Re-Design or Replace: Updating an Existing Sprinkler System

Sprinkler systems get installed once, and then life carries on around them. The play area becomes a garden. A patio goes in. A garage gets an addition, or the old maple comes down and the shade goes with it. Years later the system is still watering the yard it was designed for, not the one you have.

That mismatch is common, and it doesn't automatically mean you need a new system. Often the better move is to re-design the one in the ground. Here is how to tell the difference.

Signs the layout no longer fits

• Heads spraying onto a new patio, driveway or wall.
• Beds that are dry while the lawn next to them is soaked.
• Plants that grew up and now block the spray.
• An addition or new structure that cut a zone in half or buried a head.
• A zone that mixes lawn and shrubs, so one of them is always getting the wrong amount.
• Areas where the grass thrives next to areas where it never gets enough, no matter how you set the clock.

None of these requires a new system. They mean the layout and the landscape stopped matching.

What a re-design can change

A re-design works with the pipe and valves already in the ground. Heads get moved, added, capped or swapped. Zones get split so lawn and beds can be watered separately. A bed planted after the original install can get drip lines, which put water at the roots instead of spraying the leaves.

Nozzles are one of the quietest upgrades. Older spray heads can apply water faster than the soil absorbs it, and the extra runs off toward the street. Rotary-style nozzles such as the MP Rotator deliver water more slowly and evenly. Rainmaker carries MP Rotator along with Rain Bird, Hunter Irrigation, Toro and Sta-Rite equipment, so the options aren't tied to one brand.

Controllers are another place to look. An old timer with a couple of run times can't follow the seasons. A controller with separate schedules for each zone lets you treat lawn, beds and shaded corners differently, which matters once the yard has more than one kind of planting.

Construction is the best time to call

If you're planning a patio, an addition, a driveway change or new beds, bring the sprinkler system into the plan before the digging starts. Excavation cuts more irrigation lines than anything else. Capping and rerouting ahead of the work saves a lot of trouble compared to chasing a flooded trench afterward.

Tell your contractor where the lines and valve boxes are. A walk-through before work begins is worth the time, and marking heads and valve boxes with flags helps everyone on the crew avoid them.

Old parts, and what they mean

Age alone isn't a reason to replace a system. Pipe in the ground can last a long time, and plenty of old systems run well with some care. What matters is the condition of the parts and whether they can still be matched.

Valves, controllers and heads wear out at different speeds. A technician can replace them one at a time, and often can do so with modern equivalents that fit the existing pipe. Trouble starts when a part is no longer made, when several fail close together or when the repairs keep coming back to the same area.

When replacement does make sense

• Pipe that keeps breaking in several places, not at one failed fitting.
• Valves and controllers that can't be repaired or matched with available parts.
• A system that never covered the property well to begin with.
• A landscape rebuilt so completely that few of the original zones still make sense.

Even then, you may only need to replace part of the system. Rainmaker backs new installations with a two-year warranty on parts and a one-year warranty on labor, which is worth asking about when you compare options.

How to decide

Ask for an assessment before you commit to either path. A technician walks the property, runs the zones, looks at the age and condition of the parts and compares the layout to what is growing there. You should come away with a clear picture of what can stay, what should change and why.

Then compare the options side by side, with the work spelled out for each: what gets reused, what gets replaced and what the yard will look like when it's done. A good proposal makes the tradeoff plain, so you aren't guessing.

Rainmaker Irrigation designs and installs complete systems and also updates and re-designs existing ones, for residential, commercial, condominium and athletic-field properties. The company has been locally owned and operated in Petoskey since 1987.

If your yard has changed and the sprinklers haven't, call (231) 348-5477 for a free estimate. Rainmaker works in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Bay Shore, Charlevoix, Boyne City and Boyne Falls.