removing sod and adding gravel

[bdepew]

I have a customer who wants their old SOD removed and 1" gravel laid instead, they have 4 sprinklers, 2 of which that want capped, is it just a matter of unscrewing the 2 sprinklers and putting caps on them, also when we till up the area whats the best way to find the sprinkler pipes that are there now so we dont till 'em up?

Would these be the best steps to do this in:
1. Find sprinklers and flag
2. Locate sprinkler pipes and note location
3. Till up grass
4. Rake up grass and haul off
5. lay down weed control plastic
6 Lay down gravel

those correct steps,? did i leave anything out?

any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks,

[BRL]

Not sure about the sprinkler questions. #3 should be: Use sod cutter to remove existing turf. That will save yourself & your back a lot of time & effort.

[mdvaden]

Why would you want to rototill if you are putting gravel down?

At least with the situations we encounter, its better to put gravel on as firm a surface as possible.

Rototilling makes a sub-soil that will be mushy, allowing the gravel to push down in. Even with a fabric it could be a pain.

But maybe you have a severe soil compaction problem?

[blafleur]

I would cut the sprinkler lines and cap them prior to the area to be gravelled, if it wont cut off another area. This would prevent the possibility of a pipe leak under the gravel, you can imagine what that would be like to fix. If rerouting would be to big a deal, then capping at the riser would work.

I also use a sod cutter, dont till. Then fabric and gravel.

Bryan