FAQ
Irrigation in Sun Valley, answered
The questions we hear most from Sun Valley homeowners.
Nearly always the valves, a good share of the pipe, and the controller. Systems that have sat in the ground since the house was built reach a point where the pipe has gone brittle and cracks at fittings, the valves no longer seat so a zone weeps after it shuts off, and the heads sit below grade spraying into turf. We open a few points to see what condition the lateral lines are in, then recommend either targeted replacement or rebuilding the system zone by zone. Patching equipment this old rarely holds for long.
Yes, but not first. A weather based controller adjusts run times to actual conditions instead of following a fixed schedule, and it will cut waste on any system. What it cannot do is fix a leaking valve or a zone with poor coverage, and automating a bad system simply wastes water more precisely. We normally get the valves sealing, the heads at grade and the coverage even, then set the controller with real numbers for soil, plant type and exposure. A rain sensor or weather feed keeps it from running during a storm.
Considerably. Flat ground does not shed runoff, so anything that puddles stays put and soaks into one spot instead of spreading out. We program cycle and soak, which splits a station into several shorter run times with a rest between them so water has a chance to move down into the soil rather than pool on top. Head spacing and nozzle choice matter too, since applying water faster than the ground accepts it just creates a standing area. Where a low spot keeps holding water, the fix is grading or a drain, not a shorter timer.
It can, with the right components and a little maintenance. Grit finds its way into nozzles and drip emitters and is a common reason a zone slowly loses output. We install a filter at the head of every drip zone and use pressure compensating emitters that resist plugging, and we choose spray nozzles that can be pulled and flushed without digging anything up. Valve boxes get set so the lids sit flush and seal instead of collecting debris. Then we show you how to flush a drip line, which takes minutes once a season.
Longer runs and rougher conditions, mostly. Larger parcels in those pockets mean more distance between the point of connection and the far end of the system, which costs pressure, so we size the mainline and laterals for the run rather than defaulting to a standard pipe. Heads in areas where animals, trailers or equipment move get set flush and protected, or we switch to a component that survives being stepped on. Where a line crosses a drive or a working surface, it goes in sleeved so it can be serviced later without tearing that surface up.
Enough that it is the main reason people do it, though the figure depends entirely on what you are replacing. Summers here run long and hot, which makes irrigation the largest share of household water use, and a system with broken heads, a fixed schedule and overspray onto pavement throws away a great deal of it. Correct spacing, matched nozzles, drip in the beds and weather based scheduling attack all of that at once. Local water agencies sometimes offer rebates on qualifying upgrades, and we can point you to where eligibility is determined.
The size and the shape of the area decide it. Spray heads throw a fixed pattern over short distances and apply water quickly, which suits small strips and tight corners. Rotors cover large open areas with a slow rotating stream and apply water gently, which works better where runoff is a concern. Rotary nozzles fit standard spray bodies but deliver several slow streams, giving a low application rate on medium sized areas. What we never do is mix types on one station, because their application rates differ and part of the zone ends up drowned.
Almost always spacing or mismatched nozzles. Sprinklers are designed for head to head coverage, meaning the spray from one head should reach the next one. Anything less leaves gaps that no amount of extra run time will close, because you flood the wet areas trying to green the dry ones. We measure the actual throw, add or move heads to tighten the spacing, and match nozzles across the station so every part of the zone receives water at the same rate. Sunken heads spraying into grass and blocked arcs account for most of the rest.
In most cases yes. Spray in a shrub bed loses water to evaporation and wind, wets foliage and walls, and throws onto pavement. Drip delivers water to the root zone slowly, so nearly all of it goes where it belongs. The conversion is straightforward. We cap or remove the spray heads on that zone, fit a drip assembly with a filter and pressure regulator at the valve, then run tubing through the bed with emitters sized to each plant. Run times get longer and less frequent, which is exactly what established shrubs want.
It matters more on a small lot, not less. Hydrozoning means grouping plants on the same station only when they share water needs and exposure. Put a thirsty lawn and established drought tolerant shrubs on one valve and you will either starve one or drown the other. On a compact property it is tempting to save a station by combining areas, but the cost of an extra valve is small next to years of watering everything to satisfy the neediest plant. Sun and shade sides of a house get separated for the same reason.
Somewhere you can actually reach them. We group valves into a manifold in a box set flush with grade, in a spot that stays accessible and does not end up buried under a shrub or paved over later. Buried and forgotten valves are one of the more expensive things we deal with on older systems, because finding them costs more than replacing them would. Wire runs get labeled at the box so a future repair does not turn into guesswork. On a long property, splitting into more than one valve location saves pipe and pressure.
Yes. Anything tied to the potable supply requires protection so irrigation water, which sits in pipe with fertilizer and soil contact, cannot be drawn back into the household or municipal supply. The device type and installation height are set by code, not by preference. On older properties we frequently find either no protection at all or a device that was bypassed during some past repair. Correcting that is part of the work, and it is not the place to save money. We install to code and set it where it can be tested.
Too much pressure. When water leaves a nozzle above its designed operating pressure it atomizes into mist, and mist blows away and evaporates instead of landing where you aimed it. It also wears components out faster. The remedy is regulation, not closing a valve partway down. We install pressure regulating spray bodies, a regulator at the valve, or a master regulator at the point of connection depending on how high the incoming pressure runs. Water then leaves the nozzle in droplets, with the pattern the manufacturer intended.
It does, though it earns its keep across a handful of days each year rather than every week. Rain arrives here in a few concentrated stretches, and a controller with no sensor will run straight through a storm, which wastes water and looks careless to anyone walking past. A sensor, or a weather based controller pulling local data, suspends the schedule while it is raining and resumes afterward. That same intelligence trims run times through mild stretches and raises them through heat waves, which is where most of the real savings happen.
Underground leaks often show no surface water at all, especially on a mainline that runs deep. We start at the meter with everything off to see whether the dial moves, which tells us whether the loss is before or after the valves. From there we isolate zone by zone, watch pressure, and look for soft spots, unusually green patches, or a station that will not build pressure. Once we know which line is losing water, we open at the smallest point that reaches it and repair or replace that section.
Yes, and on a property where everything is original that is often the sensible route. We prioritize whatever is actively wasting water or failing, usually the valves, the mainline and the controller, since those affect the entire system. Beds can be converted to drip next, then lawn zones respaced and renozzled. Working in that order means each stage stands on its own and nothing gets torn out again later. We map the plan at the estimate so you know what the finished system looks like even if it takes more than one visit to get there.
One licensed contractor. Daniels Landscaping keeps its installation team under one contractor. The people who trench your lines, set the valves, glue the fittings, place the heads and program the controller work under one licensed contractor, and they answer to us. You get one point of contact, one standard of workmanship, and a company that cannot point at anybody else if something needs correcting. It also means the crew that installed your system knows exactly where every line runs if you call us later.
A phone call to (818) 443-9300 and a walk of the property. We check static pressure and flow at the meter, run each existing station to see what it is doing, look at plant groupings and exposure, and note anything that needs correcting before new equipment goes in. After that you receive a free written estimate describing the zones, the components and the scope in plain language. We carry California license 1138709 and work under it on every job. There is no cost for the visit or for the written estimate.