First thing you need to consider-

Any time you tie into city water for irrigation you need to have backflow prevention. Otherwise you run the risk of contaminating the houses water and possibly further on up the chain. I'm not sure of the guidelines regarding using a hosebib timer and garden hoses. I'm sure someone will chime in.

Second thing to consider -

Is one sprinkler in the middle truly going to keep the yard uniformly watered? Short answer is No. Yards are generally square or rectangle in shape. So what happens with the corners? Either your throwing way farther than you need to in order for the radius to hit the corners or you're skipping the corners. One wastes water, the other looks bad.

Also generally speaking sprinklers do not water well close in to themselves. They rely on the other sprinklers to throw water towards them. I suspect in a challenging drought condition these inefficiencies would make themselves apparent, it would look bad, and you'd have unhappy clients. Not too mention it would make you look bad.

Why are they willing to spend a million on the house but want to cheap out on irrigation.

 

First thing you need to consider-

1. Any time you tie into city water for irrigation you need to have backflow prevention.

2. Either your throwing way farther than you need to in order for the radius to hit the corners or you're skipping the corners. One wastes water, the other looks bad.

3. Why are they willing to spend a million on the house but want to cheap out on irrigation.

Hey Crazy4Grass, thanks for the reply.

1. This is an excellent point, and regardless of the regulations, a check valve is a great idea, and a simple solution.

2. Also a good point, and given the cost of large distance rotary heards, versus smaller 90° it might be worth doing 3 or 4 small heads off one zone anyway. The increased pipe length isn't terrible, and you're correct it would add a better service at not a large increase in price.

3. I have No idea, but here we are....

 

All that being said. I like the concept and it seems like a nice middle ground between having to drag a garden hose and sprinkler around and a true irrigation system.

If its legal and there is a demand I say go for it!

 

Irrigation is a luxury, treat it like it is.

 

1 a simple check valve does not suffice, you'll need an actual backflow preventer.
Again look into the requirements in your area.

2 research head to head coverage and matched precipitation. You want even watering. Research irrigation system head layout as well.
Generally speaking you want heads along all perimeters not just in the middle.

 

I once had a string of mini-installs in an area that had mini homes with front lawns in the form of 40x40 foot squares. Pressures were high enough to employ a hose bib to supply 6+ gpm. Plumbing included a tee, with one outlet a hose bib (and blowout valve) and the other an antisyphon valve that fed a zone of four half-circle Toro 300 series rotors. Total coverage, code-approved plumbing, happy customers.

 

I don't need no stinking 4 half circles

 

My recommendation would be this. If you want to install irrigation professionally then learn as much as you possibly can about irrigation. Get to the point of really knowing all of the aspects of it. Maybe even install a legitimate system at your own house. Then and only then offer it as a service.

An example - yesterday I had a client ask me to perform a job. Performing this job had potential for making me several thousand dollars. I had zero experience with the particular thing they wanted done.

Upon consideration I opted to pass on the job, because there were numerous variables that made me question whether or not I could deliver a favorable result. The risk of them spending a sizable amount and not ending up happy wasn't worth the potential money. Could I have learned along the way and figured it out? Probably, but sometimes its better to practice on ones own stuff then practice on other peoples.

 

To be clear, when you say less invasive, are you referring to tapping a tee into the main water source?

Thanks for clarifying the lot vs turf size. I had been thinking the other way as well.

 

To be clear, when you say less invasive, are you referring to tapping a tee into the main water source?

Yes, and avoid electrical. And avoid burying valve boxes.

The service could be performed without ever setting foot inside the house.

 

One of my concerns using a hose bib was that gpm volume would suffer. But with lawns this tiny that would probably be a moot point. Take a look a mp rotators, specifically their side strip and end strip models. They come in right and left corner and middle nozzles. They work well in small areas,rectangular areas. They can be adjusting to throw farther at the beginning and end of their rotation than the middle. For example if you had a space 5ft by 20ft. You could place one of these heads on the edge of the long side in the middle, set for 180° throw. The throw could then be adjusted to start at 10ft taper down to 5 ft and then back out to ten again .

