If you have a sprinkler system, perhaps you want to pocket the extra money and winterize your system yourself.  You may be asking if this is something you can do safely and correctly. Yes, you absolutely can if you know how to do it.  

Step to Winterize Sprinkler System

Without proper preparation, freezing temperatures can damage your sprinkler system. Here are some sprinkler tips on how to plan your irrigation system for winter conditions. If you live in a freezing area, it is very important you winterize your system before the temperatures are below freezing. For detailed instructions on how to plan your irrigation system for the winter months, please read below. 

1. Insulate your assets: 

Shut down the irrigation system’s water supply. It is necessary to protect the key shut-off valve for your irrigation system from freezing. To shield it from harsh winter conditions and keep it from freezing, make sure that it is covered with insulation (foam insulation tape or plastic bag). You can consider installing one as a preventive investment if you don’t have a key shut-off valve. Any tubing above ground must also be insulated. It’s fine to use self-adhesive foam insulating tape and foam insulating tubing that are commonly found in home supply stores.

2. Stay in control: 

If you have an automatic system, the controller (timer) must be off.  Most controllers have a mode that just shuts off the valves’ signals. The controller keeps the time.   The programming information is not lost (start times, run times of the valve, etc.) and the clock continues to run throughout the winter. The only change is that the valves are not activated. If your controller is responsible for triggering a pump, the wires attached to the MV (Master Valve) and specific terminals should be disconnected as a precaution. This will prevent the possibility of accidentally activating the pump, which could result in overheating damage and cost you unnecessary money. An alternative to using the rain mode is to shut down the controller’s energy. If you do, the time and possibly all of your other settings will need to be reprogrammed in the summer.

3. Drain the pipes: 

You now have to remove the water from the pipes and sprinklers to stop it from freezing, expanding, and damaging the pipe. There are several ways you can drain your pipes: a manual drain valve, an automatic drain valve, or the blow-out method of compressed air. Because potential safety risks may exist, however, we suggest that you contact your local irrigation specialist like Planet Green. Many sprinkler companies offer this year’s sprinkler winterization services.

4. Protect valves and backflow prevention devices: 

If they are above ground, insulate backflow prevention devices and valves. For this, you can also use isolation tape. Stop blocking the air vents and leaking outlets for the best backflow prevention.

If you don’t feel you can Winterize Sprinkler System correctly, there is no shame in hiring a sprinkler specialist.  If saving time is what you are more interested in then definitely call a local sprinkler company to winterize for you. 

Watering on a Slope

Meeting plant’s basic needs and overseeing sprinkler systems can be troublesome in some understandable conditions. At the point when incline plantings are included, applying water proficiently and successfully can be incredibly difficult. You don’t want to overwater or underwater your lawn and plants. Too little water and plants won’t develop, an excessive amount of water and you have different issues like weed growth, weak root systems, and mosquitoes.

A few strategies can be used to enable you to manage these high points and low points. Following are ten structure and item application tips for the compelling slant water system.

Tip #1 – To diminish run-off, select a water system clock which controls your water applications.

Pick a sprinkler system controller with at any rate four begin times for every program. Decide to what extent a station can be on before run-off happens. Gap the run time important to meet the plant water necessities by this factor. In the event that vital, utilize each begins time to diminish run-off coming about because of running valve stations excessively long. Far superior, utilize a propelled controller with an element like Cycle+Soak. This will permit the all-out water system run time to just be part into usable cycles and the use of water into interims the dirt will effectively acknowledge.

Tip #2 – Use ace valves and stream detecting hardware as a protection arrangement.

It is imperative to utilize an ace valve when inundating slants. Deliberately find the ace valve to lessen the length of always pressurized mainline around the incline and before the zone valves. A regularly shut ace valve will supply a mainline with water just when a cycle is started from the controller. This hardware will decrease the time a harmed sprinkler, broken pipe or an imperfect valve should wash away the scene.

Stream detecting hardware can identify too many high streams when an issue happens. Whenever aligned appropriately, the stream detecting hardware will work related to the ace valve to close the framework down and dispense with noteworthy harm during an overabundance stream condition.

