troubleshoot the system and give me a quote for free?

Any and all help is appreciated!

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by jbov

1. How can I troubleshoot the existing system to see if it works? I see the tubes coming out of the ground in some places and there are some "sprinkler-type" heads in the back, but I don't see any sort of master control, or point of origination.

There should be some automatic valves somewhere. They're either in a plastic box, underground, like this:



(the box will usually have a green plastic lid on it), or they stick out of the ground like this:



There should also be some kind of digital controller hooked up to low-voltage wiring to control the valves, like this:



The controller is usually in the garage, but sometimes mounted on the house in the front or back yard. If you find some loose low-voltage wires in the garage, it means someone took the controller, and you just need to pick one up at the store. I'm accustomed to Toro sprinkler controllers, but they all pretty much do the same thing.

3. Obviously there are a number of variables but how much do drip systems range in cost? Can I get someone to come over and troubleshoot the system and give me a quote for free?

Any landscaper can fix your system for you. Controllers start at around $30-35 and the valves are as little as $10. So all the cost is in the labor. I would suggest spending a little more and getting heavy duty residential/light-commercial valves at an irrigation supply store, like Ewing or Do It Yourself Sprinklers. Much better than the Orbit crap that Home Depot sells, and even better than what you might find at Star Nursery. The guy at DIY Sprinklers has been very helpful to me in the past. You can find dozens of ads for irrigation repair on Craigslist, and other posters here will be able to provide references. My landscaper is VIP Landscaping and Lawn Care if you want to give them a call.

[jbov]

Thanks for the great info. I have the automatic valves but there is definitely no control panel anywhere on the property.

I got an inexpensive referral from a coworker, but will look on craigslist as well.

Also, I plan to do the landscaping myself. Since the drip setup depends on the plant types and layout, does it make sense to plant first and then have someone come and repair the existing system (and extend it to the bare spots)? Or does the drip system need to be in place first?

[demoknite]

I suck at DIY, and I managed to set up a irrigation system with three zones. First zone came with the house and I did the other two in the backyard. I have a rainbird system. Id try it yourself before you get a landscaper around unless youre gonna have him do the whole shebang. Most of the greenery here is not natural or invasive.

[jbov]

I too love diy, only person I've called to date is an electrician. But I can't get past square one with this drip system.

The house was built in 1955 and thoroughly renovated prior to me buying it. There is no controller anywhere or signs where it might have been. The renovators made a number of sloppy moves and I guess they drywalled over where the controller was.

Also the lot is over a quarter acre and the house runs diagonally across it. There are a few valves in back but they are separated from the house by the pool and surrounding concrete. So I don't know how or where the valves lead to. There are also some plastic tubes half buried in front of the house around some mature and healthy sago palms, but they appear to be disconnected or rotted away from the system. They pull right out of the ground.

And the final complication... the bare side yard is across the driveway and a sea of concrete so I would need to dig a channe to lay tubing to that portion.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by jbov

I too love diy, only person I've called to date is an electrician. But I can't get past square one with this drip system.

The house was built in 1955 and thoroughly renovated prior to me buying it. There is no controller anywhere or signs where it might have been. The renovators made a number of sloppy moves and I guess they drywalled over where the controller was.

Also the lot is over a quarter acre and the house runs diagonally across it. There are a few valves in back but they are separated from the house by the pool and surrounding concrete. So I don't know how or where the valves lead to. There are also some plastic tubes half buried in front of the house around some mature and healthy sago palms, but they appear to be disconnected or rotted away from the system. They pull right out of the ground.

And the final complication... the bare side yard is across the driveway and a sea of concrete so I would need to dig a channe to lay tubing to that portion.

Where are you located? YOu need someone who knows the basics to take a look.

Those valves for instance have wires on them. Where do the wires go?

