When your retic starts playing up, the big question is whether to keep patching it or bite the bullet and install a new system. Both have their place — here's how to weigh it up for your Perth garden.
When a repair makes sense
If your system is relatively modern, well-designed and just has the odd fault, repairs are the smart, cost-effective choice. Think:
- a stuck or leaking solenoid,
- a few broken or blocked sprinklers,
- a flat controller battery or scrambled program,
- a single cracked pipe from a stray shovel.
These are quick fixes, and a good technician will sort them in a visit. If the bones of the system are sound, there's no sense replacing it.
Signs it's time for a new system
Sometimes you're throwing good money after bad. Consider a new install if:
- You're constantly repairing it. Frequent failures usually mean perished fittings and brittle old poly that'll keep splitting.
- The coverage is wrong. If sprinklers don't overlap properly, you'll always have dry patches no matter how many parts you replace — the layout itself is the problem.
- You've re-landscaped. New garden beds, lawn shapes or a pool mean the old zoning no longer matches the garden.
- It's water-hungry. Older systems are all spray and no drip. A modern design with inline drip on beds and efficient sprinklers on lawn uses far less — important on the two-day roster.
- There's no smarts. No rain sensor, no weather-based controller, no separate hydrozones.
What a good new system includes
A well-designed Perth system isn't just pipes and sprinklers. The good ones feature:
- Hydrozoning — lawn, garden beds and natives on separate stations so each gets the right amount.
- Inline drip in garden beds to water roots directly and keep foliage dry.
- Efficient, matched sprinklers with head-to-head coverage on turf.
- A smart controller set to your rostered days, with a rain sensor to skip cycles after rain.
- Bore or scheme set-up done correctly for your supply.
The cost question
A repair is obviously cheaper up front, but if you're paying for call-outs two or three times a season — and watching water (and money) run down the path — a new, efficient system often pays for itself in water savings and a healthier garden.
Not sure which way to go?
The honest answer depends on the state of your system, and that's hard to judge from the surface. Our technicians will assess what you've got, tell you straight whether it's worth repairing or replacing, and quote both options so you can decide. We handle reticulation repairs and full new installs across Perth — get in touch and we'll take a look.