Home Projects & Repair

Broken sprinkler lines, what a pain. Water gushing out everywhere….. Here are some ideas to get it fixed.

Tools:

• PVC Cutter
• PVC Glue
• PVC Pipe
• Shovel

Cost

• $5-$20 depending on what you already have.

Broken sprinkler lines occur for various reasons varying from lines that were not drained before winter, digging in the wrong place or various other reasons. Regardless of how the pipe broke, it still needs to be fixed. Some people will often resort to calling a landscaper to come in and repair the sprinkler pipe without even considering doing it themselves. However, depending on the severity of the break, it can often be repaired in less than a half hour and just a few dollars in parts.

You can tell if you have a broken pipe by looking for certain characteristics. First you will probably notice that there is little or no pressure getting to your sprinkley heads. If left like this you will have dead spots of lawn. Next, make sure that none of your heads are broken, broken heads are much easier to repair than a broken line. If you do have a broken sprinkler head check out our tutorial on repairing them. Once you know you have a broken pipe you then need to isolate where it is broken. Often times your lawn will bubble where the line is broken. These are the easiest breaks to locate. Other times you will have a mini marsh land in your yard, if this is the case and the break is thought to have been caused by frozen water you may have long breaks spanning several feet along the line, keep this in mind when you think you have found the break. These two can be easily isolated with a little work. Now simply follow these steps:

• After isolating the break you need to dig out the dirt from around the dirt to allow yourself enough room to work. Clear up to a foot on each side to the break to make sure that the break does not go any further up or down the sprinkler line.
• Using a PVC cutter cut out the broken part of the pipe. Make sure that you cut out at least 6-8 inches to make the repair work easier.
• Now that you have removed the broken part of the pipe you will now need to clean the ends of the line removing any dirt or mud. Once clean some people will apply a primer to the ends of the pipe and the inside of the PVC couplers, for most of my work I have not used a primer and have never had a problem.
• If you have PVC pipe laying around you have probably noticed that one end of the pipe usually flares out into a coupling connection. If you have a line like this, then you will only need one coupler, if not you will need two. First you will want to glue on the two couplers. This is done by simply applying the PVC glue to the inside of the coupler and the end of the pipe. This glue sets rather quickly so quickly push the coupler onto the end of the pipe in a turning motion until you have pushed it on and the inner stop in the middle is flush against the end of the pipe in the ground. Repeat for the other coupler. If you are using a pipe with a flared out end. Cut this put an inch or two longer than you will need to fill in where the pipe starts and the other coupler is. Remember that the pipe goes into the coupler at least a 1/2 inch, and the last thing you want is a section of pipe that is too short.
• Once you have glued on the PVC couplers you will then need to measure a length of pipe to fill in the gap. Using a measuring tape, measure from the middle of one coupler to the middle of the other coupler. Then using your PVC cutter cut a section of pipe this length. If you are using the pipe with a coupler on the end, then you can simply cut the pipe where it reaches the middle of the opposite coupler.
• Now you need to glue in the section of pipe on one side. Do not try to glue in both ends at the same time because you will not have enough time before the glue sets. Remember to push in hard using a twisting motion to make sure that the pipe has been inserted completely.
• Once one side has been glued in, you need to glue in the other side. If you have dug out the pipe on each side this is much easier because it will be necessary for you the pull the pipe up or to the side to get the end into the connector. PVC pipe is extremely strong and can be bent pretty far without breaking it.
• Now that the pipe has been repaired you will want to make sure there are no leaks before you cover the sprinkler line back up. Some people recommended waited up to 24 hours before putting a lot of water pressure into the lines. This allows the glue to set, and gives you a break. Since both sides of the pipe are buried in the ground you probably don’t need to worry about the pipe being pushed out so you can run a short test to make sure there are no leaks.
• Once repaired you can bury the line again, and replace the grass. If you are still having problems, you may have other breaks in the line. I have seen a sprinkler line that was broken along a twenty-five foot section because of water that froze during the winter.