We have a sprinkler system. In this state, you really need one if you want a green lawn through the winter and spring. That is our dry season. Without it, the lawn tends to die back until the summer rains start, and those haven’t been as regular as they once were. Over the years we’ve replaced the pump… 3 times. Added or removed, raised or moved many a sprinkler head. At least once a year we have to wander the yard, with the system running, and clear all the heads of sand, grit, and grass to give them a clear shot at their assigned watering space.
The other day we noticed that most of station two was sputtering and surging, and generally not spraying right. There was no obvious sign of a leak on this station. No fountaining of water by one of the heads, no stream of water running into the road. We’d added a new head to station two a number of years ago. Up until then, it seemed fine. Maybe it was time to take that head back out. So we dug around that added head and capped it off.
No Change. Well shoot, that meant we had a larger job on our hands.
There were two palm trees in the front yard when we moved into the house. After Hurricane Andrew made landfall in south Florida, a landscaping company offered us $75 for one of the trees. We accepted the offer and offered them a second palm as well. Two for one. We used that money to buy four live oak trees ranging in size from 2 inches to a half inch around. Those trees are now between 2-3 feet in diameter. There in lies our problem. Oak tree roots.
On the north side of the driveway, about 6 feet from the sidewalk, stands one of those oaks. We planted it where one of the palm trees had stood, near the location where station two rises after passing under the concrete. In fact, when the landscaping company removed the palm they broke, then repaired, the pipe from station two. We know the pipe passes nearly under the oak, and we know the oak’s roots have been pushing the nearby sprinkler heads askew since shortly after we planted it.
We started with the sprinkler head between the sidewalk and the oak. It was pretty leaned over and we thought maybe there was a cracked pipe there. It would be an easier dig, if that was the problem. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on what we hoped to find, there was no sign of damage.
On to our next suspected problem child. This head was wedged up against a large root next to the driveway. This was also the site of a repair Edward had made 8 years ago, when the same tree’s roots had cracked the pipes, sending water cascading down the driveway.
Digging around this head was complicated by an abundance of roots. We cleared the dirt immediately around the head, but saw no indication of a broken pipe. When we expanded the hole, uncovering the previous repair, we found the problem. The 3/4 inch round, flexile PVC pipe Edward had installed in 2007 was now a flattened and stretched PVC pipe, having gotten that way as the root expanded over the intervening years. What’s more, the pressure of the root had caused the joint to fail and leak, fueling the roots expansion by providing a water source directly to it.
Clearly, we needed to repair that piping again. Easier said then done.
There was little clear pipe around the leaking joint and head. That meant more digging, at least until we could find pipe we could cut and glue new joints to. An hour and a half after we started, with the sun setting, we had at least found the pipes we needed. Next up: Clearing the roots securely wrapped around those pipes.
Before leaving work that day, I borrowed a SawzAll. I knew we were going to be dealing with some large roots and the odds of our needing to cut roots was near 100%. Previous repairs had required the use of a hand saw on wayward roots. I didn’t figure this time would be any different, and a SawZall just might make the job a whole lot easier. But that would have to wait until morning. We’d have better light and a fresh start. We covered the hole and left the mosquitoes to wonder where their free meal had gone.
I’d bought a wood cutting blade for the saw on the way home. The first cut was a 2-inch root. The saw went through it like a knife through butter. The next two cuts were just as easy. The last cut was a 4-inch root at that was the joining of the first two, and that took a lot more sawing. I’m not convinced we could have cut that root without the SawzAll. It took about five minutes to get through. A little more digging and we had clear spots to cut the pipes.
We decided that we would remove that sprinkler head permanently. Having a head in that location would mean continuing to fuel root growth. It’s given that sprinkler heads leak. Especially these old heads. We decided to simply pipe around the roots, still using the flexible PVC, leaving at least 3 inches, if not more, of free space between the pipe and the root. We also reinstalled the head we’d capped off two nights before, returning the number of heads on that station to 9 heads, what we had originally started with in 1992.
Then came the moment of truth. Was this going to be the problem? Were the pipes under the oak tree cracked? If so, we were going to have to call in the pros. Station two would have to be relaid by a different route.
Edward turned on station two and… up came the heads, spraying much better. What’s more, the pump was no longer struggling to get water through the system. Relieving the stress on the pump will lengthen its life as well. There were no signs of any leaks on the pipes just installed.
We filled in the hole and crossed our fingers. We had to wait more than 48 hours until our next watering day before the system could run for full cycle. When Thursday came, station two came on as scheduled. The heads still popped up and down for a few minutes as the station fully pressurized. We may still have a leak somewhere. But at least we know the pipe is no longer constricted by the oak tree and the pump should have less trouble getting water to the remaining heads.
I’ve never been afraid of getting my hands dirty. I ended up doing the vast majority of the digging. And I got to play with the SawzAll. Power tools make me nervous. I didn’t get to take Shop when I was in school. Girls didn’t do that. Given the opportunity, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. I like to make things. I like to figure out how they work, though Edward is better at it than I am. We make a good pair. We each have our strengths.
As with any job, it’s all about having the right tools. In this case, it was the SawZall borrowed from work. It made quick work of the roots we needed to cut and gave us the room we needed to work. I even gave the wood cutting blade to work when we were done, you know, for the next person to use. In the end, it made the surgery on the sprinkler system a whole lot less traumatic for all us us. Be it the oak tree... or the humans.
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