Protect your sprinkler system!!!

Now is the time to think about protecting your sprinkler system from freezing temperatures. Water left inside the pipes, heads, valves, and backflow preventers will freeze over the winter. When water freezes it expands and cracks these components, causing hundreds, and even thousands of dollars worth of repairs.

Blowing out the sprinkler system is the best protection for this. Blowing out the system consists of hooking up an air compressor and forcing all the water out through the sprinkler heads. Unfortunately, small home style air compressors are not the best for this. They can not sustain pushing out enough air volume continuously. We use larger tow behind gas or diesel engine air compressors.

This style of compressor can sustain the volume needed. High pressure is not the key to blowing out a system properly. We can actually do this with very low pressure, but high volume is needed.

Around 2002 we kept track and found that almost 70% of NEW customers in the spring time called us due to freeze damage to the sprinkler system. Protecting your system from freeze damage is the absolute best preventive maintenance you can do to prolong the life of your sprinkler system.

August update

Wow!! This "sprinkler season" was a hectic one. We didn't slow down until just now. Hmmm.... funny how lots of rain will do that. This July was the driest ever recorded in Colorado Springs. Grass was drying up and dieing no matter how much water we were giving it. It didn't matter if the systems were installed by homeowners or designed by architects and engineers, every system lawn was having hot spots. Now the phone won't ring!!! Which is also good as we can catch up on add ons, redesigns, and extras that customers have requested. And it gives us some time to relax. Todays high temp on August 15th was 57 F degrees.

A few things to consider for our area. Most of the systems we work on were NOT installed by our company. So there could be many design and installation flaws. We also live at about 6500'-7000' in elevation. As those of us who live here know, sunburns happen a lot quicker. Same thing with grass. We also have virtually no humidity here, and lots of wind. One last thing, is that most of our lawns here are Kentucky bluegrass, which is not ideal for our climate. It takes lots of water to stay green, and is not designed for our elevation and climate. So all of these factors caused a lot of dry lawns and unhappy customers. But there is only so much we can do with the existing installed systems, without making major changes which can cost lots of money.

Springtime availability

Colorado Springs and other "cold weather" cities have two rush times for sprinkler work. Springtime and in the Fall. Right now my company is currently booked up for over two weeks for all three technicians. What happens is that everybody wants their system on at the same time, so everybody calls at the same time. We can get 20-60 calls a day for start ups and repairs. And then to top it off, we have already had three days of cancellations due to cold and snow. So trying to fit those appointments back in is also tough. And THEN we show up for a simple start up job that should take 30-45 minutes, and find there is 3-4 hours worth of freeze damage repairs needed. So a 2-3 week backlog is typical for us, and other local companies this time of year.

Unfortunately we occasionally lose good longtime clients because of this. I apologize, but there is only so much we can do. Right now, we are even turning away new potential clients that call in. Right now in early May, grass is not dieing, and is just coming out of it's dormant stage. A few waterings with a hose and one or two rain storms will keep the grass fairly healthy.

This may sound rude but it's not meant to be. I have one analogy to this - if your car breaks down and the mechanic can't fix it for two weeks, you don't just stay home from work and not go anywhere. You find another way to get there - second vehicle, spouse or partner drives you in, bus, taxi, walk, bike, etc. So if the sprinkler system breaks down, find another way to water. A hose and basic sprinkler should always be on hand. Our winters here can be very dry and warm at times, and a few good soakings will help keep the grass healthy and make it easier to rebound in the spring.

And another FREEZE ALERT!!

Looks like another cold snap coming in this weekend of April 26th - 28th. If your sprinkler system is already operating, please shut down and drain your systems, or heavily wrap and insulate the above ground pipes and backflow preventer. Hopefully this will be the last for this spring, but honestly, I have seen systems freeze up in mid-May.

Freeze Alert!!!!

Cold temperatures and snow are moving in April 16th and 17th in the Colorado Springs and Monument areas. Please shut down and drain your sprinkler systems, or heavily wrap and insulate the above ground pipes and backflow preventer. See the post of "Do not freeze these..." which has photos of typical backflow preventers.

Do not freeze these......

These are two of the most critical parts of the sprinkler system that you do not want to freeze. Your system may have one or the other, or something else a little similar. These are safety devices called backflow preventers. They protect your drinking water from getting contaminated. They are also very expensive to replace when they crack from freeze damage. And when the ice thaws out, water can then continuously run out of the broken components and possibly flood your home or basement. Please be careful and either drain your sprinkler system at night during the spring, or heavily wrap these and any exposed above ground pipes and valves with heavy blankets or insulation. Freezing water will expand and crack any exposed copper, brass, galvanized steel, PVC or any other pipe or parts.

Changing look and feel

If you are viewing this site, and this looks completely off, I am trying to change the look and may be in the middle of updating. This is my first attempt at blogging so give me a little break - K?

April woes...

Spring time is rough for our sprinkler service company. Especially with this prolonged cold weather. This causes us to get a very condensed rush of work, as once it warms up everybody will call at the same time, which can cause us to be booked up 2-3 weeks in advance. It is tough to hire more people for this period, only to let them go in 6-8 weeks when the rush is over and the work is steadier. This would also mean more vehicles stocked with lots and lots of supplies that will also have to sit once they are let go. But, it's the same cycle we've gone through for over 13 years, and have gotten used to it.

It has been dry this spring so far, with no big March or April snowstorms yet. If you are planning on starting up the sprinkler system, please wrap any above ground pipes, valves, or backflow preventers. Anything above ground can freeze in one night, while pipes below ground are protected this time of year.

Beginning of SprinklerGeek

After venting to my wife/girlfiend (Windy) for the last 13 years about lawn sprinkler woes, it is time for me to vent to the rest of the world. This blog will share tips, troubleshooting, photos, and frustrations from my daily encounters with sprinkler systems. I'll even share some personal endeavors as well.