Two jobs · both irrigation · both under the cap
The work,
as it actually looked.
Not finished-lawn photographs. The parts of the job that decide whether the system works and what it costs to run — which are the parts that are buried an hour later and never photographed by anybody.
June 12–18, 2026 · Diagnosis, lateral repair, valve manifold replacement
A split lateral that made a lake
A lateral line had split underground and put enough water into the yard to stand in. The water surfaced beside the valve box, which is not where the pipe had failed — it is just where the ground let it go.
Standing water in June with the system off. Water surfaces where the ground lets it, not where the break is, which is why the first job is finding the break rather than selling the repair.
Grey PVC, corroded fittings, sitting in the water it had been feeding into the ground.
Opened up to see what the fittings underneath actually looked like. You cannot price this honestly from above ground.
Each zone on its own union and its own isolation ball valve, so the next repair on this system does not mean shutting the whole property off.
Set clear of the water line rather than in it. The old one had been sitting in the wet.
Where the supply comes in. Worth knowing where yours is before you need it at nine on a Sunday.
The other box on the same property. Old valves, corroded terminals, packed with soil. Nothing about an irrigation bill is decided anywhere you can see.
May 14, 2026 · Valve manifold install, side yard
A manifold built to be worked on
A full manifold in a narrow side yard, laid out on the concrete before anything went in the ground. Doing that on the slab costs minutes. Doing it in the trench costs the afternoon.
New valves set out in a row and checked against the zone plan before a single one was glued.
PVC risers set to height in the open trench, before the valves go on.
Valves on, wired, and still open so every joint can be seen and tested before it is buried.
Set on gravel, clear of the ground, with room to get a hand around every valve. That clearance is the difference between a fifteen-minute repair and a two-hour one.
Tucked against the wall and out of the way of anything that gets wheeled down this side.
Poly through the wall, sealed. Small detail, and the one that leaks if it is done badly.
Everything on this site is advertising, and we work under the minor work exemption: under $1,000 all-in per project, permit-free, performed by the owner. Both jobs above are confirmed under that limit. We have photographs of larger work and it stays off the site, because showing it would advertise work the exemption does not cover.
That is also why you will not find a hundred thumbnails here. Two real jobs you can look at closely beats a wall of pictures with nothing to learn from.