How Much Does a Sprinkler System Cost in Memphis?
We’ve seen all over the industry, but especially for irrigation systems: clients can receive drastically different quotes from different companies. Companies might claim that your lawn has varying levels of soil quality or break your lawn up into different zones. It can make it really tough to tell what the proper cost of a lawn sprinkler system is. How much should you pay, and what is unreasonable?
This is a tricky question to answer, because it varies not just based on your location but your lawn itself. As an experienced sprinkler system company in the East Memphis area, we could only give you an exact estimate by visiting your lawn and giving you a quote. However, we can help you out on your search to determine how much it should cost by letting you know the features you should keep in mind for your sprinkler system installation around East Memphis.
Cost of Different Types of Sprinkler System Installation
Any sprinkler system that you purchase is a big investment that will save you watering time. However, the pricing of different types of systems can still vary wildly. It’s important to do research on what kind of system best suits your needs. Each system can also have a lot of unique features added on that can alter the price.
The two main types of sprinkler systems used for lawns are rotor sprinklers and spray sprinklers. These both look like what you’d picture when you think of a lawn sprinkler, but vary in how they distribute water. A spray sprinkler creates a circular… spray. It waters a specific area the same amount every time. A rotary system instead moves one stream of water in a specific pattern, which uses water more efficiently. Because of this, a rotor sprinkler system is generally slightly more expensive than a spray system. You can also, for an additional fee, install these systems in-ground. This means that they pop up only when they are scheduled to water instead of standing on your lawn, which can make walking and mowing much easier.
Spray Sprinkler System (Image Source: Utah State University)
Rotor Sprinkler System (Image Source: Montana State University)
If you’re more interested in watering your garden and flower beds, a spray system can cover both garden beds and your lawn. However, there are other systems that are more tailored to providing water to plants other than grass. A drip irrigation system is incredibly sustainable, using tubing to deliver water directly to a plant’s root zone. It’s a more expensive type of system, but a great way to water landscaping bushes and plants without the system being visible. For cheaper alternatives, a bubbler system delivers water to the base of the plants, splashing forward from the drip hose. This sticks out slightly, but still allows manual tweaking of the water flow. A soaker hose would be the cheapest irrigation system to water your flowers, but it simply shoots the water out of the hose holes without any way to redirect.
Drip Irrigation System (Image Source: The Ashton Real Estate Group of RE/MAX Advantage Nashville)
For most advanced systems, like spray, rotor, and drip irrigation systems, you can also invest in making them smarter. All systems at that level will have a controller panel that you use to program when and where they water. A smart system may be able to be controlled from your phone, detect the presence of rain, or even monitor weather conditions and adjust accordingly. This could save on water and time overall, but will make a system significantly pricier. Also, keep in mind that the brand of sprinkler system or smart controller will have an influence on the price.
Installation Methods: Trenching vs Vibratory Plowing
When installing a sprinkler system in your lawn, how your lawn heals is also important to consider. If your lawn needs sod or fertilizer to recover from damage, that would add an additional cost. Generally, the two most common installation methods are trenching or vibratory plowing. Either way, the dirt beneath your lawn needs to be cleared to lay out the sprinkler pipe. Trenching involves simply digging up the planned area and installing the piping. Vibratory plowing uses specialized machinery to break up the dirt without having to dig up all of the rooted grass. The equipment needed for this makes this more expensive upfront than trenching, and companies might quote you higher if they use this method. However, it could save you money overall by causing less damage to your lawn.
Trench
How Much Does A Sprinkler System Add to Your Water Bill?
Something that might hold you back from installing a sprinkler system is the idea of how much it’ll add to your water bill. Luckily, that’s not too difficult to calculate! Water rates in the Memphis area range from $3.50 to $5.00 per 1,000 gallons of water. When installing your sprinkler system, you will learn how much square footage of your lawn is being watered and how often your sprinkler system waters. You can control how much your system waters as well, measured in inches of “rain”.
If your sprinkler system waters every other day (three days a week) an inch of rain, it will use about 1,860 gallons of water per 1,000 square feet. That can range from $6.50 to $9.30 dollars a week added to your water bill. You can calculate how pricey it would be each month, though know that each month’s water usage will vary, and you won’t be running your system at all in the winter. The above is just an example – we don’t know how big your lawn is or how much you need to water until we review your property. However, if you know how much you pay for your water, you can do the math to anticipate how much your system will add to your water bill.
Cost of Sprinkler Repairs and Certifications
On top of figuring out the cost of the system and the water used, you also have to keep in mind the cost of additional checks and repairs. These you can predict with some research, but repairs may crop up unexpectedly. When you install your system in East Memphis, it’s required by law to get a backflow certification check every year. This will cost around $45 to $85 dollars a year. You will also need to have your system winterized for winter and restarted in the spring twice a year. This involves blowing out water from your pipes so that it doesn’t freeze and then reopening the pipes after winter is over. Each visit can cost from $65 to $150, but this is a lot cheaper than having to repair a cracked sprinkler pipe.
Repairs vary in price depending on the part of the system. Fixing a controller issue costs a lot more than a head repair or adjustment. An inspection will generally cost money for the labor hours as well. When looking into repairs, there are two ways you can go about making these fixes.
Repairing Your Sprinkler System Yourself
When you save money by repairing yourself, it’s like you’re paying yourself for the work! There are several guides and tutorials across the internet for repairing or even installing your own sprinkler system. If you go this route, though, be sure to do careful research. If you make a mistake or exacerbate a problem, it can be much more costly down the road. Often, the setup of systems can be more complicated than ChatGPT might imply. Be sure to do more than a one-time search to save you money and time.
Calling an Expert Team
There’s no shame in calling a company to work with you! Installing a sprinkler system is complicated work, and any mistake could cost you thousands in repairs. Though a company will, of course, charge for the installation labor, it might spare you headaches or money from lawn damage. When getting a quote from a professional company, make sure that they are equipped to install your system the way that you want it to be installed. Ask them how many zones they plan to install and compare it to how you would measure out your lawn zones – you likely know aspects of your lawn like sun exposure initially more!
Many companies that offer repairs for systems will also offer to perform maintenance checks. Over time, though it can feel extraneous, having a routine maintenance checkup can save you from more costly repairs. Besides the essential winterization blowout and spring start-up, consider planning maintenance checks a few times throughout the rest of the year.
Local Memphis Irrigation Experts
Though now you know most of the factors to consider when getting a sprinkler system quote, the only way that you can know for sure is by receiving quotes from local companies. Knowing this won’t just tell you what the best deal is, but can also indicate the experience level and expertise of the company. If you’re in the East Memphis area, why not contact us for a quote? Victory Landscape Services has years of experience with the installation of sprinkler systems and can review your property to install the perfect system. Contact us today for an estimate!