Hi Check the big box stores in the irrigation section. At one time they had pamplets on how to do what you want.
Good Luck Woodbutcher

I called about a half a dozen irrigation companies and they never called back. It been almost 3 weeks. Are they so business that they cannot even call for a quote?

I am going to call all of them back again this week. I guess I have to pay top dollar just to get anyone to do the sprinkler system. Last year; it was super dry and there were cold calls made to me; but this year it been super wet and nothing! I even had a guy come to my door last August wanting to know if I been interested in a in ground sprinkler system. I should of said yes and you can charge me any price!

This post was edited by harry_wild on Mon, Jun 3, 13 at 1:36

I'd guess this is their busiest time.

It's a pretty straightforward DIY project. I'd suggest going to a real irrigation supply house for parts, a lot of what they sell in the big box stores for sprinkler heads and control boxes seems pretty junky. Around here the lower cost installers pull the pipes only ~6" underground which (at least in my case) means you've got a repair job to do every time you dig a hole or turn over a garden bed. I just ran drip irrigation to my new orchard, I rented a ditch witch from the HD and put the pipes down 2 feet. It took only a couple hours to make about 450 ft of trench. They are not frost-proof at that depth, but I'm much less likely to hit them with a shovel. Plastic pipe is cheap and goes together easily.

Please do call DigSafe before you dig (even if you think you are far from any buried utilities) and, depending on where you are you may need a permit. A backflow preventer makes sense whether or not you are required to pull a permit. It's nice to just tee in a connector for an air hose to make it easy to blow out the system in the fall.

did mine 3 years ago after getting outrageous quotes from several companies ranging from $3k to $7k for the same job. (3,000 sf lawn) ended up paying little over $500 including ditch witch rental and truck rental from u haul. got the job done in about 8 hrs. i did spend some extra hours researching and figuring out sizes too. not a difficult project to tackle in my opinion. ditch witch makes it really easy.
i got couple of images from the project here:
http://aurhaus.blogspot.com/2010/04/sprinkler-system.html

Finally got back to you; I been trying to decide and I going to go with a contractor for this project. It something I really don't want to do; and he seem to know his stuff. One day work and it is $3,696.00.

Finally got back to you; I been trying to decide and I going to go with a contractor for this project. It something I really don't want to do; and he seem to know his stuff. One day work and it is $3,696.00.

FYI I have put a system into each house I have bought - two of them.

I know the OP went with a contractor but if folks are looking to DYI they can, you just have to learn some basic plumbing skills and take your time.

Did a lot of research, got most of the parts from a local Irrigation supply house. They treated me very well as a homeowner, as opposed to the local plumbing supply house which charged me a ridiculously high rate from some pvc parts I needed, they seem to just want to discourage folks from doing it themselves and want everyone to use someone from "the trade".

I had a licensed plumber put in the backflow, and the second meter that is allowed in our town so that I don't get charged sewer fees for the water going on my lawn. The sewer rate is almost twice the water rate in my town so this is a huge savings over time, probably 400-500 per year.

I rented a trencher and buried all lines at least 7" (measured from the TOP of the pipes in the trench, so that I can core aerate without worrying about punching holes in them.

This is a great tutorial here that gives you all the information you need:

http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/

harry-
I did a system like yours -- maybe bigger and more complex -- and ended up spending about $1000 for all parts and for rental of a trencher. This is easy work and there are many resources available online to help you plan your system. For example, Rainbird will design your system, including a a complete parts list. Take a look at the link below. Unless you have a lot of money to burn, do this yourself.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rainbird design service

I sent a drawing of my yard with proposed planting to rain bird and they did the complete lay-out for free. They also spec'd the correct valves heads. I'll be installing it this fall.