Muellermist Irrigation Company — Irrigation & Lawn Sprinkler Systems

01

The record

Ask where the water goes.

Commercial installation is the foundation this company has been built on since the 1930s. These are the places that work has taken us.

01 Arlington National Cemetery Washington, D.C.
02 U.S. Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO
03 Soldier Field Chicago, IL
04 Chicago Bears practice fields Illinois
05 Ameritech office park 210 acres · Hoffman Estates, IL

Largest single installation 210 acres ≈ $1,500,000

The sprinkler system for an office park owned by Ameritech in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Historical contract value as published by the company.

02

Athletic fields

From subgrade to finished playing surface.

Muellermist, in conjunction with Roger “The Sod Father” Bossard, has constructed and installed multiple Major and Minor League ball fields throughout the country — building the playing field from subgrade up. That work has included drainage systems, cooling and heating systems, and sub-air systems. It is the part of a ballpark nobody in the stands ever sees.

A stadium under construction with the field graded to subgrade — **Pl. 01** — Field construction. From the Muellermist archive.

A ballpark under construction: the infield graded and turfed, seating standards set on the deck in the foreground — **Pl. 02** — Ballpark under construction, playing surface in. From the Muellermist archive.

Projects built in conjunction with Roger Bossard

01Wrigley Field
02Fenway Park
03Busch Stadium
04Comerica Park
05Miller Park
06Safeco Field
07RFK Stadium
08Chase Bank Ball Park
09Camelback Ranch
10US Cellular Field

Muellermist also installs irrigation for high school, park district and club athletic fields across Chicagoland, and for football, baseball and soccer stadiums.

03

Residential

The same equipment we install at multi-million-dollar commercial properties.

Three things decide whether you still like your system in year twenty: the design, the equipment, and the installation. Muellermist has gone to some length on all three.

A representative walking a front lawn with a rolled site plan

01

Design

A Muellermist sales representative comes to your home to discuss exactly what you want your system to water.

That visit is what makes a quotation accurate rather than a guess. We can suggest how to water specific turf or plant materials, and from the visit a plan is created that depicts a customized system for your watering needs.

All hydraulic piping and head locations are shown on that plan, and your representative will walk you through how the system will operate. Every sales representative is trained personally by leaders in the irrigation industry and is qualified to design any shape or size of system.

Piping and head locations drawn before anything is dug
Design accounts for terrain, sun and shade, and existing plantings
You receive a copy of the as-built plan after installation

A professionally assembled irrigation valve manifold in an open box

02

Equipment

You receive the same equipment we install at multi-million-dollar commercial properties.

Muellermist has over 10,000 systems installed to date in the Chicagoland area. About 2,000 of those are commercial properties, which means we have been required to install a very wide variety of equipment over the years.

That hands-on education is why we can choose not just the highest-quality components, but the ones that will actually function properly on your property.

Over 10,000 systems installed in Chicagoland
About 2,000 of them commercial properties
Hunter · Rain Bird · Toro · Vista lighting · Berkeley, Simer and Sta-Rite pumps

Poly irrigation pipe being laid into a narrow trench across a lawn

03

Installation

Muellermist employs only trained personnel to install its landscape irrigation systems.

Installation crew leaders are exactly that — leaders, qualified and confident enough to make the call on site when an unforeseen problem turns up in the ground. Capable, dependable installation crews are the backbone of any construction company.

Your representative can design a system that won’t require moving existing plants; it may call for some hand excavation. If the property isn’t landscaped yet, we coordinate the installation with your landscaper.

Crews are Muellermist employees, not day labor
Systems designed to work around plantings already in the ground
Complete parts and labor warranty on your new system

A backflow prevention and valve assembly mounted on a wall — **Pl. 03** — Backflow and valve assembly. From the Muellermist archive.

An open trench with irrigation pipe run across a landscaped slope — **Pl. 04** — Mainline in an open trench. From the Muellermist archive.

Spray irrigation running over a planted bed and stone wall — **Pl. 05** — Bed and border coverage. From the Muellermist archive.

04

Commercial & municipal

Longevity in the field speaks for itself.

