The full parts list! You guys, this is the post I get asked about more than any other piece of this project: what did you actually buy. So today we are walking through every part, every product link, what each one cost, and — for the bigger pieces — why we picked it over the alternatives. Plus the pieces we’d buy differently next time, now that we’ve run the front yard for a few weeks.
If you missed it, Part 1 covers the design phase — measuring your pressure and flow, drawing your zones, picking your head types. You’ll want those numbers in hand before you buy anything off this list. The whole point of doing the design first is so the materials list works for your yard, not ours.
A quick note before the list:
Three things to know up front so the cost numbers and the links below make sense.
First, we bought a chunk of extra material — bulk packs of fittings, more pipe than the front yard needed, a 16-zone controller for what may end up being a 6-or-7-zone total system — because we are absolutely doing the back yard next, and packs of 25 fittings cost the same as 5-9 individual ones. So our actual spend is higher than what the front yard alone “cost.” The breakdown at the bottom of this post is the front-yard portion, allocated. If you are only doing your front (or only doing the whole thing once), your number will look more like the allocated total.
Second, every dollar number below is an estimate based on what these products were running at Lowe’s and Home Depot when we bought them. Prices move. Use them to get in the ballpark, not to budget down to the dollar.
Third, heads-up: some of the product links below are affiliate links — if you click through and buy, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Doesn’t change what I recommend. Every product on this list is one we actually bought, installed, and would buy again (or the version I’ve noted I’d buy instead next time).
Okay. On to the list.
The Main Characters
The controller — Rachio R3, 16-Zone
We covered the why on Rachio in Part 1, but the short version: best all-around pick for user interface, the app, internet connectivity, and weather monitoring. After comparing the smart controllers on the market, this is the one we kept coming back to.
The 16-zone version was a real “why not” call. The 16-zone was only $50 more than the 8-zone, and at the time of design we thought we’d need at least 10 zones based on our measured GPM. (Spoiler from later in this post: that GPM measurement was off by about 3x once we ran the actual supply, so we’re closer to 6-7 zones for the whole property. The extra capacity is fine — better to have stations and not need them than to need stations and not have them — but if you have a clearer GPM number than we did, size your controller accordingly.)
The rotors — Rain Bird 26-38 ft Adjustable Gear Drive
We picked these because they had the most even coverage across their entire spray radius of the rotors we compared. Even coverage matters more than peak distance for a residential lawn — a head that throws 40 feet but waters unevenly will give you a striped, patchy lawn no matter how perfectly you space it.
The 3 GPM nozzle ships preinstalled, which is the one we ran with. Each rotor zone in the front is 2 rotors at 3 GPM = 6 GPM per zone, which sat right at the top of our (then-believed-to-be-correct) GPM budget. We did not add anything tree-specific for our two front-yard trees — they are getting incidental water from the lawn rotors plus a 30-minute deep hose soak every two weeks, which is what Rachio actually recommends for established trees during setup.
The valves — Rain Bird 3/4″ FPT Professional Grade Anti-Siphon Valves with Flow Control
We went anti-siphon over inline valves so the in-ground side of the system stays air-gapped from the supply as much as possible. The price difference between anti-siphon and inline was small enough that the extra layer of separation was worth it to us.
Important note that I covered in Part 1 and want to repeat here: anti-siphon valves are not a substitute for a code-required backflow prevention device, especially on a well system. Backflow prevention is the one piece of this whole project I’d tell anyone to call a licensed plumber for, full stop. Same with the supply tap into your home’s main line. Both are usually permit-and-licensed-plumber territory and not the place to figure it out as you go. The rest of this list, you can absolutely DIY.
The other thing about anti-siphon valves: by code, they have to be mounted at least 6 inches above the highest sprinkler head they control, and we mounted ours about 3 feet up. That means no buried valve box for us — the manifold lives above ground on a wall mount near where the supply line exits the house. (See “supporting cast” below.)
The pipe — 3/4″ CPVC and 3/4″ Schedule 40 PVC (both Charlotte Pipe)
The pipe story is in two layers: material choice, and size choice.
