The development where we chose to build our house is about 2 miles from the beach. We can ride our bikes to the state park or the Dairy Queen in 10 minutes. We love being close to the ocean, but the beach locale and ocean breezes do carry a price, as the wind and sandy soil dry out the lawn very quickly. Thank goodness we took the advice of our builder and opted to dig a well for our irrigation system. Without it, we would have either a crackling brown lawn or enormous water bills.

When we thought about the budget and options for our house, we decided to spend our money on structure rather than finish. In other words, we spent money on the big things that are harder and/or more expensive to put in later (like a well, or a screened-in porch) and cut out more expensive tile and carpets. Our irrigation well cost just around $3,000 to drill, which is no chump change, but it will pay for itself in less than three years. Water bills in our area for irrigation run upwards of $600-$800 a month! So it was completely worth it.

If you too want an irrigation well, here a few things to keep in mind:

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