Seven decisions to make before you call any irrigation contractor.

01 How long are you staying in this house?

This is the single most important decision on the list, and almost nobody thinks about it before calling. Your time horizon in the house fundamentally changes what the right system — or repair, or maintenance plan — looks like. A homeowner with 2 years left makes completely different choices than one with 15.

The math is concrete. A cheap install that'll fail in year seven is a fine choice if you're moving in year four — the next owner deals with it. A premium install with a 5-year workmanship warranty makes sense if you're staying long enough to collect on the warranty. A Wet Check subscription only starts paying off around year 3 of membership, so it doesn't make sense to start one if you're leaving in year 1.

Your rough horizon answer doesn't need to be precise. "Three years or less," "five to ten," "ten plus" is enough. Bad contractors push premium upgrades without asking about horizon. Good contractors ask first.

02 What's your water budget?

Most homeowners have never thought about irrigation as a line item with a dollar target. They just get the water bill each month and react. Deciding your budget up front changes every decision downstream.

Residential irrigation in North Richland Hills typically adds $40 to $180 to the monthly water bill during watering season (April through October), depending on lot size, system configuration, and programming. The difference between a $50 month and a $180 month is usually not the amount of water the lawn needs — it's how much of the applied water actually makes it to the root zone versus runs off.

If your target is "irrigation should add maybe $60 a month to my bill," that's achievable on any properly-programmed system on clay soil. If your target is "whatever it takes to keep the lawn emerald green," that's a different spec entirely and will cost three times as much. Both are legitimate. But you need to know which one you're buying before contractors start quoting things.

03 Do you want to think about your sprinklers — or not?

Some homeowners find irrigation genuinely interesting. They want a Rachio they can tune from their phone. They want to understand zone programming. They enjoy the tinkering. Others want to forget the system exists — they want to push one button in April, push another button in October, and otherwise never think about it.

Both are legitimate. But the right system for each is different, and the right contractor relationship is different. The homeowner who wants to tinker should get a smart controller with a good app, learn the basics, and call a contractor only for physical repairs. The homeowner who wants to forget should get a simple reliable controller, sign up for Wet Checks or similar monitoring, and let someone else handle the thinking.

Contractors who push smart controllers and app integrations on customers who don't want them are selling features the customer won't use. Contractors who push simple controllers on customers who'd love the smart features are underselling. Knowing which one you are saves you both kinds of mismatch.

04 What does your lawn actually need to look like?

Most contractor bids implicitly assume the homeowner wants golf course green. They don't ask; they just spec the system for that. If your actual standard is "alive and not embarrassing" — which is most North Texas homeowners — you're probably being overspecced.

The specs between those two standards are dramatically different. A "keep it alive" system for a quarter-acre lot needs maybe 4-6 zones, a basic controller, no supplemental misting, no premium overseeding support. A "perpetually emerald" system for the same lot might need 8-10 zones, weather-adjusted controls, separate zones for shaded vs. sunny areas to handle different water demands precisely, supplemental misting for extreme heat days, and a maintenance plan that includes monthly visits.

Same lot. Twice the install cost. Three times the ongoing cost. The question is whether you actually want the emerald look — some people do, and that's fine — or whether you just haven't had a contractor ask you which you want.

05 Who's going to be maintaining this?

The install is a one-time event. The maintenance is forever. And the best install decisions depend on who's doing the ongoing care, because different maintainers have different strengths and weaknesses.

Four typical scenarios, each with different implications:

• You, the homeowner — you'll adjust schedules seasonally, clear heads, replace the occasional component. Systems for this scenario can use slightly more complex controllers because you're the one interacting with them. Wire splices still need to be pro-grade because you won't be opening valve boxes routinely.
• Your lawn service — typically cuts grass and blows leaves but doesn't service the irrigation. They'll mow over your heads and occasionally damage them. Systems for this scenario need robust pop-up heads set below grass blade height, solid concrete or paver collars around exposed components, and a separate contractor for actual irrigation service.
• A dedicated irrigation service (Wet Checks or equivalent) — someone comes out monthly or seasonally to verify operation. Systems for this scenario can be more sophisticated because a pro is maintaining them. Smart controllers, complex zone programming, and premium components all pay off more when someone qualified is watching.
• Nobody — the system runs on whatever schedule was set at install until something breaks, then gets repaired reactively. Systems for this scenario should be as simple and bulletproof as possible: basic controller, durable components, minimal complexity. Features that need ongoing tuning are wasted.