Material: CPVC is rated for hot and cold potable water and is what we ran from the supply tap up to and through the master shutoff. Anything that could touch our drinking-water side is CPVC. Schedule 40 PVC is cheaper and we used it for everything downstream of that — out to the manifold and through every lateral. The cost difference adds up over hundreds of feet, and the PVC is rated plenty high for irrigation pressure.
Size: We ran 3/4″ everywhere on the lawn side because our well supply itself is 3/4″. Going to 1″ on the laterals would not have given us more flow than the 3/4″ supply was already delivering, so it would have been spending money for nothing. The drip zone uses 1/2″ PVC for the run from the valve to the drip manifold, since drip’s GPM demand is so low you don’t need the bigger pipe.
Total used for the front yard: about 300 linear feet of 3/4″ Schedule 40 PVC. We bought about 400 linear feet to start, so there’s roughly 100 feet sitting in the garage waiting on the back yard.
The drip manifold — Orbit 8-Port NPT Manifold with Filter
Full honesty on this one: this was an impulse buy at Lowe’s. We didn’t deeply research drip manifold options the way we did for the rotors and the controller. The logic was, this thing is cheap, the foundation beds are not going to be the make-or-break zone of the whole system, and if it doesn’t hold up long-term it’s easy enough to swap out.
So far it has held up just fine through the first season. We ran Orbit 1/4″ x 50-ft flexible drip tubing straight from the barbed manifold outlets out to each plant, with a mix of 3D-printed and store-bought stakes holding the tubing in place (the purchased stakes came in the Orbit Drip Irrigation Repair Kit — handy to have around for the inevitable repair, too). One of our planned upgrades for the front (more on that at the bottom) is to run a couple of those 8 ports as buried 1/4″ lines out to the front-yard tree for a real deep soak when the drip zone runs.
The Supporting Cast
This is the part most parts lists skip, and it is also the part you will absolutely 100% need.
Fittings (in 3/4″ and a little 1/2″)
Jacob bought these in bulk packs because the math is bonkers — a pack of 25 elbows ran us roughly the same as buying 5-9 individually. If you are doing a system this size, buy the packs. Whatever you don’t use on the front yard will get used somewhere, on this project or another one.
What we stocked:
- 45° elbows (3/4″) — about 30 in the count, though only some of those got used in the front
- 90° elbows (3/4″) — about 30 in the count, same deal
- 3-way tees (3/4″) — about 30
- Slip couplers (3/4″) — about 25
- Threaded-to-slip adapters (3/4″) — about 25 (for connecting threaded valves and rotors to the slip pipe runs)
- A handful of 1/2″ versions of the same for the drip-zone run
Glue and primer — Oatey PVC primer + cement combo set
One combo set covered the roughly 300 feet of pipe and the dozens of joints in the front yard with cement to spare. If you are doing a full property in one go, buy two sets so you don’t run dry mid-trench.
The risers between the lateral and each rotor
Every rotor head connects to the lateral pipe with: a 90° elbow or tee cemented onto the lateral, then a cut-to-fit length of 3/4″ PVC riser, then a 3/4″ threaded-to-slip adapter, threaded into the female bottom of the rotor. Cheap, simple, and easy to adjust during install if a head wasn’t sitting at quite the right grade.
You can also buy purpose-made swing joints or “funny pipe” flexible risers, which are more forgiving if a head gets bumped (lawn mower, kid, you name it). We didn’t, and so far so good — but it’s worth knowing they exist if your situation calls for one.
Wire — Southwire 18-gauge, 7-conductor sprinkler wire
You need one wire per zone plus one common wire shared across all valves. We used 18-gauge, 7-conductor Southwire by-the-roll from Lowe’s — five conductors for our zones with two spare. If you have more than six zones, step up to a 9- or 13-conductor cable. Easier to run extra now than fish in another conductor later.
Wire connectors and enclosure
- Waterproof wire nuts for the common splice
- IP68 weatherproof enclosure (Amazon affiliate) for the individual zone-wire-to-valve connections — this is the small, sealed box that keeps water out of the spliced ends at the manifold.
The IP68 enclosure was one of the smartest small purchases on this whole project. Cheap insurance against the one connection failure that will give you a zone that won’t turn on a year later.
