Replaced Sprinkler Head - Irrigation

[Gumbo1978]

Have paid $40 in the past to have someone come out when a sprinkler head dies (or gets run over by lawnmower).  Watched a YouTube video on how to replace (very simple) and headed to Lowes to price a replacement ($3).  Dug around the broken head, unscrewed it, screwed in the new head, and put the sod back around it.  Took about 20 minutes including the trip to Lowes (and I'm not handy).

Also managed to walk out of Lowes without any impulse buys which was a bigger accomplishment than the sprinkler head replacement. 

[tn3sport]

Congrats on the DIY savings. Love the small victories and self-gratification that comes when I'm able to save $$ by fixing it myself.

I took your example a step farther.  I keep a boat and camper in my yard and I periodically snap off a sprinkler heads when driving through the yard. Got tired of replacing them. So, I took radical action. I replaced the type of grass I use so that I could stop using the sprinkler system completely. I put down a grass called Tifblair. Tifblair is a patented grass that has 3 advantages: 1) requires little water 2) disease resistant and 3) grows slowly.  So, I don't use my sprinkler system anymore and I only have the cut the grass half as much as I did when I had Fescue. I live in TN in a grass transition zone (southern grasses die in winter and northern grasses die in summer). I put Tifblair down by seeding it in a garden and plugging the yard. Very slow way to replace grass in your yard. But, its starting to pay dividends in that I haven't had to run the sprinkler yet this year. Plus, I'm spending less time mowing.

Sorry to take this topic on a tangent. I'm not a Tifblair salesman or affiliated with them. I merely purchased a bag of seed on Amazon for $25 and transitioned my yard from Fescue to Tifblair over a 3 year period so that I could stop wasting money on fungicides and water bills.

[Gumbo1978]

tn3sport - would be my #1 priority to replace my fescue (I'm in Charlotte, NC) with something else.  Homeowner's Covenants won't allow it.  My reduction in water comes from being down a hill from 2 other houses with irrigation.  I take their free runoff and run mine less.  Fescue was not meant to be grown here.

[FLBiker]

Related(ish) question:

I've replaced a sprinkler head (and need to do another) after mowing over them.  I never run the sprinklers, though.  I turned the "grass" section of the sprinklers off when we moved in, and just occasionally run the section that does micro for veggies.

Here's my question:  I don't really want to dig up the whole irrigation system (someone might want it) so is there something (easy / reversible) I can do to get rid of the sprinkler heads?  I thought about capping them at ground level, but I'm worried I'd lose them over time (like, under dirt and grass).  I've also thought about putting extensions on them and capping them ~6 inches above ground (so I can't run over them) but that seems annoying.  Any suggestions?

[Bob W]

Congrats on the DIY savings. Love the small victories and self-gratification that comes when I'm able to save $$ by fixing it myself.

I took your example a step farther.  I keep a boat and camper in my yard and I periodically snap off a sprinkler heads when driving through the yard. Got tired of replacing them. So, I took radical action. I replaced the type of grass I use so that I could stop using the sprinkler system completely. I put down a grass called Tifblair. Tifblair is a patented grass that has 3 advantages: 1) requires little water 2) disease resistant and 3) grows slowly.  So, I don't use my sprinkler system anymore and I only have the cut the grass half as much as I did when I had Fescue. I live in TN in a grass transition zone (southern grasses die in winter and northern grasses die in summer). I put Tifblair down by seeding it in a garden and plugging the yard. Very slow way to replace grass in your yard. But, its starting to pay dividends in that I haven't had to run the sprinkler yet this year. Plus, I'm spending less time mowing.

Sorry to take this topic on a tangent. I'm not a Tifblair salesman or affiliated with them. I merely purchased a bag of seed on Amazon for $25 and transitioned my yard from Fescue to Tifblair over a 3 year period so that I could stop wasting money on fungicides and water bills.

An eloquent solution ----  Mine is to never water the grass,  never fertilize or spray for weeds.    Whatever grows, grows and I just mow it down. 

You should be able to unscrew the heads and screw in risers with plugs.   Be sure to mark the location precisely on a map.   If you are not using the system you could even put unplugged risers on and turn the system on to locate the head placement at the wet spots. 

I used to install sprinkler systems and do lawn fertilization.   IMHO keeping pristine or even half way decent lawns is a waist of energy.