Grumman-581 wrote:
"zombie" wrote in message
.. .
The cheaper quote used TORO, while the expensive one used the Hunter
product.

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and price the equipment yourself... The hardware
is probably the cheapest part of the system... The installation is what can
suck -- unless you just like digging ditches through tree roots... The
problem that I have seen with all the local sprinkler companies is that they
are lazy and only bury the water line a couple of inches below the
surface... Sometimes, just right below the sod... That plus they use the
thin wall PVC pipe -- sched-20, I believe... Use the sched-40 stuff... It
isn't as fragile... The inner diameter is smaller, so you'll probably need
to go up to the next larger size (i.e. from 3/4" to 1" or so)...


Impossible to say how much this should cost. There are way too many
variables. Like how easy/hard the terrain is, how many driveways or
other areas it must cross, if the zones are all near each other or on
completely seperate sides of the house, how much plubming must be done
to get the water outside, etc. Geographical pricing diff can be large
too. The same job in NJ or CT is generally going to cost considerably
more than the same job in AL.

Of the sprinkler choices, I'd go with Hunter, which are widely
recognized as being one of the best. More important than the price is
that the installer know what the hell they are doing. Most of the
cost here is labor and its hard/impossible to fix after its screwed up
by a wrong design. I'd go online to some sprinkler manufacturers, etc
and try to find either an online layout tool or service. Going
through that could be very valuable in understanding where the heads
should be placed for proper coverage, so you can understand if their
plan makes sense. I'd ask for the contractor to show you on a simple
plan how they intend to cover the area.