Tip #3 – Use switch stream valves to diminish issues related to a well-used stomach.

The inward functions of a switch stream valve will keep water from persistently streaming if the stomach is torn. At the end of the day, it is successful in light of the fact that it will bomb in the “off” position. A valve without a switch stream highlight can flop in the vacant position, run constantly and dissolve the incline until it is fixed.

Tip #4 – Use weight redressing/managing gadgets to get the best sprinkler inclusion.

At the point when utilized as per the producer’s details, weight directing modules can be introduced on valves to change the working weight of sprinkler heads downstream.

Sprinkler spouts which are given the ideal weight disperse water as effectively and consistently as could be expected under the circumstances. Sprinkler spouts working at weights essentially above or beneath the ideal, for the most part, perform ineffectively and, thus, plant material endures.

Worked in weight redressing or controlling gadgets give the best choice since the ideal working weight is conveyed legitimately to every sprinkler head. This will wipe out clouding brought about by high weights, diminish water float because of wind and give the water beads the most obvious opportunity with regards to getting to where they are intended to go.

Tip #5 – Adjust the separation between parallel lines to make up for the incline.

On a 2:1 incline, an appropriately balanced sprinkler will toss around 80 percent of its sweep over the head and 120 percent of its range beneath the head. This idea is hard for some individuals to comprehend on the grounds that, on the site plan of a water system venture, inclines seem to make less progress than they really do, and the impact of the plant can’t be precisely depicted.

In this way, sprinklers can be dispersed reliably along the parallel, however the separation among base and center laterals ought to be diminished and climbed toward the highest point of the slant to acquire no holds barred inclusion and make up for the genuine impacts of the slant.

Tip #6 – Space horizontal lines over the incline as opposed to with the slant.

When introducing the horizontal lines, ensure they pursue the shapes of the incline. On the off chance that sidelong lines are inaccurately introduced from the top to the base of a slant, the weight differential coming about because of the height change could make seriously uneven weights at every one of the sprinkler spouts. This will cause unpredictable water conveyance. Moreover, the higher weights at the base could abbreviate the life span of the funnels and sprinklers.

Tip #7 – Limit sprinkler heads on a valve zone to diminish potential harm.

As you add more sprinkler heads to a zone, the size of the conveyance framework parts and foundation will increment. For this situation, greater likewise implies more water will be accessible to cause harm in the occasion something on a framework breaks. Subsequently, enormous zones are not prescribed except if different protections are incorporated to evade potential issues.

Tip #8 – Limit sprinkler heads on a valve zone to build execution.

Tailor the water system framework to meet the particular water necessities of the slant regions. Separate zones to apply water to slant areas with significantly unique plant material, just as various exposures to sun, wind and other climatic impacts. On the off chance that you combine zones, it will be difficult to keep plant material sound since one side of the incline will get excessively or too little water.

Tip #9 – Place part-hover sprinklers on isolated zones or utilize coordinated precipitation rate spout bundles.

Uniform water appropriation is basic for the compelling slant water system. To accomplish this, discrete part-hover sprinklers from full-circle sprinklers and afterward alter the station run times. A simpler technique is to utilize spout sets explicitly intended to make predictable precipitation rates, regardless of the different curves and radii.

Utilizing coordinated precipitation rate spouts on a similar valve framework decreases the opportunity your framework will put down an excessive amount of water with certain heads and insufficient from others. This will decrease the potential for extreme soil disintegration.

Tip #10 – Install sprinklers with check valves to contain disintegration.

At the point when utilized appropriately, a check valve will contain the unpressurized water in the sidelong lines after the zone valve has finished its watering cycle (if the valve is situated at a higher rise). Without a check valve, the rise distinction from a valve above to the sprinklers beneath could create enough inward strain to power water out of the sprinkler.

A check valve will forestall the water that remaining parts in the pipe from depleting out of the sprinklers after the valve has stopped; in this way decreasing the opportunity of the disintegration of the scene regions around or on the slant. Search for sprinklers which have worked inline valves. This dispenses with the requirement for an independently introduced check valve under every sprinkler.

