How To Replace a Broken Sprinkler Head

rain-bird-sprinkler-head

The grass had recently died in the center section of our front lawn and I was perplexed. It’s a shaded area but grass had always grown there before. After taking a quick look at the sprinkler heads I noticed one of them was sitting in the ground but not attached. Apparently a tree root had sheared the sprinkler head off the PVC pipe.

broken-sprinkler-head

I dug out around the remaining pipe and had to cut through plenty of roots but finally made enough room to reach the pipe.

dig-roots

The sprinkler head had broken off on the threaded piece so I needed to cut the existing pipe and replace that section and elbow.

I used my DeWALT pivot recip saw but you can use any type of hand saw to remove the old pipe.

I made a quick trip to my home center and grabbed some 3/4 PVC pipe, elbow, 3/4 to 1/2 threaded step down, Rain Bird rotor sprinkler head and PVC cement. I made sure to fit it all together at the store before purchasing and buy enough straight length.

rain-bird-sprinkler-head

I measured the length needed to replace the old PVC and bring the sprinkler head to within two inches from the wall.

measure-extension

I cut out the old pipe and used the PVC cement to join the new pipe with the existing pipe as well as the threaded ends.

dewalt-pivot-recip-saw

pvc-cement

new-extension

The last step is to screw on the Rain Bird sprinkler head. Give the PVC cement a few hours to cure then turn on your system and check for leaks before burying the pipe.

Hopefully this won’t happen again but our roots are bad but at least I know how to fix this next time.

Our grass is already growing back in that dry bare spot!

sprinkler-head-installed

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