How to raise a lawn sprinkler head in under 5 minutes

This video goes over the steps on raising a sunken lawn sprinkler head in less than 5 minutes for under $1.
Disclaimer: this video was done on a Rain Bird brand fixed sprinkler head and may not work the exact same for other brands or other types of sprinkler heads.
The item used to raise my sprinkler head was an Orbit brand 1/2 inch cut-off riser that I purchased from the hardware store for $0.51 plus tax.

[@teaglet1]

Recommend pouring about 1/2 cup of water down around the head, this causes mud, will stop any dirt from falling into the head opening in the ground , it works. Thanks for your video

[@jimbo6134]

When you take the top off, use a 9” piece of 1/2” wood dowel rod to run down the shaft into the threaded water pipe, this will keep the dirt out and give you a shaft to precisely lower the sprinkler body down.

[@seadog9298]

I can tell you that these riser extenders are notoriously prone to cracking as they aren’t made of the same robust plastic that the spray head and the funny pipe fitting are made of. These risers are 100% the weak link and I have had many crack and lead to water gushing out of the base of the sprinkler.
If you are going to dig out that much dirt anyway do yourself a favor and keep digging in the direction of the funny pipe run. Once you have dug out enough dirt you can simply raise the funny pipe and the sprinkler at the same time

[@docham]

Good info. I have 14 spray heads that are going to work with this method. Thanks

[@krmitch1]

It is virtually impossible to keep dirt and debris from getting in your line using this method because when you remove head from the line, residual water will flow out and backwash dirt back into the system. You will need purge your line by removing your spray nozzle and filter and running your sprinkler zone till its clean. To eliminate the possibility of dirt and debris getting in the line, you will need to dig down past the the point where your head screws on to the line before removing the head.

[@lfwjoqbusjdl4996]

I dug down pretty deep, but still got wet dirt in the line. So I sucked out water and dirt with my shop-vac while replacing the riser. I think it worked pretty well.... except I raised it too much, and have to do it again if the sprinkler doesn't settle 1/2" over time.

[@tedspeed3338]

@@lfwjoqbusjdl4996 Step on it. :)

[@eols2190]

I saw a trick on another video that described the same process, but appeared to eliminate the chance of dirt cascading back onto the riser while or after the head was removed. Prior to unscrewing the sprinkler from the riser, the creator of the video poured a cup of water over and around all sides of the sprinkler head and let it soak in. This, in turn, bonded the soil around the sprinkler body, so that when the unit was unscrewed, the wet dirt formed a solid wall around the remaining hole so that even when replacing the tube, if careful, none of the dirt was dislodged back onto the riser.
And pop-up sprinkler heads also have an internal plastic mesh screen, that can be accessed and cleaned by simply unscrewing just the head whilst leaving the outer tube attached at the riser, eliminating the necessity to repeat the entire process and once again risk contamination in the lines.

[@JT_70]

I wish it only took 5 minutes! The first one I tackled had the funny pipe coming into the side of the sprinkler head requiring me to dig up the entire head as well as the funny pipe to raise it. The 2nd one would not unscrew until I dug out the entire head, then had to run to HD to get a 3/4” threaded female PVC coupling to connect the male riser to the male fitting. Just had my yard re-sodded and almost all my heads are now several inches too low, so quite a few more to dig up and raise!
All of my sprinkler heads use 3/4” threaded risers. I was unable to find a 3/4” male/female riser extension like the 1/2” one used in the video so had to add the PVC coupling.

[@SirBuzz]

​@@eols2190 That actually sounds like a good solution. I'm about to do a riser and will see how it works.

[@xaysilva8509]

It is actually better lower Ik that the top might not come out as match but it’s better lower because when u mow you won’t need to worry about replacing a Sprinkler Head!!..

[@getdown1080p]

Thanks for the video

[@M14SINAL0A]

I noticed this was in front of your home..i have same problem...do i need to shut of water from main line in front where sidewalk(city) is..or as long as my valve is off i

[@bullyhomestead7232]

As long as your irrigation valve is off you will be fine but there will be water in the lines