might add irrigation to lawn care

[landonkade]

I have seen there is good money to be made in installing irrigation systems. How would i get started doing it, i do have a friend that installs them, but dont know what all to do, i have seen it done, but want to know how and whats needed so i can add that to the lawn care was of pressure washing

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Did you ever see this site? They sell a video on how to get into the irrigation business. I was sent the video from them in the past and it was pretty informative.

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[Little's]

I got started doing it by installing an irrigation system in my own yard. I went into it knowing nothing, and when I was done, I realized it was so easy, I started offering it as a service, and have made lots of money doing it.

[Steve]

That is a great idea! How much of your business now is irrigation installation?

[Steve]

Did you take any pictures of it? How did you market that you were offering irrigation?

[Little's]

I didnt take any pictures, but I should have. One thing I found is that Property managemant companies have a lot of irrigation work that needs done. Maybe its because of all the renters in the homes that dont maintain the system, but they are always calling me to fix sprinklers, rebuild valves, replace timers etc. Just last week I was called to do a system check, and I ended up replacing 1 impact sprinkler, rebuild 4 valves, replaced 1 pop up, then program the timer. It took me 2 hours. I charged them $45 for parts, and $195 for labor. Good profit for easy work!

[Steve]

That is excellent! Which has been the toughest to do so far? The most technically challenging?

Is there any way you could take some video of you doing any of these jobs so that we could put it online to share with others? I think it would be fantastic!

[Little's]

I would need a video camera. Dont have one right now, but it is a possibility.

[Steve]

Well if you do get one, let us know!

What was the toughest part so far about installing irrigation parts?

[Turf Talk]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (landonkade @ Sep. 16 2007,11:03)]I have seen there is good money to be made in installing irrigation systems. How would i get started doing it, i do have a friend that installs them, but dont know what all to do, i have seen it done, but want to know how and whats needed so i can add that to the lawn care was of pressure washing

Hi Landonkade,

I have done some basic maintenance on golf course irrigation systems and also did some installation jobs in the homeowners and property maintenance side of things. I also had no idea on how it was done at first but you have to start somewhere, the first thing i did was i went to my local hardware store picked up a basic backyard irrigation kit and installed it, layed it all out on the canopy of the turf without doing any digging and made sure it was all working fine with no leaks etc... then started on installing the pipes underground, some of the basic kits come with an instruction manual just to help you get going and this will help you understand the concept of how it works. This was all done just using town water pressure off a tap, the next project you can set for yourself is setting up a timer and add this onto the system. this will be probably require you to go to your local plumber or irrigation dealer and ask them how to set up the hydraulic valves/wires to the timer. once you get the hang of it, its pretty straight forward. its only when you start to deal with high pressure systems/pumps you may need to do a training course or certificate for this...

Also you can check out [www.toro.com] click on the homeowner section & then click on irrigation, do it yourself irrigation is the first thing you will see on the picture. they have alot good info here which may help you get started.

If you need any further help I have a few irrigation techs regsitered with my forums at [www.turftalk.org]

Scott Bursky
Website Admin
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