Z4 · Design
Sprinkler design drawn to code and flagged for your approval
Head-to-head coverage that fits your site, the building codes and the water-use codes. You approve the flags, a machine pulls the pipe, and the finished system is drawn up and filed.
Chapter 01
Designed to the site first, then to the codes
A layout that suits the lot next door can fail on yours. Fleming's designer starts from the site itself: the shape of the lawn, where the beds and walks fall, and what the building and water-use codes allow. The drawing follows from those facts, not from a standard layout dropped onto your property.
The rule that matters most is head-to-head coverage. Every head has to throw far enough to reach the next one. Done that way, the lawn stays evenly watered even in wind and at peak demand, when thin spray patterns show up as brown rings and dry corners.
Fleming crew member running a pipe-pulling machine across a striped lawn
Flag it, approve it, then pull the pipe
Once the plan is drawn, the layout is flagged on the ground with every head positioned where the drawing says. Nothing is dug until you approve it. Properties in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty all go through the same walk, because a flag is cheap to move and a buried pipe is not.
Then a machine pulls the pipe, not a trencher cutting up the yard, and shrub and perennial areas are dug by hand. Valves are assembled and heads are adjusted for full coverage without overspray. An experienced site manager is on site for the whole installation, from the first flag to the last head.
Chapter 03
Controller, rain sensor, and the drawing that goes in the file
The system runs on a state-of-the-art controller with selective watering, so a zone that needs less water gets less. A rain sensor puts the whole system on standby in rain. Reviewers also mention a phone app that makes it easy to control each zone from wherever you are.
Last comes the as-built drawing: the plan as the system was actually installed, kept in Fleming's permanent files, alongside a full warranty on parts and labor. Call the Palo office at (319) 393-9229 for a free estimate on a new installation, and ask to see what a finished sheet looks like.
Every Fleming layout is flagged for client approval before installation, and every finished system is drawn up as an as-built and kept in permanent files.
Sheet Z4 · Legend
What’s on the sheet
The as-built drawing Fleming keeps on file shows where everything went in. These are the pieces you will find on it, so you can read your own system or hand the sheet to whoever works on it next.
Heads and control
Sprinkler head
Where the water leaves the system. Each hole is dug by hand and each head is adjusted to avoid overspray.
Coverage circle
How far one head throws. Heads are spaced so every circle reaches the next head, which is head-to-head coverage.
Controller
Runs each zone on its schedule, with selective watering. Customers also run their zones from a phone app.
Rain sensor
Puts the system on standby when it rains, so a wet lawn is not watered again on schedule.
Water lines
Lateral
The pipe that feeds the heads in one zone, branching off a valve and running out to each head.
Mainline
The larger pipe that carries water from the supply to the valves. The machine pulls it underground.
Valve box
Where the zone valves sit together. Fleming assembles the valves by hand on site.
RPZ backflow device
Keeps irrigation water from flowing back into the drinking supply. It is tested, and Fleming files the paperwork.