Marking underground sprinkler system

[BigEasy]

Thanks. We received no notice. My wife happened to be leaving when they were marking lines and asked. It has been raining like crazy and I can probably find the PVC lines with a metal rod. Lowes nearby has a cable locator in stock that I "might" be able to use to locate valve electrical lines, I know where the valve box is.

My wife will likely be home. If I mark the lines, do you think they would route around them or at least take a path of least destruction if I ask?

When you go to talk to the crew depending on time of day bring them a treat like a dozen doughnuts and bottles of water. This simple act will pay dividends. They’ll know they’re not dealing with a demanding Karen of a homeowner. It can pay great dividends.

A friend’s father lived in a neighborhood where the city was running in water lines. He let the crews park in his yard and brought them treats on a few occasions. When they were done the foreman had the guys tap the main and run his drop to the house for him for free and they regraded the yard for him.

[BigEasy]

Take to pieces of fairly heavy copper wire. A little larger in diameter than bailing wire. Let’s say 3’6” long. Bend these wires with a 6” bend to make an “L”. Hold the 6” end of copper in your hand loosely. Obviously 1 wire in each hand. Hold these wires horizontally to the ground. Your elbows at about 90 degrees. When you cross the water line these wires are going to cross all on their own. You must hold them loosely enough to let them move. You will know when you cross the water lines. This is called witching. Once you have located a sprinkler line mark the line. At that point if you want to dig a little to see how deep the sprinkler line is. With the sprinkler heads exposed this should be fairly easy to accomplish. Inform the company doing the boring/digging with the pertinent info. Hopefully no problems or at least minimize any problem. Good luck

Witching is way dependent on the person doing it. I think it has something to do with the persons body chemistry. I have been digging dirt sor 45+ years and I can grab the rods from a guy who just found a line and I can walk the same path and the rods don’t move.

They can also give you a false positive. I was drilling wells in a town south of me and was on site the day the water company came to locate a line for us. The maintenance supervisor came to do it because his locate man was on vacation. He marked the lines with witching rods where the curb met the street. A few days later the geologist sitting the rig called me and told me they hit a steel pipe while hand clearing the location. The locate man was back from vacation and came to verify if it was a waterline or something else. We looked at his maps and used an EM locator and we were on his line. There was nothing in the curb. I think the supervisor just found a water pocket

[RangrSkipr]

They will be boring deeper than your sprinkler line/system is running to their box locations. That is where some attention or repairs might be required. Try to find out when they will be on location and insure you are there to discuss with the installation crew. Repairing/rerouting a line or repositioning a sprinkler head or valve box is quick and easy. Go to a big box store ahead of time and grab a few feet of line some fittings and an extra head and you can take care of it right on the spot. Don't fret it. They only have to miss by 1/4" and you're good

[DAC244]

If they pulled permits, you could get the info from city planning.

Who pulls a permit to install a sprinkler system? That must be a California thing! Like was said they will be boring deeper then your sprinkler system!

[CastingCall]

The only way I know to locate PVC underground is with Ground penetrating radar.....I have no idea what those guys charge but it may be cheaper just to let the utility guys do their thing then pay to have any broken lines repaired or reran in that area...Hopefully it is only one zone..

Yep - if you can locate the sprinkler line(s) beforehand, mark them. Be there when the crew shows up and let them know. But ultimately, be prepared for the sprinklers to be damaged and need repair. You'll lose less sleep knowing that in advance.

[brnzbaklvr]

Who pulls a permit to install a sprinkler system? That must be a California thing! Like was said they will be boring deeper then your sprinkler system!

They may have to pull the permit for an extra meter if on city water....That way they are not getting sewer charges for the irrigation water...

[DaveBrabec]

Who pulls a permit to install a sprinkler system? That must be a California thing! Like was said they will be boring deeper then your sprinkler system!

Built homes for 40 years in Ca. Never pulled a permit for sprinkler system. Just let them dig. Simple fix if they break any pipes. Shouldn’t have water turned on this time of year anyway

[191 champ]

When you go to talk to the crew depending on time of day bring them a treat like a dozen doughnuts and bottles of water. This simple act will pay dividends. They’ll know they’re not dealing with a demanding Karen of a homeowner. It can pay great dividends.