From industrial parks to sports fields. Our designers take every aspect of a property into consideration — and our commercial accounts include retail stores, insurance companies, office parks and other businesses.

Rotor sprinklers running across a corporate office park lawn at dawn

“Muellermist does not take short cuts to save a dollar here or there at the expense of quality.”
Muellermist Irrigation Company, on its own commercial work

Industrial and office parks

From single buildings to a 210-acre campus.

Retail and insurance properties

Commercial applications include retail stores, insurance companies and other businesses.

Athletic and sports fields

Football, baseball and soccer — including fields built from subgrade to finished playing surface.

Golf courses

Muellermist has installed irrigation systems for many golf courses.

Streetscapes and public spaces

Streetscapes, spray parks, fountains and dust control for horse arenas.

Green roofs and green walls

Subsurface and drip irrigation for planted roofs, green walls and LEED projects.

Once a Muellermist system is installed it will serve you for years to come — not 5, 10, 15 years, but for a lifetime when properly serviced.

Sales — (708) 450-9595

A planted green roof with irrigation lines running along it — **Pl. 06** — Rooftop planting, irrigated. From the Muellermist archive.

A fountain running in a pond at the entrance to a healthcare campus — **Pl. 07** — Pond fountain, commercial campus. From the Muellermist archive.

A service truck beside a horse arena being watered for dust control — **Pl. 08** — Dust control, horse arena. From the Muellermist archive.

A worker at the base of a commercial building wall, an extension ladder leaning beside him — **Pl. 09** — Service call, commercial property. From the Muellermist archive.

05

Service & maintenance

We train each technician a minimum of four seasons.

Four seasons before they are allowed to service systems on their own. Irrigation is a unique profession — a technician has to know plumbing, electrical, system design, troubleshooting and general building construction.

A technician kneeling at an open in-ground valve box on a lawn

A hand reaching up to an irrigation controller mounted in a garage

Four seasons before they go out alone
We train each technician a minimum of four seasons before they are allowed to service systems on their own. Irrigation is a unique profession — a technician has to know plumbing, electrical, system design, troubleshooting and general building construction.
We’ll service a system we didn’t install
Someone else installed your system? No problem. Muellermist will gladly service it. After your new system’s warranty period is up we offer several types of service options, including pre-scheduled maintenance.
A full-time office behind the trucks
To support our technicians in the field we keep a full-time office staff to answer your questions and schedule your service appointments — and a stocked inventory of the parts necessary for service.
Controller programming
Seasonal scheduling, and setting your controller to comply with the watering schedule your city or village has determined — including watering overnight while you sleep.
From an adjustment to a redesign
A full-time staff of technicians handles everything from the smallest adjustment to redesigning a system after landscape or other changes to your property. Service is provided throughout all of Illinois.

Service department (708) 344-8680

Sales and installation across Chicagoland. Maintenance and repair throughout all of Illinois — for residential and commercial systems.

06

The Illinois irrigation year

A system is a year, not a purchase.

Four things happen to every irrigation system in this climate. Muellermist’s own office hours follow the same calendar — 7:30 to 4:00 from April through November, 8:00 to 2:00 from December through March.

March – May
Start-up

The system comes back on for the season: water turned on slowly, every zone run and watched, heads cleaned and re-aimed where the winter moved them, and the controller reprogrammed for spring.
Where the season is now
June – August
Programming

The hot months are about the schedule, not the hardware — matching run times to what the turf and the beds are actually losing, and keeping the program inside your city or village watering restrictions.
Where the season is now
September – November
Blow-out

Before the ground freezes, compressed air clears the water out of the mainline and every zone. It is the single piece of maintenance an Illinois system cannot skip.
Where the season is now
December – February
Planning

The quiet months are when new systems get designed and bid — the property walked, the plan drawn and the work scheduled well before the first crews go back in the ground.
Where the season is now

07

Green systems

Watering less, on purpose.

A Muellermist system uses the most efficient sprinklers and nozzles available to put the right amount of water where it is needed, and the schedule is planned to minimize waste runoff, wind drift and evaporation. Muellermist is an EPA WaterSense Partner.