 

Take a look a mp rotators, specifically their side strip and end strip models. They come in right and left corner and middle nozzles. They work well in small areas,rectangular areas. They can be adjusting to throw farther at the beginning and end of their rotation than the middle. For example if you had a space 5ft by 20ft. You could place one of these heads on the edge of the long side in the middle, set for 180° throw. The throw could then be adjusted to start at 10ft taper down to 5 ft and then back out to ten again .

Thanks, I'll take a look at the rectangular nozzles, most of these lots are tiny rectangles, so it definitely might fit the bill!

 

600k to million dollar homes and cant spend a couple grand (maybe 3-4) to install a proper irrigation system.

Battery timers and hose bibs. Oooffff

They have the money for a proper system, sell it to them, not some rig job.

They spent more money on a couple light fixtures around the house than they will for an irrigation system.

 

Irrigation is a luxury, treat it like it is.

 

Maybe a better analogy. They could have installed a bunch of window units for air conditioning. But I bet they sprung for the conventional HVAC system.

 

Am I crazy, or is there a market for $600-999 installs, with 1 or 2 zones, that are 90-95% effective and don't involve secondary power sources, or secondary water supplies (only run off external faucets via splitters).

New construction in my area is very small lawns, with very expensive houses. 600k-1M. With 1-2k sqft of lawn. This clientelle generally does not want a full irrigation system, and the costs that entails, but they would be interested in a simpler, less effective and cheaper solution. Most of these clients don't actually Care about their yards, they just care about the Look of their yard.

Basically: budget, less-invasive, slightly less effective systems.

For example, we have a regular lawncare client, we ran a single line to a 25' rotor in the centre of his backyard. This will cover 95% of his lawn, and the timer is an external battery powered timer (Home depot Orbitz).

This system will cover his needs and cost us $100 in parts, and 3 hours of labour.

Has anyone tried this business model, is it worth attempting and marketing?

the reason you're crazy and there is no market for that price range is that you still need controllers, back flows a tap into the main water and likely a permit and Inspection.
Doesn't matter if there's 400 heads or 4.
All tho had things cost money that are usually spread across multiple zones.
Because of such a small yard, the minimum cost is going to be disproportionate.

you're looking at no less than $2500-$3000 with proper professional, legal installation and a good profit margin.
That's why there's no 600-$1000 installs

 

If there were genuinely reliable controllers that required no AC, at an affordable price point, the mini-system concept would be more workable. However, the key word is "IF"

 

I like the concept of smaller installs. We often install front yard irrigation only on our new landscape projects In terms of cost savings you can save with 1-4 zones by using something like the Hunter Node, saves on money wire and controller. However, we often install the controller, wire and main line in a manner that allows for future expansion.

I will say that the first few zones are generally the most expensive. They require the same infrastructure that a 20 zone project does. Sub-contractor (plumber) for point of connection, backflow, main line, wire, controller, equipment, dispatch to site are all required regardless of the job size. Making the cost per zone much higher. Once you reach those infrastructure requirements then the cost per zone goes dramatically down.

 

I like the concept of smaller installs. We often install front yard irrigation only on our new landscape projects In terms of cost savings you can save with 1-4 zones by using something like the Hunter Node, saves on money wire and controller. However, we often install the controller, wire and main line in a manner that allows for future expansion.

I will say that the first few zones are generally the most expensive. They require the same infrastructure that a 20 zone project does. Sub-contractor (plumber) for point of connection, backflow, main line, wire, controller, equipment, dispatch to site are all required regardless of the job size. Making the cost per zone much higher. Once you reach those infrastructure requirements then the cost per zone goes dramatically down.

With something like the Hunter Node controller, with its on-the-solenoid mounting, you would have an acceptable standard of reliability for a mini system using anti-syphon valves fed from a hose bib. That the Node also has a Bluetooth-compatible model, makes it more attractive to the smartphone crowd.

 

Maybe a better analogy. They could have installed a bunch of window units for air conditioning. But I bet they sprung for the conventional HVAC system.

Bingo, Exactly, Hit the nail on the head