Automated Sprinkler System Anyone Can Do!

Step 8: The Final Talley

I'm watering both sides of my front yard, my back yard, and flower beds in the front and sides of the house. To accomplish this, I am using the following:

3 4-way splitters@ $12.99.................................................. $38.97
3 Gilmor Adjustable Impact Sprinklers@ $19.99............$59.97
7 Shrub Sprinklers & Flow-Thru Spikes@$10.99............$76.93
2 50ft Goodyear Black Heavy Duty Hose@$24.99...........$49.98
3 Melnor Single Faucet Timers@$24.99...........................$74.97
1 Melnor Double Timer..........................................................$39.99
15 Misc Hose Menders Male/Female @$2.99..................$44.85
1 Box Hose Guide Spikes.....................................................$12.99
6 Tent Stakes@$0.50.............................................................$3.00
TOTAL $401.65
Wow, I can't believe I spent that much!!

Actually, my system has expanded over the years, and I used some of the sprinklers and timers in my previous house. So, it really didn't hit my wallet all at once. When you take into consideration that I've been able to avoid buying a permanent sprinkler system at two different homes, it really isn't that expensive.

So there you have it. That's my first instructable. I hope you liked it.

Comments

[ebenitez]

I have been thinking about how to water my front and back yard without incurring in big expenses (I can't afford it) and I thought about doing what you did (right now I have something similar above ground) but I notice there is not enough psi in one faucet to connect more than two sprinklers. Would a manifold solve my problem? or would I need more faucets? I moved to Texas from Florida five years ago and I it worries me the separation of the soil from the foundation thus watering more often is urgent. Any advice will be appreciated.

[shepnstein]

stagger the times, I agree with jchlimoun.
Sorry for the late reply. These replys go to an old email address

[jchlimoun]

Your best bet is to use multiple timers at the outlets of a manifold and stagger the times so that no more than two are on a time. The manifold alone will do nothing for you, and adding more faucets doesn't give your house's water supply more pressure... it's like you're trying to drive a 10A load with a 2A power supply... running more wires doesn't change anything.

Commercial sprinkler systems do this using zones. The installer is supposed to size the zones and partition them off, and set up the timers in such a way that no more than X number of zones operate at a time, based on how much pressure each zone requires and how much is available.

[bonfire817]

Very cool Instructible! Thanks for sharing. I love the idea for my lawn, but I like to hand-water the garden since I only have a few warm months up here in North Dakota and I like to check on all my veggies and flowers constantly!

[swechsler]

Orbit already makes a device for this, so you don't have to play around with using multiple timers.
 

[Utahtabby]

I've done something similar, using a quiet-type rotating sprinkler that throws water way across my lawn, but very quietly. It's yellow, about 10 inches tall, the top half can spin 360 degrees and Bob Vila advertised it on TV years ago. I don't know what it's called and the labeling is all worn off, but I like the fact that it is quiet because my neighbor's watering system wakes me up before dawn when it comes on. The only thing I can add to your instructable is to test how long you can get your hoses before you lose too much pressure to water the area you're trying to water. I can only get 3 of those sprinkler heads that go so far and then 'snap back', on one hose, and sometimes the snap-back part gets stuck and I get one area flooded if I am not watching. So use any other kind of sprinkler head than that kind and test how it will all work before you make any 'permanent decisions' involving cutting hoses, glue or nailing supports-- ha

[tlenker]

One improvement would be to add a water hammer arrester (shock absorber) to your system. It will help with the pressure being placed on your splitter and even hoses that maintain pressure when sprinklers are not on.