DIY guideLawn sprinklers
Start up and test the irrigation system
Open the water slowly, run each zone, fix the heads that spray wrong, and leave the backflow test to a certified tester.
- 45 min to 2 hr
- 7 steps
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7 steps
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Wait until the ground has thawed and the hard frosts are over, so nothing freezes in the pipes.
At the backflow device, close its small test cocks, and check both handles are across the pipe.
Open the sprinkler line's own valve a little at a time, so the pipes fill slowly without banging.
Turn the backflow's handles slowly along the pipe, one and then the other.
Run each zone for a few minutes from the controller, and walk it while it runs.
Clean clogged nozzles, straighten tilted heads, and aim each at the lawn, not the house or the walk.
A head gushing, a cracked pipe or valve, or a backflow that drips: ask Handyman for a sprinkler pro. The backflow test is a certified tester's.
What you need
- A flat screwdriver
- A small brush, for nozzles
- Spare heads and nozzles to match
Call a pro if
- A broken pipe or valve, or a head that gushes
- The backflow device drips or is cracked
- The yearly backflow test
Handyman says: Water off. I'll find a sprinkler pro.
Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.
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Rather have
a pro do it?