[WestieJeff]

To me this is one of those instances where you have to decide how much effort you want to put into "rehabbing" the existing system of unknown quality or just starting from scratch and doing it right. You can pickup off a water supply, plumb valves in, and run the irrigation wire to a new controller.

That is the most costly and probably most work, but there have been a lot of "existing" systems I've messed with and was constantly chasing down the next problem until I finally gave up and gutted the system.

I personally run hard PVC as much as possible, since I've had issues with the black poly tubing springing leaks over time. I still use black poly, but I try to keep the main lines hard PVC.

Originally Posted by jbov

I too love diy, only person I've called to date is an electrician. But I can't get past square one with this drip system.

The house was built in 1955 and thoroughly renovated prior to me buying it. There is no controller anywhere or signs where it might have been. The renovators made a number of sloppy moves and I guess they drywalled over where the controller was.

Also the lot is over a quarter acre and the house runs diagonally across it. There are a few valves in back but they are separated from the house by the pool and surrounding concrete. So I don't know how or where the valves lead to. There are also some plastic tubes half buried in front of the house around some mature and healthy sago palms, but they appear to be disconnected or rotted away from the system. They pull right out of the ground.

And the final complication... the bare side yard is across the driveway and a sea of concrete so I would need to dig a channe to lay tubing to that portion.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by WestieJeff

To me this is one of those instances where you have to decide how much effort you want to put into "rehabbing" the existing system of unknown quality or just starting from scratch and doing it right. You can pickup off a water supply, plumb valves in, and run the irrigation wire to a new controller.

That is the most costly and probably most work, but there have been a lot of "existing" systems I've messed with and was constantly chasing down the next problem until I finally gave up and gutted the system.

I'm with you on that. When the first $200 water bill arrives because one of the valves failed in the open position while on vacation, that's a bit annoying. When it happened AGAIN, that's when I gave up, called in a pro, and had a decent system installed.

If I were a cynic, I would posit that developers put in the worst crap imaginable. Systems that fail in a couple years. And I'd say they're doing it because they're getting kickbacks from the landscaping companies. Or because they're just cheap. The end result in my case was the same.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

I'm with you on that. When the first $200 water bill arrives because one of the valves failed in the open position while on vacation, that's a bit annoying. When it happened AGAIN, that's when I gave up, called in a pro, and had a decent system installed.

They actually have a program to give homeowners one-time relief for high bills due to leaks. I discovered this on a windy day, when neighborhood garbage blew onto our yard. I picked up a piece of paper off the ground, looked at it, and found it was a letter from the water company to a neighbor several houses away, explaining the rules of the program.

Leak Adjustment Program

Wish I had known about this when I had a 53,000 gallon leak. Stupid me, I just wrote the check and kicked myself for not noticing the leak sooner.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by WestieJeff

To me this is one of those instances where you have to decide how much effort you want to put into "rehabbing" the existing system of unknown quality or just starting from scratch and doing it right. You can pickup off a water supply, plumb valves in, and run the irrigation wire to a new controller.

That is the most costly and probably most work, but there have been a lot of "existing" systems I've messed with and was constantly chasing down the next problem until I finally gave up and gutted the system.

I personally run hard PVC as much as possible, since I've had issues with the black poly tubing springing leaks over time. I still use black poly, but I try to keep the main lines hard PVC.

That is all true. Start from scratch. If the existing system is that old don't trust it not to have major leaks. It's not rocket surgery. You can get all the info you need at some place like Home Depot. But it should also be fairly reasonable to get some landscaper to do it for you too. Are there any plants on your property at all? If so and if they are alive then they are getting water from someplace. Older controllers will look like the mechanical timers for lights. If there are living plants then there must be one someplace. It could even be outside. If you want to plant everything yourself then just have them put sprinklers and drip valves where you plan to put plants. Or after they do the major plumbing you can add valves wherever you want them. That part is the easiest. As far as when to plant, anytime is as good as any other in our climate or landscapers would starve in the off season ...and there is no off season.