Installing a sprinkler system after purchasing one is a must. It involves a lot of materials: from pipes, fittings, valves to the sprinklers itself. If you don’t have the necessary plumbing skills to install the sprinkler system, don’t do it yourself. Otherwise, you’ll just be wasting time, effort, and money. It’s much better to call a professional to do the job for you. 

When it comes to expenses, installation can be as expensive as the system itself. There are many assessments needed to be done, after all — like assignment of zones and such. Which leaves a question to you, the owner? How much will it cost to install the sprinkler system?

Based on statistics, the average cost of installation of a sprinkler system starts at $2,460 for a 1/4-acre land. This doubles as the area becomes twice bigger. For example, you want to install a sprinkler system on a 1/2-acre lawn. The average cost of installation would be twice the amount needed for a 1/4-acre land, which is $4,920. For installation of a massive scale, say a 5-acre area, it can easily reach up to an average of $49,200, ten times higher than that of a 1/2-acre land. 

Depending on some practices, professionals can also charge sprinkler system installation per area. The price starts at $0.20 per-square-foot and can reach up to $1 per-square-foot.

As the sprinkler system is used over time, it will inevitably wear out and get damaged to the point it needs to be replaced in its entirety. There’s also the cost of replacement of sprinkler systems. Aside from the price of the new system, there will also be the labor payment to remove the old sprinkler system from the lawn. The labor cost is running on an average of $50 to $100 per hour.

The pricing of the installation of sprinkler systems can also be based on the number of zones needed to cover the entire lawn uniformly. On setting up zones, the following parts of the garden area must be considered:

Garden Areas

This specific area has many delicate plants. Sprinkler heads that can spray water more gently than the ones watering your grass must be used for this one. Sprinklers with smaller spray heads or bubblers carefully water areas with flowers or vegetables. This will keep plants from being bruised or worse, torn apart due to the force of the water stream coming from other sprinkler heads.

Shrubs and Bushes

This specific area contains plants that are considerably bigger than those of the garden area. For this type of plant to be efficiently watered, high-rise sprinklers are needed.

Lawn

This specific area covers most of the garden. It consists of large patches of grass that require sprinkler heads to deliver a consistent, uniform spray. Make sure the sprayed water will cover the lawn without affecting the sidewalks or porches.

Installing one zone of sprinklers costs around $500-$1,000. For two zones, $1,000-$2,000 is needed. For 3 zones above, the price range starts from $2,000 up. It can reach a maximum of $7,000 for 7 zones. Most of the time, professionals start to apply a discount of sorts when the number of zones needed to be installed increases.

In regards to the factors that affect the final pricing of the sprinkler system, here are a few things professionals consider before providing a price estimate: the size of the property, the quality of sprinkler system parts, number of zones needed in the lawn, types of landscaping of the area, the state of the yard before installation, the labor and time required to fully install the system, and optionally, permits.