Master shutoff, blow-out, and the supply side
- RELIABILT 3/4″ PVC Schedule 40 ball valve — cemented in line as the master shutoff (cement was the right call here, no chance of a threaded joint backing off over time)
- RELIABILT 3/4″ FIP brass ball valve with drain — paired shutoff + drain valve for the blow-out port (Part 5 will cover the full winterizing process)
For the actual backflow prevention device that goes between your home’s water main and the irrigation system: see Part 1, and please call a licensed plumber. This is not the part of the project to DIY. Especially not on a well.
Wall pipe exit hardware
This is the kind of detail you won’t see in most DIY guides but it makes the install look like an actual installer did it. Where the irrigation supply pipe exits the side of the house, we used:
- A 1 1/4″ auger bit plus long 1/8″ bits — for drilling the pilot hole and then the full-sized pipe pass-through
- 2 x Ply Gem 6 in x 7.5 in white woodgrain vinyl universal mounting blocks — to give the exit point a finished look against the siding instead of a raw hole
Pressure gauge — WaterMaster 200 lb pressure gauge
You bought this back in Part 1 to measure your pressure. Don’t throw it away after — keep it on a hook somewhere. You’ll want it again to verify pressure at the actual irrigation supply tap, and again any time you suspect a problem with system pressure down the road.
The Tools
Worth noting up front: every tool we used on this project except a couple of small drill bits, we already owned. So your “what tools do I need” list will mostly come down to whether you already have a basic DIY tool kit or you don’t.
Already owned and used heavily:
- Ratcheting PVC pipe cutter (Klein Tools makes a great one — way faster and cleaner than a hacksaw)
- Mattock (for breaking ground around the trench edges)
- Shovels — both flat and pointed
- Level
- Tape measure
- Basic electrical tools — wire stripper, lineman’s pliers
- Drill and screws (for mounting the controller and the manifold)
Bought specifically for this project:
- 1 1/4″ auger bit + long 1/8″ bits (for the wall pipe exit) — about $25 for the set
- 2 x Ply Gem vinyl mounting blocks — about $20 total
Rented:
- Trencher from Home Depot — full-day rate, $119, total out the door $126.14 with tax.
If you take nothing else from this whole post, take this: rent the trencher. We tried hand-digging in our heavy clay first. Two hours into one trench we admitted defeat and went to Home Depot. The trencher took back the rest of our weekend. Full trenching story is in Part 3.
The Cost Breakdown
Here is the front-yard-portion estimate. As I noted up top, we bought extra of a lot of these items knowing the back yard is next, so our actual checkout totals were higher. The numbers below allocate the bulk-pack items down to roughly what the front yard used.
| Item | Quantity (front-yard portion) | Approx. Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Rachio R3 Smart Controller, 16-Zone | 1 | ~$280 |
| Rain Bird 26-38 ft Adjustable Gear Drive Rotors (3 GPM) | 4 | ~$60 |
| Rain Bird 3/4″ FPT Anti-Siphon Valves with Flow Control | 3 | ~$75 |
| Orbit 8-Port NPT Drip Manifold with Filter | 1 | ~$30 |
| Charlotte 3/4″ Schedule 40 PVC | ~300 ft used | ~$110 |
| Charlotte 3/4″ CPVC (supply-side) | as needed | ~$30 |
| 1/2″ PVC (drip-zone run) | as needed | ~$15 |
| 3/4″ 45° + 90° elbows (front-yard portion of bulk packs) | ~12 used | ~$20 |
| 3/4″ 3-way tees (front-yard portion of bulk pack) | ~10 used | ~$12 |
| 3/4″ slip couplers (front-yard portion) | ~10 used | ~$8 |
| 3/4″ threaded-to-slip adapters (front-yard portion) | ~10 used | ~$10 |
| Oatey PVC primer + cement combo set | 1 | ~$15 |
| Southwire 18-gauge, 7-conductor sprinkler wire | ~150 ft | ~$60 |
| Waterproof wire nuts (common splice) | 1 pack | ~$10 |
| IP68 weatherproof wire enclosure (Amazon affiliate) | 1 | ~$25 |
| RELIABILT 3/4″ PVC ball valve (master shutoff) | 1 | ~$15 |
| RELIABILT 3/4″ brass ball valve w/ drain (blow-out) | 1 | ~$30 |
| Orbit 1/4″ x 50-ft drip tubing | as needed | ~$15 |
| Drip stakes — 3D-printed + Orbit Drip Repair Kit | as needed | ~$10 |
| Ply Gem vinyl mounting blocks (wall exit) | 2 | ~$20 |
| 1 1/4″ auger bit + long 1/8″ bits | 1 set | ~$25 |
| WaterMaster 200 lb pressure gauge | 1 | ~$13 |
| MATERIALS SUBTOTAL (front yard) | ~$880 | |
| Trencher rental (Home Depot, full day) | 1 | $126.14 |
| TOTAL OUT THE DOOR (front yard, including rental) | ~$1,006 |
Roughly a thousand bucks for the front yard. Compared to the $10k commercial install quote from Part 1, all of the above!
