- 1). Draw a scale model of your property on graph paper. Indicate where the water supply is as well as the location of the nearest electrical outlet with a ground fault circuit interrupter, or GFCI. This is where you should plan to hang the control box for the sprinkler system.
- 2). Divide the area you plan to irrigate into two or more zones. These zones allow you to set up different irrigation schedules. Each zone needs enough water pressure to operate the sprinkler heads.
- 3). Dig a trench by hand with a shovel a few feet away from the house's water supply line. Set the valve box on a layer of crushed rock. Connect the water supply line to the valve box with appropriately-sized connectors and PVC pipe. Brush pipe cement on the ends of each pipe to create a seal with the connectors.
- 4). Create a second trench for the wiring from the control box to the valve box. This trench doesn't need to be as deep. Lay low-voltage wiring in the trench. There needs to be one wire per valve. Leave enough wiring near the control box to make connections. Allow several inches extra on the valve box end.
- 5). Connect one end of each of the wires to the valves in the valve box with wire nuts. Match white wires to white and black to black. Fasten bare ground wires together as well, and attach them to the grounding screw on the valve using a screwdriver. Connect the wiring to the control box in a similar manner using wire nuts: black wires to black, white to white and ground to ground. To test whether the valves are operating properly, briefly plug the system in.
- 6). Dig a third trench below the frost line for the lawn sprinkler system. If your lawn is small, dig the trench by hand; otherwise, you may need a trencher.
- 7). Lay PVC pipe from the valve box in each of the zones you created in your plan. Make the connections with pipe cement and appropriately-sized connectors to the valve box.
- 8). Turn the water on to flush the lines. Turn it off again after a minute or so has passed.
- 9). Attach sprinkler heads to the far ends of each of the zone pipes. Use right-angle connectors on the end of the PVC pipe so that the sprinkler heads are vertical. Gently kick or shovel dirt back into the trench as you hold the sprinkler heads, then pack dirt in around them once they are set in place.
- 10
Fill all the trenches with dirt. Use a hand tamper to tamp it into place. Depending on the valve box you chose, you may need to bury it also. - 11
Turn the water on to the irrigation system. Plug in the power and set the timer for the control box.
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