If you don't know yet, pick the scenario you'll most likely be in at year three or four, not year one. Most homeowners start intending to self-maintain and drift toward the "nobody" category within a couple of years when life gets busy. Designing for the realistic future-you, not the enthusiastic current-you, prevents a lot of regret.

06 What's your tolerance for surprise repairs?

Over a ten-year ownership horizon, any irrigation system will need some combination of repairs — heads replaced, valves rebuilt, occasional wire issues, controller upgrades. The total cost is meaningfully affected by choices at install, but it's never zero.

The question isn't whether repairs will happen; it's how much of a surprise you can absorb when they do. Some homeowners can handle an unexpected $600 repair without it meaningfully affecting their budget; others genuinely can't, and for them a system optimized for predictable lower ongoing costs (even if higher at install) is the right call.

07 What kind of contractor relationship do you want?

Two completely different models exist for how homeowners interact with irrigation contractors:

Transactional. You have a problem, you call, someone fixes it, you pay and move on. Next time there's a problem, you might call the same person or might call someone else based on price and availability. Nobody at any of the contractor shops really knows your system. Works fine for simple issues on modest systems.

Ongoing. You have one contractor who knows your system, has records of what's been done, has a relationship with you, and becomes your first call for anything related to irrigation. More expensive per visit than the lowest bidder on any individual job, but dramatically cheaper over time because the contractor doesn't have to re-diagnose the system from scratch every time and because the relationship incentivizes the contractor to optimize for long-term satisfaction rather than short-term margin.

Neither is wrong. But knowing which one you want changes who you should call. A small owner-operator with a three-year relationship history isn't the right fit for someone who wants transactional one-off repairs from whoever is cheapest that week. A franchise with a call center isn't the right fit for someone who wants the same person remembering them year over year.

Using these decisions in actual conversations

Here's how this plays out in practice. Imagine you've done the thinking. You know your horizon is 12+ years. Your water budget target is $80/month summer. You're a set-and-forget type. You want "alive, not embarrassing." You plan to subscribe to Wet Checks. Your repair tolerance is medium. You want an ongoing relationship.

A contractor calls you back to discuss their install bid. They spend 10 minutes pushing a $4,500 premium system with weather-integrated smart controller and zone-by-zone app management. With clarity on your own priorities, you recognize what's happening immediately. You say: "I'm actually looking for something simpler and more modest. I'm going to be here a long time and want good reliable components, but not smart-home integration. What does that look like from you?"

Either the contractor has a modest-system answer (good sign — they're flexible and listen) or they don't (bad sign — they have one product they sell to everyone). The clarity you brought into the conversation is what made that filter work.

Fill in your answers below. Bring them to every contractor conversation. When something doesn't match, speak up.

The real point of this article

You may have noticed I haven't pitched anything in this whole piece. No "hire Landon." No "Wet Check subscriptions start at $15 per zone." That's because the real point isn't to convince you of anything — it's to give you the frame to convince yourself.

If after thinking through these seven decisions you conclude that your 3-year horizon plus lean budget plus transactional preference means you should hire the cheapest qualified contractor for your immediate need and move on — that's a completely valid conclusion. I won't have earned your business this year. I might earn it in year five when your situation is different.

If instead you conclude that your long horizon plus predictable-cost preference plus ongoing-relationship interest points you toward a contractor who'll be around a decade from now and who writes articles like this one, call me. I'll walk your property, quote your system, and do the work the way I've described across the rest of this journal.

Either way, the decisions stay yours. That's the whole idea.