A friend’s father lived in a neighborhood where the city was running in water lines. He let the crews park in his yard and brought them treats on a few occasions. When they were done the foreman had the guys tap the main and run his drop to the house for him for free and they regraded the yard for him.

That's a darn good idea. My wife mentioned making custard filled cream puffs this weekend. Good way to get them out of the house. I might make some BBQ and some of our nuclear slaw (spicy).

I live on a stub where they could line up four trucks deep, two wide.

Thanks again!

[191 champ]

Built homes for 40 years in Ca. Never pulled a permit for sprinkler system. Just let them dig. Simple fix if they break any pipes. Shouldn’t have water turned on this time of year anyway

Water is turned off and bled. I had to fix a leak last summer, not a big deal. However, if they follow the same general path as the cable and electrical they will go diagonally across the yard taking out God knows how many lines and possibly electrical lines to the valve box.

I think my best bet is to mark the lines and nicely as possible ask them to follow the street to the other corner of the yard and route to the house. That would only take out one or two lines, I think. They will have to drill under my driveway somewhere and I do have a sprinkler line under there somewhere. I hope I can find that one!

Thanks again for the input, truly appreciated. I do wish they would have provided some notice, just a note left in the mailbox.

[BigEasy]

That's a darn good idea. My wife mentioned making custard filled cream puffs this weekend. Good way to get them out of the house. I might make some BBQ and some of our nuclear slaw (spicy).

I live on a stub where they could line up four trucks deep, two wide.

Thanks again!

You’re quite welcome.

Feel free to PM me that nuclear slaw recipe. Sounds delicious

[CatFan]

Nobody tries to dodge sprinkler systems. Easier and cheaper to fix after the fact. Utility probably has an easement, so the sprinkler pipes aren’t their problem.

[12poundbass]

Take to pieces of fairly heavy copper wire. A little larger in diameter than bailing wire. Let’s say 3’6” long. Bend these wires with a 6” bend to make an “L”. Hold the 6” end of copper in your hand loosely. Obviously 1 wire in each hand. Hold these wires horizontally to the ground. Your elbows at about 90 degrees. When you cross the water line these wires are going to cross all on their own. You must hold them loosely enough to let them move. You will know when you cross the water lines. This is called witching. Once you have located a sprinkler line mark the line. At that point if you want to dig a little to see how deep the sprinkler line is. With the sprinkler heads exposed this should be fairly easy to accomplish. Inform the company doing the boring/digging with the pertinent info. Hopefully no problems or at least minimize any problem. Good luck

You’re way over complicating it. All you need are the flags they locate the utility lines with and you only need one. You can locate plastic and fiber optic as well.

[191 champ]

20240117_093649.jpg
Bought these for the crew, tenderloin biscuits. They said that they would fix any pvc breaks and watch out for valve wiring. There was one zone valve I couldn't locate. With a little luck ....

[BigEasy]

20240117_093649.jpg
Bought these for the crew, tenderloin biscuits. They said that they would fix any pvc breaks and watch out for valve wiring. There was one zone valve I couldn't locate. With a little luck ....

Excellent! As cold as it is I’m sure they appreciated a nice good will gesture.

[BASSBUZZ]

I would recommend testing the sprinkler system once they complete the work in your yard. They don't have to repair but they may before they get too far down the road. If they are drilling I would only worry about the areas where they set hand holes or do tie-ins.

[BASSBUZZ]

Also, if they plan to set a hand hole on your property make sure they don't put it in an area you don't like. They can reasonably shift them

[B Holmes]

This will work sometimes. But plastic lines with no locate wire are almost impossible to locate.

PVC pipes are easy for me to witch as long as they have water in them. I have been doing it for 30 years. Don’t know why it works, it just does.
It works for some, not for all. I think 50% of people can most likely do it. They just have never tried.

[billnorman1]

Sprinkler pipes are usually plastic, and should be winterized with the water blown out this time of year.

[barbarian]

Nobody tries to dodge sprinkler systems. Easier and cheaper to fix after the fact. Utility probably has an easement, so the sprinkler pipes aren’t their problem.

This. No sprinkler installers use tracer wire during installation and no utility company cares about sprinkler pipes. Plan for them to be destroyed. They’re easy to fix luckily. Much easier while they’re dug up.