How to Extend Irrigation From a Valve Box

An irrigation valve box contains multiple pipe valves connected together; collectively they direct the water to various parts of an irrigation field such as a landscaped yard, a football field or a nursery. This irrigation valve box is also known as the valve manifold, and the sections of the lawn it controls are known as stations. For instance, you might have a three-valve manifold in which one valve feeds the front yard sprinkler station, one feeds the backyard sprinkler station and the other feeds the flowerbed station. To add a station or to extend one, plan out where you intend to install each sprinkler and acquire all the parts and tools you'll need. As an example, consider the installation of 1 additional valve using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe.

PVC pipe cutters
PVC glue
PVC primer
Sandpaper
Teflon tape

Instructions

- 1
  Dig the trenches where you plan to extend PVC pipe lines and sprinklers, ensuring ahead of time that no utility lines lay in your path. Lay out the sprinklers, pipes and fittings beside the trenches where you plan to install them.
- 2
  Pull open the valve manifold box lid and set it to the side. The valve manifold box is in the ground with a green lid and is close to the irrigation line shut-off valve. Cut the end pipe extending from the last irrigation valve just before the end fitting with a PVC pipe cutter. Cut a 4-inch-long piece of PVC pipe.
- 3
  Wrap the new valve-fitting threads with Teflon tape in the direction of the threads. Screw the fitting into the inlet of the new irrigation valve. Tighten it by hand until it is snug, then tighten it further with a wrench no more than 1/2 turn.
- 4
  Wipe PVC primer on the insides of an elbow fitting, on the new valve fitting, on the ends of the 4-inch-long piece of PVC pipe and on the pipe end of the last pre-existing valve. Allow the primer to dry. Then wipe PVC glue on the insides of the two fittings, the ends of the PVC pipe piece and the last pre-existing pipe end.
- 5
  Insert the elbow fitting onto the last pre-existing pipe end and insert the 4-inch pipe piece into the other end of the elbow fitting and the new open valve fitting. Twist the pipe and elbow fitting 1/4 turn and back to settle the connections. Hold the pipe and valves in place for 15 seconds. Confirm that the orientation of the valves and fittings allow the valves to sit flush to the ground.
- 6
  Wrap Teflon tape around the threads of the outlet fitting, and screw the fitting into the new valve's outlet valve.
- 7
  Sand down the ends of the pipe that leads from the new valve to the new irrigation sprinklers. Prime and glue the end of the pipe and insert it into the valve outlet fitting. Twist the connection a quarter turn and hold it in place for 15 seconds.
- 8
  Sand, prime and glue all remaining pipes and fittings until the irrigation extension is completely assembled. Doing so generally includes measuring and cutting the PVC pipes to fit the layout and then gluing them to T fittings, which support sprinkler housing connection.
- 9
  Wrap Teflon tape around the swing pipe assembly threads and the sprinkler housing threads. Screw swing pipe assemblies into the fittings along the irrigation line where you plan to install the sprinkler housings. Screw the sprinkler housings onto the open swing pipe assembly ends.
- 10
  Bury the lines and the sprinkler housings. Confirm that the sprinkler housing spray head is just above level with the ground.

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