The Two Pieces I’d Hire Out
I am repeating this from Part 1 because it matters: the water supply tap into your home’s main line and the backflow prevention device are the two pieces I’d tell anyone to call a licensed plumber for. Both are usually permit-required and licensed-plumber-required in most jurisdictions, and on a well system the backflow piece is a drinking-water-safety issue, not just a code issue.
Everything else on this list, you can DIY with confidence. Those two pieces, just don’t.
What We’d Buy Differently Next Time
Now that the front yard has run for a season, here’s what we’d change about the parts list specifically.
A smaller controller. That GPM measurement we did at the spigot in Part 1 turned out to be off by about 3x compared to what the actual irrigation supply tap delivers. So instead of needing 10+ zones, we are looking at more like 6-7 zones for the whole property when the back is done. We could have bought the 8-zone Rachio and saved the $50. Not a tragedy, but worth knowing.
Combine the two front rotor zones. Related to the GPM finding above: the two rotor zones in the front yard could have been a single zone running 4 rotors at our actual flow rate. Jacob is now debating either hot-wiring the two zones together at the controller, or pulling one valve out altogether and joining the laterals downstream of the remaining valve. Either fix is cheap. The lesson is to measure GPM at your actual irrigation supply tap before you commit to your zone count.
Run 3/4″ everywhere, no 1/2″. The 1/2″ PVC for the drip zone was fine, but for the back we’re going to standardize on 3/4″ throughout to keep parts and fittings consistent. One less size of everything to stock.
Honestly, that’s about it on the parts. The actual products we picked the first time around were good calls — even coverage on the rotors, the right Rachio model for our use case, the anti-siphon valve choice on a well system. Nothing on the headline list we’d swap out for a different brand or model. It’s the sizing we’d redo.
What’s Changing for the Back Yard
Quick preview, since this list will get an update when we do the back install.
- 3/4″ pipe throughout, no 1/2″
- Larger rotor groupings — targeting around 15 GPM per zone now that we have the real flow number, which lets us either fit more rotors per zone or step up to bigger rotors that cover more ground per head
- Tie-in points built into the back-yard install so we can keep adding to the system as we finish landscaping (the back yard upgrade is its own multi-year project — irrigation is going in to support it, not to wrap it up)
- Buried 1/4″ drip lines off two of the front-yard drip-manifold outlets to deep-soak the front-yard trees while the drip zone runs, instead of the current biweekly hand-soak
What’s Coming in Parts 3 Through 5
Now that the design is set and the parts are bought, it is finally time to get in the dirt.
- Part 3 — installation day(s): trenching, laying pipe, setting heads, mounting the manifold
- Part 4 — wiring up the controller and getting Rachio programmed for your zones
- Part 5 — maintenance and winterization, plus updates after a full season of running the system
If you are looking at this list and feeling overwhelmed, take it from someone who was hand-watering the front yard twice a day all last summer — once you have the parts in the garage, you are most of the way there. The rest is just labor.
If you have questions on any specific product or why we picked it, drop them in the comments and I’ll answer what I can. Or hang tight for Parts 3 through 5, because there’s a real good chance it’s already covered there.
— Kara
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