Even building the distribution manifold requires only the connection of a few ready-made parts. Ed Heckman, president of Lawn Irrigation Design Centers in Denver, has been installing sprinkler systems and teaching others how for 20 years. But if you break it down into pieces, it's not so confusing. Because the savings can be substantial. First and most important is the system design, what's going to be watered and where.
Experts strongly recommend having the design drawn by a professional.
Other stores offer the service for a small fee, and classes in sprinkler-system design are sometimes offered at local community colleges. Once the design is complete, it's time to buy the parts. And while one roll of polyethylene pipe may look like any other and stainless steel clamps all appear similar, it isn't necessarily so. For example, Heckman says, some clamps might be listed as 100 percent stainless steel, but the screw is steel and the clamp will eventually become one corroded mess. And, he says, buying cheap polyethylene pipe is self-defeating because you are going to be going back in constantly and fixing it.