Not everyone does. An irrigation is designed to take the worry out of insuring that the proper amount of water is delivered to your lawn and landscaping. With today’s hectic schedules of customers, not everyone can devote the amount of time that it takes to drag a garden hose and sprinkler around. Let’s face it, it all comes down to protecting your investment that you have in your lawn landscaping. If a system is designed and installed properly, the worry of watering is a thing of the past. We even have the capability of operating your system from a smart device.

This of course is a question we get a lot. Unfortunately, there are rarely any two properties that are the same these days. Since this is the case, it's hard to put an exact dollar amount on it. Some yards are perfect squares and some are not. Some have minimum amounts of landscaping, and some have a lot. These are all broad factors that play into the design and at the end of the day the cost. 

The good news is we do offer FREE estimates. Keep in mind an irrigation system can be installed in phases if needed. We know that not everyone has endless amount of money at their disposal. We can also insure you that we will NOT jeopardize the design or performance of our irrigation system just to get your business. At the end of the day, our name is on that irrigation system and we value that!

An irrigation system is just like anything else that might be new to someone. There is certainly a learning process that goes with the new irrigation system. Here at Franco irrigation Systems we like to meet with our customers after each installation and go over the newly installed system and go over the operation of the timer itself. The best thing to familiarize your system is to simply use it.

Yes, you can. We of course recommend that you let the irrigation timer do what its designed to do, and that’s run your system based on what’s been programmed into it. Of course, there may instances where watering restrictions may be in place and this may restrict your watering times. Again, the main reason for having an automatic irrigation system is for you to sit back and relax.

No. A properly designed irrigation system applies the proper amount water to those specific areas. An automatically controlled irrigation system will actually save water. With the technology that’s available, there are irrigation timers that will monitor and make the necessary adjustments based on the current weather forecast and conditions. We include rain sensors on all our systems. This shuts the system off automatically when it's raining.

No. A properly designed system is broken up into zones. This is done for a couple of reasons. Because different areas of your property, like turf and landscaping, require different amounts of water. By breaking them in to separate zones, we can apply different amounts of water for the turf as well as the landscaping. The other reason is normally the average water meter/supply will not support everything running at once. This of course is due to the lack of water pressure and volume that would be needed. 

Normally, we suggest watering anytime between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. This is recommended for a few reasons. With the absence of the sun, the temperatures are normally lower and there is less wind to interfere with the watering. During this time there is normally no one out and about either.

We recommend that you don’t always use the overall price as the deciding factor. We find that it's best to compare apples to apples, look at the entire estimate. We also suggest seeing what types of materials are being quoted and compare how many irrigation heads they are installing. 

If you receive an estimate from a company that doesn't list the quantities or types of materials they will be installing, that should throw up a red flag. A lower price doesn’t always mean the best system. A lot of the time it is an indication that they are cutting corners to reduce their cost just to get your business. Ask them how they intend on installing your system. If you have existing sod, will they just destroy it, or will they take the time cut it up and carefully reinstall it? 

Lets face it - we will be installing pvc pipe 10”-12” below the ground. With attention to detail to your yard, it should not be any worse shape than how we found it. Are there exceptions to this? Absolutely. 

For instance, if there are a lot of roots from a tree present, then the ground may not look the same, but we try to correct those issues. We take the time to use a sod cutter to cut and carefully remove it if any trenching has to be performed. It takes a little more time, but we love when a customer comes home and asks us, “I thought you were starting today,” and the system is already installed. That is why we are so meticulous with our installations!

This all depends on the size and conditions of the property and what’s being installed. Normally we are in and out in 1-2 days on a residential installation. 

Normally during this time of year, you should be concerned with the possibility of freezing temps. Our regular routine is to start winterizing all our irrigation systems in October. We try our best to get to everyone as quickly as possible, but there will be instances were your irrigation system may have NOT been winterized yet. If this is the case, we recommend locating your back flow preventer (which is normally two pvc pipes sticking out the ground with a brass device between the two pipes).

Once located, take a old blanket or large towel and cover the pipes and back flow itself, then place a plastic trash bag over it. This will help insulate the device and keep the towel or blanket dry. This normally will get you by until we get by to winterize it.

We can be reached via phone or email anytime. If you have an irrigation emergency, you can call 859-519-7735 and we will normally get right back with you. If it is not an emergency or just a general question, you can always email us at Info@francoirrigation.com.