Valve box? ‘Answered’

Click on the image to see and enlarged view of the photo.

See my YouTube video on how to correctly install a sprinkler valve box.

I initially thought that when someone viewed this image it would be pretty obvious what was wrong with the installation of this rectangular sprinkler valve box. But when I asked my wife what she thought the problem might be she said “Is it too close to the sidewalk?”

I saw this particular valve box when we were on vacation on the Oregon Coast and I thought it would be a perfect entry for my “What’s Wrong” series.

So the answer is no the problem isn’t that the valve box is located too close to the sidewalk, the problem with this sprinkler valve box is that it is protruding too far out of the ground. The surface or top of this valve box should be installed so that it is flush or level with the top of existing grade. To accomplish this, the installer could have cut some of the depth off the valve box before installing it. From the looks of this particular box, about 4″ off the bottom of the box and it would set flush with the surface.