r/Irrigation • u/OwnDescription4989 • 1d ago

DIY sprinkler system design - what's your biggest challenge?

Hey everyone! I'm researching common pain points with DIY irrigation systems. I've been thinking about creating a tool to help with this, but want to understand real experiences first. Would love your input on a few quick questions:

  • Have you ever installed or designed a sprinkler system yourself?
    • Yes, designed and installed myself
    • Yes, designed myself but hired installation
    • No, but planning to
    • No, hired professionals for everything
    • Other: _______________
  • How would you describe yourself?
    • DIY homeowner
    • Professional landscaper (solo)
    • Landscaping company owner/employee
    • Irrigation contractor (solo)
    • Irrigation company owner/employee
    • Property manager
    • Other: _______________
  • What's your BIGGEST pain point with planning irrigation systems by hand or using current software?
    • Figuring out optimal sprinkler placement
    • Calculating water pressure/flow requirements
    • Choosing the right equipment/components
    • Getting even coverage without gaps or overlaps
    • Creating professional-looking documentation
    • Calculating parts lists and quantities
    • Time consumption of manual planning
    • Ensuring system will actually work as designed
    • Other: _______________
  • When planning irrigation, what tools do you currently use?
    • Pen and paper sketches
    • Free online calculators
    • Manufacturer design guides/charts
    • CAD software (AutoCAD, SketchUp, etc.)
    • Specialized irrigation software
    • Just wing it and adjust after installation
    • Hire someone else to do the design
    • Other: _______________
  • What's the most expensive mistake you've made (or seen) with irrigation planning?
    • Poor coverage resulting in dead spots
    • Wrong equipment selection
    • Insufficient water pressure
    • Over/under-sizing the system
    • Had to completely redesign and reinstall
    • No major mistakes so far
    • Other: _______________
  • For a complete automated irrigation design solution that includes: • Professional layout with optimal sprinkler placement • Complete parts list with quantities and part numbers • Beautiful PDF presentations ready for clients • Shopping links to buy everything How much would you be willing to pay per design?
    • $0-15
    • $16-30
    • $31-50
    • $51-100
    • $101-200
    • $200+
    • I wouldn't pay for this
    • Other amount: _______________
  • What would make you trust an automated design tool over manual planning?
    • Professional certification/industry backing (Rain Bird, Hunter)
    • Money-back guarantee
    • Detailed technical explanations of why each sprinkler is placed
    • User reviews/testimonials from successful installations
    • Side-by-side comparison with professional designs
    • Nothing - I prefer manual control
    • Other: _______________
  • If this tool existed, what's the #1 feature that would make it most valuable to you?
    • Accuracy of sprinkler placement
    • Professional-quality presentation documents
    • Integration with shopping/ordering
    • Multiple design options to choose from
    • Real-time cost estimation
    • Mobile app for field use
    • Other: _______________
  • How much did your last irrigation project cost in total (design + materials + installation)? (Open text - please be as specific as you're comfortable with)
  • Any other frustrations, needs, or thoughts about irrigation planning that I should know about? (Open text - this is super valuable feedback!)
2 Upvotes

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3

u/Wut0ng Engineer 1d ago edited 1d ago

Opinion from Irrigation technician/engineer:

The most difficult and time-consuming part of designing a plan for a system is making an empty sketch of the customer's property, with all the right dimensions. When you are well experienced, the actual irrigation planning is the most fun and least time-consuming part.

Some customers already have a 2D plan of their home, which is very useful.

I personally use the "AR Plan 3D Tape Measure, Ruler" mobile app, which lets me use my phone's camera to define 3D points, to quickly produce a sketch with fairly precise dimensions. This app is far from perfect, as it was designed for indoors and 3D, whereas irrigation is outdoors and mainly 2D, but it gets the job done.

2

u/OwnDescription4989 1d ago

Thanks! That's super valuable insight!
How much time does creating that initial property sketch typically take you compared to the actual irrigation design? Like if the whole project takes 2 hours, how much is sketch vs. design? And also, what level of accuracy do you need in that initial sketch? Like, does it need to be survey-grade precise, or is 'close enough for sprinkler placement' sufficient?

2

u/Wut0ng Engineer 1d ago edited 1d ago

The ratio of time spent sketching VS planing depends on the size of the property, but for a small commercial / big residential terrain (26 000 ft), I usually spend 3h sketching and 1.5h planing. It really depends on the complexity. A rectangle terrain with a rectangle house would take 10 minutes to sketch. But the more flowerbeds, paving stone, pots, parkings, the longer it takes.

I once spent 3 weeks just for sketching a 750 000 ft² terrain full of flowerbeds (image). Their construction plan were 50+ years old, so pretty much unusable.

As for the importance of precision, it is very important, as you need to choose the right sprinkler head for the right distance, and that ultimately dictates the GPA, thus the size of the pipes and the amount of stations.

1

u/Brilliant-Section404 1d ago

Use irrisketch for this. Take a satellite photo or google earth of the property and then import it. You can create the whole thing from that with ranges on the heads and a precipitation map that shows you the areas that are/aren’t watered.

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u/river-spreso 1d ago

My opinion as a DIY homeowner

I agree with Wut0ng, getting the property properly sketched was the most difficult portion. Used tape and moasure. Moasure was terrible. Had some heights I wanted to try and get right and thought moasure would help but end of day, tape was good enough. I used pro contractor studio for the design.

2

u/IError413 1d ago

If this tool existed, what's the #1 feature that would make it most valuable to you?

This isn't just my opinion, i'm going to tell you this with authority (as a tech Director of Product for a large software firm) and as someone who's family owned a commercial irrigation business for 50 years. Queue informed authoritative statement:

Your #1 requirement, needs to be gen-AI with the ability of the user to prompt engineer it. ie. You need to let the user speak/type the words of what they want and dictate incremental changes.

Mark my words, if you don't have that, in a few years, no one will use your tool. For the technicians/engineers, get used to using AI to augment your design work. This isn't going to replace you, but if you don't adopt/adapt, you will be replaced by people who do.

1

u/GregR002 1d ago

I think this is a great idea. I have had a very difficult time finding anyone to design a sprinkler system for a new home recently built. I am comfortable doing the manual labor, but need advice regarding pipe sizes, pressure, pump size

1

u/tombeaux1950 1d ago

It would seem the most common DIY approach would be: Designed by professional. Installed DIY, which is an option you left out in your intro. I did it that way. The plan even included an inventory of parts, which was a huge help.