Rain Bird Homeowner Design Request Form: Measurements, Tiers, and Submission

The Rain Bird homeowner design request form is a two-page PDF you complete with a scaled sketch of your yard and your water supply measurements, then upload through Rain Bird’s online store with payment starting at $29.99. Rain Bird’s design team uses it to draft a custom sprinkler layout and parts list for your property. Turnaround runs from 3 to 30 business days depending on the service tier you pick, and the service covers homes in the contiguous 48 states on lots up to 240 by 300 feet.1Rain Bird. Sprinkler Design Service2Rain Bird. Homeowner Design Request Form

What to Gather First

Two kinds of information go on the form: a drawing of your yard and a short set of water supply numbers. Collect everything before you sit down with the PDF.

  • A sketch of your property showing lot dimensions, the house footprint, driveways, patios, decks, walkways, fences, retaining walls, trees, and shrub beds.
  • Static water pressure in PSI, measured at an outdoor faucet. Rain Bird requires a minimum of 50 PSI.1Rain Bird. Sprinkler Design Service
  • Water meter size: 5/8, 3/4, or 1 inch. It’s usually stamped on the meter body, or your water utility can tell you.3Rain Bird. How to Plan Your Automatic Sprinkler System
  • Service line diameter (the pipe from the meter to the house): 3/4, 1, or 1-1/4 inch.1Rain Bird. Sprinkler Design Service
  • Flow rate in gallons per minute, with a 7 GPM minimum.

If your pressure is below 50 PSI or your flow is under 7 GPM, the design service can’t produce a workable plan. You’d need a booster pump or other supply upgrades before submitting.

Drawing Your Yard to Scale

The first page of the form is a grid for a bird’s-eye sketch of your lot. It doesn’t have to look professional. It does have to be proportional and show every structure and obstacle the sprinklers will have to work around. Three scales are offered, chosen by lot size:2Rain Bird. Homeowner Design Request Form

  • 1 inch = 10 feet, for lots smaller than 80 by 100 feet.
  • 1 inch = 20 feet, for lots smaller than 160 by 200 feet.
  • 1 inch = 30 feet, for lots up to the 240 by 300 foot maximum.

Pick one scale and use it for the whole sketch. If you have a property survey from your closing documents or the local planning office, that’s a useful reference for the boundary shape and dimensions. Newer homes sometimes have a computer-generated lot drawing available from the builder.4Rain Bird. Landscape Irrigation Design Manual

Mark every permanent feature: house, garage, driveway, sidewalks, patios, fences, retaining walls, utility poles. Include large trees and dense shrub beds, since those block spray patterns and limit where heads can go. Note slopes and the direction they run, because grade affects runoff and nozzle choice. Label the lot dimensions in feet along each side, and label any area that shouldn’t be watered (a covered porch, an unlandscaped side yard). Noting windows close to planting beds helps the designer avoid overspray on glass.4Rain Bird. Landscape Irrigation Design Manual Soil type (sandy, clay, mixed) and prevailing wind direction are also useful for nozzle selection and head spacing.

Measuring Pressure and Flow

Static pressure is the single most important number on the form. Thread a pressure gauge onto an outdoor hose bib, confirm no faucets, dishwashers, or washing machines are running inside, and turn the bib on fully. Read the gauge in PSI. Rain Bird’s design manual recommends testing under worst-case conditions, meaning hot summer weekend afternoons when neighborhood demand is highest, so the finished system still performs when municipal pressure dips.4Rain Bird. Landscape Irrigation Design Manual

For flow rate, use a bucket test. Place a five-gallon bucket under the same outdoor faucet, turn it on all the way, and time how long it takes to fill. Divide 5 by the number of seconds, then multiply by 60 for gallons per minute.3Rain Bird. How to Plan Your Automatic Sprinkler System A bucket that fills in 30 seconds works out to 10 GPM. Run the test two or three times and record the lowest result. That’s your realistic supply.