Drip tubing running through mulch at the base of shade plantings

A rain sensor mounted under a roof eave, beaded with rainwater

Rain sensors: Senses heavy rainfall and shuts off power to the valves. Your controller program is not disturbed — watering resumes on schedule.
Solar Sync: Adjusts run times to what the weather is actually doing rather than to a fixed calendar.
ET systems: Evapotranspiration-based scheduling: water replaced according to what the landscape has actually lost.
Weather-based systems: Controllers that take their schedule from live weather data.
Flow sensors: Watch the system for breaks and unexpected flow.
Netafim drip: Point-source drip for beds and plantings instead of overhead spray.
Subsurface irrigation: Water delivered below the surface, out of the wind and sun.
Rain capture systems: Collect and reuse rainfall on site.
Zero-scape irrigation: Low-water planting schemes supported by matched irrigation.
LEED systems: Irrigation designed to support LEED project requirements.

08

Specialty work

The jobs that aren’t lawns.

Ninety-eight years in the ground gets you asked to water some unusual things.

Fine spray irrigation running in a planted boulevard median at first light

01Landscape lighting
02Green walls
03Green roofs
04Drainage systems
05Rain capture systems
06Dust control
07Horse arenas
08Aerators
09Spray parks
10Streetscapes
11Fountains

09

1928 — 2028

Since 1928, and still on 9th Avenue.

Muellermist Irrigation Company was founded in 1928 and incorporated in 1932 as an Illinois corporation. The work started in landscaping, and irrigation went in the ground in the Chicago area that same first year.

The Muellermist yard around 1950: a brick office building with a
painted MUELLERMIST OFFICE sign and a fleet of hand-lettered panel trucks — **Pl. 10 — the yard and fleet, c. 1950.** The pickup is lettered *Muellermist Underground Lawn Sprinkling System, 2612 & 9th Ave., Maywood, Ill.* That is the same street address the company works from today, back when the parcel was addressed to Maywood rather than Broadview. The telephone exchange and the town line are the only things on that door that had to change — the script on the van is still the signature at the top of this page.

1928
The first systems go in the ground
Muellermist starts out doing landscaping work and begins installing irrigation systems in the Chicago area the same year.
1932
Incorporated in Illinois
The company is incorporated as an Illinois corporation — the legal entity that still answers the phone on 9th Avenue today.
1930s
Commercial becomes the foundation
Muellermist begins installing commercial irrigation systems. Commercial installation has been the foundation the company is built on ever since.
National
Arlington National Cemetery · U.S. Air Force Academy
Commercial work leads to highly visible installations, including the irrigation system at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and the system at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Ameritech
A 210-acre office park in Hoffman Estates
One of the largest single installations in company history: the sprinkler system for a 210-acre office park owned by Ameritech in Hoffman Estates, Illinois — a contract of approximately $1,500,000.
Ballparks
Building fields from subgrade up
Working with Roger “The Sod Father” Bossard, Muellermist constructs and installs Major and Minor League ball fields across the country — drainage, cooling and heating, and sub-air systems included.
Today
98 years, and counting
Over 10,000 systems installed in the Chicagoland area, about 2,000 of them commercial properties, with sales, installation and service still run out of Broadview.
2028
One hundred years.

The next entry in the book.

10

In their own words

What customers have written.

Excerpts from reviews left by Muellermist customers on Google.

Hector was amazing. He took the time to explain everything to us new home owners about our sprinkler system. I would highly recommend Muellermist.

Robert O'Connell · 2026

The office staff is friendly and helpful and the techs are COMPETENT and friendly. … This company is a breath of fresh air after a landscaping company gave me the run around with poor management and incompetent techs.

Roland Criswell · 2025

From start to finish, the experience was smooth. What was really nice was their attention to detail. The workers were very respectful of our property. They took the time to explain the system and ensured that everything was working properly before wrapping up.

david sebald · 2025

I am a new homeowner with no experience with a sprinkler system, but the Muellermist team walked me through everything I needed to know — including lowering water costs, ensuring my yard had appropriate watering schedules, and that the irrigation system was operating efficiently.