An additional advantage…

Since numerous slants are planted with ground spread rather than turf, consider introducing 6-inch or 12-inch spring up sprinklers as opposed to riser-mounted sprinklers. Not exclusively will the pop-ups improve the visual effect of the site, they are not as obvious and may help cut down on vandalism.

The viable slant water system is a blend of good forthright arranging, legitimate establishment, and a strong support strategy. On the off chance that every one of the three is done appropriately, numerous enthusiastic, monetary and physical issues can be stayed away from and a sound, stylishly satisfying slant planting will be the outcome.

Straight Talk About Slope Irrigation Installations

Flooding inclined regions aren’t troublesome, yet needs to be taken care of considering a few things. Most importantly, it must be comprehended that to see a slant on a water system plan intends to see it on a level surface. In this manner, the point of the slant should be represented and the definite components of the territory to be inundated should be resolved.

When the zone’s size has been set up, consider the application rates of various sprinklers and cautiously select the sort which is generally proper. When all is said in done, rotors have lower precipitation rates contrasted with showers and are more qualified for use on slants. On the off chance that the zone is unreasonably little for a rotor, dribble or miniaturized scale water system innovation may be utilized.

In the event that conceivable, utilize low-edge direction spouts for zones close to the highest point of the slant, to decrease wind float. These heads have less range of toss (at a similar weight and release rate) than a standard 25° direction sprinkler, so they ought to be separated somewhat nearer together (this will expand precipitation rate) and introduced vertically. In the event that standard spouts are utilized, tilt the heads toward the toe of the incline and introduce somewhat down from the slant’s top edge to diminish wind float.

Mid-slant heads ought to be introduced at a point (somewhere between vertical and opposite to the incline is suggested), while heads at the toe should tilt marginally far from the slant to abstain from driving water into the slant straightforwardly before the sprinkler.

There are a few different factors to think about when structuring your Sprinkler System for inclines, including the proportion of slant, channeling, soils, booking, and zoning, in addition, to check valves to avoid low head waste.

Consult a Sprinkler System Designer

When it comes to your home you are better off to research a contractor than just go with the lowest bidder. So many times we think, well it’s just… Wrong, your home is just your biggest investment most likely in your lifetime. So don’t go with a fly by night contractor with a tailgate warranty to save a few dollars. Chances are you’ll spend a lot more in the long run.

When it comes to irrigation, it takes talent and experience in the design to maximize the efficiency of your system. With different landscaping and elevations in the yard, proper coverage can be challenging. So many things come into play. How many zones do you need? What types of heads for the proper spray patterns? The list of variables is infinite.  It is important that if you’re looking for a Sprinkler System Kingwood TX, that you find a professional.

This is when your irrigation contractor can let their experience outway their slightly higher price than your yard crew. In most states, you have to be licensed. In Texas, it’s the TCEQ that regulates sprinkler and irrigation contractors. An irrigation contractor is going to carry insurance. There are several reasons why a real sprinkler company might be a few more dollars. In this situation, you get what you pay for.

The Home Depot carries all the parts to do an entire sprinkler system yourself. In fact, you can even rent the trencher or ditch witch there too. I don’t recommend that though. Thanks to the DIY channel and Chip and Joanna Gaines the weekend warriors are convinced that we are all fully licensed remodelers with no limit to our skill or abilities. Obviously, this is not true. Anyone that has been designing irrigation systems for any length of time can pull your property up on Google Earth and get a pretty good estimate. The Sprinkler design is crucial for the success of your sprinkler system.

A sprinkle designer is much like an architect for irrigation. They will draw up your property to scale and lay out the most logical sprinkler system. Different valves can only support certain heads. You can’t mix and match heads on the same valve. Now, it’s different, you want overlap when laying out your zones. It used to not be that way. You can see how something that seems so simple, automatic sprinkler system, could turn into an overwhelming nightmare.

If your lawn sprinkler is done right, there are so many benefits that it only makes sense to have a system. Did you know that sprinkler systems actually save money? Yeah, you set up the timer to water at the optimal time, and the system runs long enough to get it done. You don’t have to worry about forgetting to move the sprinkler and hose resulting in a flooded back yard.