Ask Rosie: How do we know if our irrigation is working right?

Question: We recently moved here from the Midwest, and we’ve never had an irrigation system in our yard before. How do we know where the water is coming from and whether the system is working properly? Some of our plants are beginning to look a little peaked.

Answer: What you seem to have is a drip irrigation system with what is called “spaghetti lines” (¼-inch black tubes) running to most of your plants. The lines themselves and the emitters on the lines may be partly covered with gravel, making them difficult to find. To get an idea of what’s going on, turn on the irrigation system manually and let it run for an hour until it produces wet spots around the plants. That way you may more easily find the heads and determine whether some of the plants are not getting enough water. It’s also possible that emitters have popped off in some cases and are spraying too much water in particular areas. In those cases, you need to replace the emitters.

Q: How much work can a handyman do and accept money for it? I’ve been doing toilet and sink repairs for my neighbors, and they’ve been offering me money. I’m not a licensed contractor. So is it legal for me to take the money?

A: What you’re probably wondering about is the so-called “handyman exemption.” Arizona law allows an exemption from licensing laws so that unlicensed handymen — or women — can do home repairs or remodeling jobs. But they can do them only as long as the work involved does not need a permit from a city or county and so long as the total value of the labor and materials for the job do not exceed $1,000. You also are not allowed to do electrical or plumbing work. You can read more about this exemption and the rules in the state statues at 32-1121 A14. Most of the time, this type of work will include minor repairs only. So under the right conditions, you can probably be paid for your work.

Q: Why are most lawns square or rectangular? Those shapes make it a real challenge to use sprinkler systems because most sprinklers are round. It means that you often end up spraying only a sidewalk.

A: Actually, there are a lot more alternatives out there than just round sprinklers. You can buy sprinkler heads that only cover a 90-degree area or that have rotator heads that put out a very low volume of water. There are adjustable sprinklers with heads ranging from zero to 360 degrees that can be set for different areas. In our opinion, the biggest challenge with sprinklers can be the problems of over-spraying.

Q: My mother-in-law has really old artificial turf on her 8-foot-by-8-foot square patio, and we’re trying to help her remove it. But it’s really hard trying to scrape off the residue stuck to the concrete. What should we do?

A: It’s going to require a lot of elbow grease to do that without equipment or chemicals. You probably need to rent a power floor grinder or stripper to help you with the job. It’s probably too costly to buy this kind of equipment. In addition, you might use a soy-based mastic remover called Bean-e-doo that seems to have less of an odor than many other chemical products. You simply apply it and then hose everything off.