Nicholas Fahrney · 2023

For decades, I have worked with several irrigation companies at the homes of clients where we have installed new landscapes. … A fellow landscape architect recommended Muellermist, and after using their services at several of our clients’ homes, we were sold on this outstanding company — for both our clients and their new landscapes.

Chi Town · Landscape architect · 2024

11

Credentials

Licensed, certified, and particular about parts.

An irrigation system connects directly to your potable water supply and has to comply with state and local codes to do it. These are the credentials Muellermist holds.

CICCertified Irrigation Contractor
CIDCertified Irrigation Designer
CCCDICross-Connection Control Device Inspector
EPA WaterSenseWaterSense Partner
ILCAIllinois Landscape Contractors Association
IDPHIllinois Dept. of Public Health — Plumbing / Irrigation Contractor
BBBA Rated with the Better Business Bureau

Systems

Pumps

Muellermist is not tied to one manufacturer — these are the lines that have held up in its own installations.

12

Questions

What people ask before a quote.

Will the system be custom designed for my property?

Yes. The design of your Muellermist system takes into account changes in terrain elevation, sunny and shaded areas, and the landscape planting already in place or planned. Those factors determine sprinkler placement, zoning, your watering schedule and how long each zone runs.

Will I get a plan showing the piping and head locations?

Your representative surveys the property to determine design requirements and to estimate the cost. Before installation, a detailed plan for piping, sprinkler location and system zoning is made — and after your system is installed, you receive a copy of the as-built plan.

Does the quoted price include the extras — backflow devices, meter up-size, taxes?

Yes. Your Muellermist representative quotes you a price for a turn-key system, including the required backflow prevention devices, a meter up-size if one is required, and taxes.

Will my system be warrantied? Who backs it up?

Yes. Your Muellermist system comes with a complete parts and labor warranty.

What do you do to avoid damaging the landscape I already have?

Your representative can design a system that won’t require moving existing plants — it may require some hand excavation. If the property is not yet landscaped, Muellermist works closely with your landscaper and coordinates the installation accordingly.

Can the system shut itself off when it rains?

Yes. A rain sensor senses heavy rainfall and shuts off power to the valves. The program you set in the controller is not disturbed, and the system begins watering again on schedule when additional water is required.

Can I match my village’s watering restrictions?

Yes. Your controller can be programmed to accommodate the schedules determined by your city or village — including watering overnight while you sleep.

What happens after the sale?

Muellermist has trained service technicians and a stocked inventory of the parts necessary for service. Several service options are available once the warranty period is up, and you may want to ask about the benefits of pre-scheduled maintenance.

13

Get started

Two numbers, two departments.

Tell us what you’d like watered and we’ll get you to the right one.

Request a quote or service

Tell us what you’d like watered.

New system, an existing system, or a commercial property — send the details and we’ll get you to the right department.

A sprinkler systemyou only buy once.

Sales and service

You want a new system.

You already have one.

Ask where the water goes.

From subgrade to finished playing surface.

The same equipment we install at multi-million-dollar commercial properties.

Design

Equipment

Installation

Longevity in the field speaks for itself.

Industrial and office parks

Retail and insurance properties

Athletic and sports fields

Golf courses

Streetscapes and public spaces

Green roofs and green walls

We train each technician a minimum of four seasons.

Four seasons before they go out alone

We’ll service a system we didn’t install

A full-time office behind the trucks

Controller programming

From an adjustment to a redesign

A system is a year, not a purchase.

Start-up

Programming

Blow-out

Planning

Watering less, on purpose.

The jobs that aren’t lawns.

Since 1928, and still on 9th Avenue.

The first systems go in the ground

Incorporated in Illinois

Commercial becomes the foundation

Arlington National Cemetery · U.S. Air Force Academy

A 210-acre office park in Hoffman Estates

Building fields from subgrade up

98 years, and counting

One hundred years.

What customers have written.

Licensed, certified, and particular about parts.

What people ask before a quote.

Two numbers, two departments.

Tell us what you’d like watered.

A sprinkler system
you only buy once.