Best products to stop overspray on my sprinkler heads?

I bought a brand new home about 3-years ago and the had a contractor install the backyard and the irrigation. I am just now getting around the noticing how much over-spray these sprinklers are causing and would like to possibly upgrade the heads to something that can really control the direction of the spray much better. Any brands that standout and I am guessing this should be a pretty easy fix? :confused:

Do you live in Texas?

“Control the direction” and/or the overspray?

By overspray do you mean the fogging effect of the spray or nozzle throw distance?

Do you have rotor or spray heads?

I am not sure what kind of Sprinkler this but I am guessing you might know? I need to control the direction of the spray so it does not spray the travertine, just the plants. I think I also need to control the distance in some cases too where it goes over the plants and onto the concrete. I might need to get a professional out to the house.

I do not live in TX, I live in CA. We do not have very large backyards as you can see. Maybe 40 feet x 20 feet. Pretty sure the photo I have is a spray head.

Is the sprinkler the thing in the upper left of the picture? If so, I’m stumped.

Call out a pro.

It’s in the middle right. It pops up and sprays. I will call a pro then.

Once I clicked on the 1st photo and see what you’re speaking about, it definite is a pop up fixed head. Kind of hard to see what brand of head or type of nozzle (quarter, half, three-quarter, or full) tho.

Best option is to replace the nozzle on it to something that is about 180 degrees. Chances are what is there right now is probably a larger radius and thus its shooting at the plants as well as the pad behind it.

As for distance, there is usually a screw on top that you can use to adjust the distance.

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Today was my watering day so I went out and took a photo. It looks like I need to replace one or two of the sprayheads to a 180 like you suggested. This is the first time I have ever really put a focus on my watering and this Rachio has me thinking about things I have never thought about in the past.

All of my other areas are doing a pretty good job of covering the plants and not the sidewalk.

I finally saw the head/nozzle after I popped out the photo to a bigger view. As ssindelman suggested, replace the nozzle. That is a full circle brass nozzle and uses a lot of water.

Yes, Rachio owners are thinking about their irrigation/water usage more now than they ever have before.

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Ok, I fixed it myself. Super easy now that I know how to do it thanks to help from you both! I had to get a 270 degree coverage head and two 180 degree heads and yes LOTS of water was flowing. I dialed down the spray and adjusted the direction and turned them on and off 4 times while I dialed it all in. Works like a charm with no overspray and uses much less water.

Thanks again everyone and finding that little screw adjustment and the smallest screwdriver I have ever seen was a huge help in getting the spray coverage perfect.

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I highly recommend the Hunter MP Rotor family. They are installed in top of the Rain Bird heads and adjustable from 90 to 360 and from short to long distances depending the type of head installed.
W in Southern Idaho.

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Everything seems to be working properly now. It was much easier to do than I thought. A small screw driver adjusted how far to throw the water and I was even able to set one of the adjustable heads to about 15 degrees.

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I’m glad you were able to fix things, but I’m stil wondering brand of your pop-up sprays. Are they pressure regulated models? I was under the impression that all heads installed in California must be pressure-regulated. Maybe I’m incorrect. I’m a fan of Hunter MP Rotators and Toro Precision nozzles. Was your system inspected?

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I had the Orbit brass and I replaced them with the orbit brass heads.

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Yikes. Orbit is really bad. Go down to a wholesale irrigation supply house and buy some Toro or Hunter pressure regulated (30 psi) and install Toro Precision nozzles. Ewing and others sell to homeowners. Avoid buying sprinklers at the big box stores.

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The Toro seems a little easier for me to install based on the online video so I will swap out the heads again given the low cost and improvement in water saving. I am guessing they will pay for themselves over time.

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Buy the Toro 570ZPR with pressure regulation. I really like the Toro Precision Nozzles, but Toro’s standard nozzles are good, too. If you have a Ewing Irrigation nearby they should sell to homeowners. If coverage over the shrubs is an issue, the pop up bodies are available in 6 and 12 inch. Toro also has TVAN nozzles that are adjustable. Best of luck to you.

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Can I buy just the heads if the 4” height is fine, or do I need the whole unit. It’s not a cost thing, I would just prefer to screw on the head vs digging out the whole sprinkler unit to connect it. I was not sure if the plastic unit was what regulated the water or if it was the head? I hope my question makes sense?

I have a few bushes where the 12 inch unit might be a better fit due to scrubs so I might need to replace the full sprinkler in some areas anyway.

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Question: What nozzle should I select after buying the Toro? Guessing the fixed spray head?

Last question: Is it worth it to get ‘X-Flow’ too? I do not think the ‘Check Valve’ is an option for me since everything is flat.

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