Ortho's All about Sprinklers and Drip Systems

I've never done any irrigation work until recently. So I took a one day course from a pro and bought this book. Since a one day course can't cover all contingencies, I found that this book filled in a lot of gaps. My interest has mainly been in drip systems, not sprinklers. I now have a good working knowledge and sound like less of a fool when I order stuff from experts. BTW, I think with this book and all the free specialized information on the Internet, most folks don't have to go much further to study the subject.

Just like most fields, irrigation is evolving quickly as regards new materials, products and standards. Overall, I feel the Ortho book gives good solid information for a do - it - yourselfer. There was no "BAD" information per se, and it does demystify the home irrigation system. You can save a lot of money installing your own system. You can also cause a lot of damage doing it incorrectly. This book can give you a good idea whether you can tackle installing a system or not. Use this book along with careful planning, to know what questions to ask either a sprinkler supply distributor or to hire an irrigation contractor.

Book does a pretty good job at hitting all the points in planning and installing your irrigation system. Installing a system kind of feels like a major undertaking at first, but after reading the book I feel pretty comfortable about it (although I've only begun my installation, guess we'll see if things stay nice and comfy). I liked some of the side points in the book where it went into a little more detail about certain aspects of the job, however, in other areas I felt there should have been more detail. Book seemed like it might be a little dated as a few topics seemed to stick with more old-school standards (e.g., poly-pipe is now used in many new areas to hook-up from the meter to the house, but the book assumed that you would only find copper, galvenized steel, or PVC (stiff white) pipe for this application). I also think a book like this should provide as many "common mistakes" as possible, this books only has a few. Although my gut feeling says 3 stars, I have to upgrade to 4 because there isn't that many books our there like this one and relative to those it seems to be a winner.

An excellent guide for the do-it-yourselfer. Illustrations and text guide you through every step of the sprinkler installation process. Though some technical background and knowledge is required to follow some of the finer points. An abosulte must for anyone interested in "putting in" a well built sprinkler system.

The photos are great as is the installation process, the only thing it really doesn't talk about it shallow wells, which I was hoping for. Over all a great book though.