Smart WiFi Sprinkler Controller with In-Ground Soil Sensor Setup

Our front and back lawn run on an old mechanical sprinkler timer with six valve zones (turf, hedge line, flower beds, drip line for the vegetable patch, and two spray zones near the fence). We want the whole thing replaced with a smart WiFi controller and want soil moisture readings driving the schedule instead of a fixed clock.

Scope of work: start with a walk-through of the existing valve box, label each of the six zones correctly (the current labels are wrong on at least two), and check each solenoid wire pair for continuity before connecting anything new. Mount the new smart controller inside the garage next to the existing valve manifold, wire the six zones plus a master valve/pump-start terminal if the unit supports one, and connect it to our home WiFi network with a stable static reservation on the router.

After the controller is wired, install one buried capacitive soil moisture sensor per zone at root depth (roughly 3-4 inches for turf, 6-8 inches for the shrub and vegetable drip zones), run the sensor cable back to the controller enclosure through conduit, and confirm each sensor reports a sane reading before backfilling the trench. Configure zone-by-zone watering rules so a zone skips its cycle automatically when soil moisture is already above threshold, and set up the rain-delay / freeze-delay feature using local weather data.

Finally, set up the companion phone app for two household members, enable push notifications for valve failures, unusually dry zones, and skipped cycles, and walk us through manually overriding a zone from the app. Please provide a one-page written summary of zone numbering, sensor placement depth per zone, and default watering rules so we have a reference if the app needs to be reset. Photos of the sensor trenches before backfilling and of the finished valve box wiring are required as part of the handoff.