Sprinkler System Design
Your sprinkler system will be designed for head to head coverage. Head to head coverage ensures that you get equal amounts of water on all areas of your lawn so you’re not left over watering some areas just to get the bare minimum in others. Just because the grass is getting wet doesn’t mean that it is equal amounts of water.
The area closest to the sprinkler head gets the most amount of water. The farther away you go the coverage drops off. In order to get even coverage the spray areas of each head must overlap each other.
Your system is also designed to spray away from your house, patio and landscaping. All heads will be at least 1-2 inches from sidewalks and driveways.
Sun and shade areas are divided to eliminate your shaded areas from getting over watered. This is controlled by a timer that can be adjusted for time of year.
back to topSprinkler System Installation
The Ditch Witch is responsible for getting the pipe underground without ruining the lawn. Using the vibratory plow method the pipe for your sprinkler system is pulled under the lawn by the ditch witch. The video shows a demonstration of the Ditch Witch pulling pipe.
back to topSpring Start Up & Turn On
Your sprinkler system can be recharged as soon as there is no longer frost on the ground. But before you run out and turn your system on there are some precautions that need to be taken.
First we will replace any parts that were removed during winterization such as the backflow preventer. Then we can fill the system with water and pressurize it.
A check of each station is performed checking for proper coverage, leaks, broken head, clogged nozzle or anything that may be wrong with the system. Any problems that are identified must be repaired.
Once all issues are resolved it is time to set the timer for an appropriate watering schedule and you can begin another year with a beautiful lawn.
back to topSprinkler System Winterization
Michigan winters are harsh and cold. They will wreak havoc on your sprinkler system if you don’t have it properly winterized. If you don’t drain your entire system the water in it will freeze and break the pipes. This is not something you want to happen as it will be expensive to locate and fix the problem.
The backflow preventer must be drained to prevent water from freezing over the winter and breaking it. Backflow preventers are very expensive to replace. Then all the water in the system must be removed. The water is blown out of the system to protect the pipes over the long Michigan winters.
If everything is done correctly you won’t have anything to worry about until spring startup
back to topIrrigation System Repair
There are many things that can break on your sprinkler system and it’s not always easy to know what is wrong. The fact that most of the system is underground only makes the problem worse. Diagnosing and repairing a broken sprinkler system is not an easy task.
If one of your heads is spraying funny or just bubbling water from the ground you have a broken sprinkler head. Other problems aren’t so easy to figure out. If you have a broken pipe, and are lucky, a stream of water will shoot into the air.
Usually, one of you zones will have very little pressure or not enough to pop the heads. You may also have excess water pooling in your yard.
In order to fix a broken pipe or head, your lawn must be dug up and the broken section replaced. With a skilled professional performing this task you won’t notice a thing when they’re done.
If a zone of sprinklers runs nonstop while your controller is off, you most likely have a stuck valve. A small rock or any other debris is blocking the valve from fully closing. This is very common when people try and do home repairs and loose debris gets in the system.
If you can’t get a zone to come on from the controller it may not be the controller to blame. You may have bad wiring. If this is the case you should call a professional to fix the problem.
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