Question
I just built a home and I am thinking of installing an irrigation system for the lawn. I have not talked to anyone yet but could you give me some hints on what to look for in a good design such as plastic vs copper piping, what type of valves, timers, etc. or perhaps some book that I could read up on. I just needed a few hints so that I could specify the materials to 2 or 3 vendors to compare apples to apples.  I want to do this next Spring.
Thank you.

Bill

Answer
Bill,
 Thank You for an easy one. Let me say in advance that I don't have any affilliation with any manufacturers. You didn't say where you lived but youll probably have to put some kind of backflow prevention device. You want copper in and out of that, i mean copper legs not pvc legs. This is my ranking  of backflow devices (RPs) 1. Wilkins 975 2. Febco 825Y 3. Conbraco 901901 4 Watts 909 5. Watts 009  6. Febco 860. Next is the heads, there are mainly 2 types: spray and rotor. Rotors rotate and cover large (20'-40') areas. Sprays just pop up and spray a smaller area (8'-15'). Rainbird is the best spray, Toro almost as good, Hunter is good. It's a pretty simple device, so it's hard to screw up. Rotory heads, though there is only one king- the Hunter PGP. It is the best, and these heads have moving parts and when they stop rotating you will have to replace them. The Hunter PGP will rotate forever- well pretty damn long, and with out a doubt will last longer than a Toro are Rainbird or anything else. 2 other components will be the valves and the controller. Really most manufacturers make a pretty good valve, Rainbird DV's might be the best, Hunter is good, Toro OK. Controllers depend on the individual. You want something you can operate without having to look in a book every time. A lot come with so many bells and whistles that you'll never use that they make it hard to figure out how to do a simple program. As far as the piping , most of the time PVC will be ran from the backflow preventer to the valves and from the valves to the head will be a poly (more flexible) pipe. The PVC will be under constant pressure and the poly wiil only be under flow pressure. The manufacturers of the piping sell millions of mile of the stuff and it is all tested and of consistently high quality. That's not it, but in a short message that's the best I can do. The last thing to tell you is to stay away from any heads made by the Nelson Company. They are the worst, they will pop up and stick up and then get cut off by mowers. Let me know if you have any more questions.

  Thanks
            Jim