Water meter size is usually printed or stamped on the meter itself. If you can’t find it, call your water utility. Standard residential sizes are 5/8, 3/4, and 1 inch.5Rain Bird. Irrigation Design Tip – Water Supply – Section: Water Meter Size Service line diameter is a separate measurement, taken on the pipe between the meter and the house. A plumber can identify it quickly, or you can sometimes check where the pipe enters a basement or crawl space.

If You’re on Well Water

Private wells use the same pressure and flow measurements, but you also need your pump’s rated GPM. Zone sizes in the final design will be limited by that output, because the pump should run steadily while a zone is active rather than cycling on and off. Rapid cycling shortens pump life. Check the nameplate on the pump or your installation paperwork for the rating.

Filling Out the Form

Download and print both pages of the form from Rain Bird’s store page.1Rain Bird. Sprinkler Design Service Page one is the sketch grid. Page two collects your water supply numbers, contact information, and property notes. Fill in your static pressure, meter size, service line diameter, and flow rate in the designated fields. Write legibly. A 3/4 that reads as 1/4 throws off the entire hydraulic calculation.

When you photograph the finished form, lay it flat on a contrasting surface and shoot straight down so shadows don’t swallow your handwriting. Label features on the sketch in words rather than relying on the designer to guess whether a rectangle is a shed or a patio.

Service Tiers and How to Submit

Rain Bird offers three service levels, each with its own price and turnaround:1Rain Bird. Sprinkler Design Service

  • Standard Service, $29.99, delivered by email as a PDF within 30 business days.
  • Upgrade Service, $49.99, delivered within 7 to 14 business days.
  • Rapid Response Service, $74.99, delivered within 3 to 5 business days.

To submit, scan or photograph the completed two-page form and upload it through the Rain Bird online store checkout. Accepted file formats are PDF, JPG, PNG, and TIFF, with a 4 MB maximum file size.1Rain Bird. Sprinkler Design Service During checkout you’ll re-enter your water supply data, select your state, and pay by credit card. If you’d rather mail physical copies, the form lists the address as Rain Bird Design Service, 2498 Roll Drive, Suite 925, San Diego, CA 92154.2Rain Bird. Homeowner Design Request Form Rain Bird’s phone line for questions is 1-800-426-7782.

What You Get Back

The finished design arrives by email as a high-resolution PDF. It includes a drawing showing each sprinkler zone, the pipe routing between zones, and the placement of every head and valve. Alongside the layout is a shopping list of the specific Rain Bird parts the installation requires: heads, nozzles, valves, pipe, fittings, and the controller. The parts list is keyed to the drawing, so each component matches a location on the plan.

Because the design is built around the water supply data you provided, each zone is sized to run within your pressure and flow capacity. You should be able to hand the plan and parts list to an installer, or work from it yourself, without recalculating anything. If your water numbers were inaccurate, the zone sizing will be off. That’s why the measurements matter more than anything else on the form.

Before You Dig

A finished design isn’t a green light to start digging. Two things come first.

Call 811 at least a few business days before any excavation. The national service sends utility companies out to mark buried gas, electric, water, and cable lines on your property at no charge. Sprinkler trenches typically run 6 to 12 inches deep, and some utility lines sit just inches below the surface. Once utilities have responded, hand-dig near any marked lines rather than using a trencher.6811 Before You Dig. 811 Before You Dig – Every Dig, Every Time

Then check with your local building or plumbing department about permits. Many municipalities require a plumbing permit for irrigation work and inspect the finished system before trenches are backfilled. A backflow prevention device, which stops irrigation water from siphoning back into your drinking supply, is required in most jurisdictions, and the allowed type varies by local code. Common approved devices include pressure vacuum breakers, atmospheric vacuum breakers, and reduced pressure zone assemblies. Your Rain Bird design may not specify which backflow device to use, since the choice depends on local rules, so confirm the requirement with your permit office before buying one.