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HELP! Cost comparison of large Irrigation System

12 years ago

Hello everyone--Thank you in advance for any help!

We are in Metro NY and have a fairly large property (about 1 acre of lawn/garden) and currently doing a major landscaping project. As I collect bids for irrigation, what do you think would be reasonable? (And, sorry DIYers, much as I'd like to go to Lowes, Home Depot, or the local garden shop and get down and dirty, this will be professionally installed.)

The landscape designer is recommending 10 zones, with 5-6 misting heads in about 6 of the zones, fewer heads and/or rotary heads in area where the primary flora will be grass. Most of the misting heads will be on 3 foot risers. The rotaries will pop up.

How much do you think something like that would cost (in NY)? I'm trying to get a sense as I try to level bids.

Thanks everyone!

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Comments (5)

lehua49
12 years ago
minime,

What does your LD recommend as the products to use and what are his estimates for different aspects of the system? Give us a parts list that the LD should be making available to you and we can critique his and the bids that come in. Actually that is his job which your paying him to do but we can be a second opinion or third opinion. This would also help other doing similar work. Aloha
minmin
Original Author
12 years ago
Hey Lehua,
Thanks for your response. (Love Lehua honey BTW!) The LD isn't actually recommending specific products or giving an estimate, just saying that a system of this size is likely what we would need. (He wants me to go to an irrigation company.) There are two mains to draw from, and also some piping is already there. I'm just trying to get a sense when I do price it out what would be reasonable for high, medium and low estimates!
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Lucas, Here are some calcs to ponder. You would need to water your grass 1,200 to 1,800 gallons per week to keep your grass hydrated (2,000 sf). You would need about 500 gallons per week for the planting section(2,000 sf). Here is the breakdown: Grass assume 1 to 1.5" per week x 2,000 sf = 170 to 250 cf of water. 200 cf x 7.481 gallons/cf =1,500 gallons per week. Plants assume 2,000 sf @ 2 sf per plant = 1,000 plants. 1,000 plants @ 0.5 gallon per plant per week =500 gallons/wk. 4 Barrels @ 55 gal/bbl = 220 gallons. 2,000 gal/wk divided by 220 gal/bl = filling the barrels 9 time each week. Do you get enough rain to fill your barrels 9 time each week. Do you enough rain water to fill 38 barrels each week. Do you know what your Mom's water usage for landscaping is per month. Place a irrigation water meter in your landscaping system and measure the quantity for a month or even a week and multiply by four. I know this is not what you expected but this is reality unless some can show me I am in error. 4 barrels or 220 gallons would irrigate a garden about 800 sf only(good size garden). Check with your local experts about how much water per week your garden needs to survive and plug that into my calcs. A submersible pump would work fine. Aloha
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mike1059
12 years ago
Hi minmin,
As Lehua say's there are a couple of things we need to know so we can offer a reasonable cost estimate. The design would be good but a very rough guess could be made from a parts list.
lehua49
12 years ago
Minimum,

So the LD just did a rough sketch design but leave it up to you to go to an irrigation contractor and prepare a layout design for his scematic design. Is that correct. How did he get around to suggesting 10 zones with certain types heads? Sounds like he knows the flow rate and pressure of the water sources to make a rough design. What did he recommend for the other 4 zones. How long are the runs for the main lines and laterals and what size pipe would you are thinking of installing? Get some bids from three irrigation contractors(licensed please) and see what they recommend. Post here the bids and we can critique the quality and cost. Their bids will be more conducive to what the system will cost in your local area. it varies quite a bit across the country. Aloha
JimmyTheGlove
12 years ago
What are (if any) some of the bids you've had so far.. I'll tell you if they're too high or not.

:)

The Glove

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