Now that you have an idea of what your system is going to look like, it is time to put it together. The first step is the timer. Locate it preferably indoors, near where the valves are going to be placed, and near that electricity source we mentioned earlier. Get it anchored and set up.
The next thing is to get the valves put together. You can often find the valve sets already put together, but it is not a bad thing to have to put it together yourself. By doing it yourself you will be forced to become comfortable working with the tubing and glue. As you are putting it together, remember how far down your sprinkler lines are going to be, and how high you want your valves to set above ground.
With the valves together, you can get ready to do the water tap. Dig down and take a look at your existing water line. Figure out exactly what you are going to need to tap into the line and attach to your new valve set up. This is most likely going to require some iron fittings, a reducer, and some sort of thread to slip joint to get to the valve assembly.
Do not shut off the water until you are really ready to go. Make sure you have your pipe wrenches handy, and maybe even a hacksaw. Remember, it has probably been a while since anyone has tried to break apart some of these joints, they are not going to be happy.
Once the tap is in place, and the valves are attached, wire up the timer and give it a test. There is a manual setting feature on each timer, designed to let you turn on your sprinklers without messing up your scheduled watering. Turn the valves on one at a time and listen to see if you hear the valve open. If everything is OK, make sure the valves are closed, and turn the water back on. Check for leaks.
With that completed, you are ready to start to run some tubing. This is very important. As you dig up your trench, place the sod on plastic garbage bags or something like that, on a patio or nonpublic piece of sidewalk. Water this often. This will keep the sod from dying, and will help it re-establish itself quickly.
Only dig up as much trench as you need, at a time. A trench six inches wide should do it. Dig your trench, and run a section of tubing. When you have a section laid, glued and dried, test your links. Cap off the end of the tube and start to crack open the valves. Don't let the complete pressure go, but this will tell you if you have any leaks.
