I am about to start excavation of a 29X30 detached garage. As this is going into an existing landscaped yard, there is a sprinkler system that will need to be addressed. I don't know exactly where the sprinkler system lines run. Should I just let the excavation guy cut through the poly pipe and fix it after or should I try to find out where the lines are running and address it before excavation?
CAMM
Why would it be his responsibility if you don't know where you buried it, and you haven't marked it? What if the main line(s) to it run(s) under the garage - will it be his responsibility to relocate them?
I think I'd save the heads, those are easy to identify and remove.
Hopefully zone valves nor their home-run path to the irrigation controller are not an issue, if so that's a bigger problem.
I would also make a written map of which heads are controlled by which zones because you'll forget over time, and eventually someone will have to piece it back together.
The rest of it I would allow to be torn up, probably have tube stubs sticking out, and then rebuiild the pipe/tube system later.
Digging through the lines isn't too big a deal if the wires aren't run alongside and also damaged. The wires are low voltage so can be spliced but I like to avoid it. With either the pipe or wire they can be pulled and the damage can happen some distance from the digging although it is usually close.
If you have sprinkler heads close to where you are digging you can dig around the head and determine the general direction of the pipes. I recently ran the conduit for power to my detached garage through a sprinkler area. I was able to locate the pipes and cut them with a cutter to make the conduit/tubing install easier except for the one near one end that included wires. Luckily I had a good excavator that did it all with no damage.
I plug the ends of the lines to keep out dirt and rocks until I repair them.
Thanks for all the help and suggestions. There are 6 zones that will potentially be impacted and I am familiar with each sprinkler for each zone. Since the garage is near the property line, I will not have to run sprinklers to the other side which is good. I will start digging around each impacted sprinkler before excavation to see if I can get a better idea of where the lines run, then try as best as I can to preemptively cut and cap them if possible.
CAMM
Since the garage is on the edge of the property - and you probably won't be watering beyond it, see which way the lines go on one sprinkler, say on the edge of the property. Sometimes when you turn on a sprinkler system they come up in the order they are laid, especially if there is air in the line. Meaning you can blow the line out from the control valve side, turn them on low, and connect the dots as they blow out the air and start to work. If they run 90 degrees to the edge of the property thru the garage you can dig down at the sprinkler before the one to be abandoned, cut and cap the line six inches or so from the sprinkler on the side to be abandoned. They do make PVC caps of all sizes. If they run length wise so that there is a section that will be working, then a section abandoned, then a working section, you will need to dig a trench to lay pipe around the garage, to connect the working sections. FWIW the guy who owned this place before me had a big shed that came with the property. It was always damp inside and around it. When I tore it down there was a sprinkler right in the middle of it where he simply screwed the screw in so it was always leaking when the sprinklers were on - and hence the cause of the moisture in that part of the yard. Making it worse, that are was a small runoff channel thru the hardpan that was underground because of the way the lots were graded - so in the winter rains the water moved thru that area underground. My neighbor and I rented a two man auger to put in fence posts. Each post was like a 15 minute hole thru the clay and hardpan. When we got to where all that moisture had been, the auger screwed itself almost to the engine in the ground in about 2 and 1/2 seconds. We pulled the trigger and it dove. So good luck. Triple check before walking away with a grin that it is done.
Why not call Blue Stakes?...
Underground Safety Starts With Blue Stakes 811 « Blue Stakes of Utah 811
https://www.bluestakes.org/about-blue-stakes/underground-safety/
I'm in Virginia and our 811 call is Miss Utility. They don't charge to come out. I've been here 40 years, thought I knew where everything was. About 20 years ago they marked underground electric. Then I asked if he could mark other things, propane, water, septic. He said no until I "greased his palm"...money talks. He marked everything, it didn't take him long he used different colors. I took lots of pictures when he left showing measurements to buildings, etc.
I kept it simple by calling saying I'm digging, need them to mark. Once he flagged it he used spray paint for other things using different types of equipment.
Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk
I wouldn't mention sprinkler system. Keep it simple, like, "I'm excavating a 30ft square area. I'm calling before I dig since I don't know what all is there", which is true. They'll check it. I say little as possible, let them do their job. If guy says sprinkler system is there, have some cash in your pocket. "Mind marking it? I'd appreciate it"
To me I'd be worth $20-$50.
You truly don't know 100% what all is there.
Miss Utility's ad here..."Call before you dig".
Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk
Poly is going to distort, stretch and get really tore up, if it's just dragged out of the ground. You'll want to find where it's at and sever it, rather than let the excavator drag it out.
Another thing to consider is that the ground will be messed up for at least 10 ft beyond your garage foundation. Maybe 15 ft. So I'd find all the tubes in that larger area and cut and cap yourself. As rayra says, if his back hoe or whatever tool grabs onto a line it will destroy it but the pull can cause problems way far away. On mine I ended up replacing several of the electrical valves because they were tugged on and cracked. They looked OK because the tug on the hose was no longer there and they relaxed back to normal. But when I turned on the system I suddenly had water oozing up from them.