Winterize the irrigation system
Annual · typically October · weather can move it up
Why it matters
Your irrigation system is a network of water-filled pipe buried just a few inches down — well within frost reach. With ~60–120 freeze days coming in your county, this isn't a maybe: un-blown lines here freeze every single winter. The only question is whether they're empty when it happens.
The failure that hurts most isn't the buried pipe — it's the backflow preventer, the above-ground brass assembly that keeps irrigation water out of your drinking water. It freezes first, cracks internally, and announces itself in spring as a geyser or, worse, a silent cross-connection.
We'll ping you when the first freeze shows in your forecast — but don't ride that line if your system's still charged in mid-October; book the blowout ahead of the rush.
What skipping it costs
$300–$2,500
Water left in irrigation lines freezes, and the damage list runs from cracked sprinkler heads ($20 each, but you'll have a dozen) to a split backflow preventer ($300–$900 replaced) to burst poly line under the lawn you get to excavate in spring. A $100 fall blowout versus a spring of digging — this is the easiest math in the yard.
Two ways to get it done
Do it yourself
You'll need: Air compressor rated for the job — CFM is what matters, not tank pressure; most garage pancake compressors aren't enough, Insulated cover for the backflow preventer (~$15).
This is the rare task where the honest advice is that most people shouldn't:
- The right way is a compressed-air blowout, zone by zone, and it takes real air volume — 20+ CFM for most systems. A typical garage compressor makes 2–6 CFM; it will pressurize the line and then dribble, leaving water in every low spot.
- If you do have access to a serious compressor: water off at the irrigation shutoff, regulator set to 50–80 PSI (poly pipe; never send unregulated tank pressure into plastic lines), then open each zone from the controller and run air until the heads spit mist, not water. Never run air with all zones closed.
- Whatever else happens: shut off the water supply to the system, drain and insulate the backflow preventer (ball valves at 45°, cover on), and set the controller to off/rain mode.
Step 3 alone — the shutoff and backflow drain — is genuine DIY and takes ten minutes. If a hard freeze is landing before you can get a blowout scheduled, do step 3 tonight.
Hire it out
$75–$150National fair range — local labor moves this number.
A standard residential blowout runs $75–$150 and takes 20–30 minutes — irrigation companies run route pricing in the fall, and it's one of the best-value service calls in the whole trade. Watch that they open every zone and run it until heads blow mist, and that the backflow preventer gets drained and valves set properly, not just the timer switched off.
The companion move: book the same company's spring start-up only if you want to — it's a convenience, not a necessity, and a system that was blown out properly starts up in spring with a valve turn and a walk-through you can do yourself.
Ask the tech
- Are you blowing out every zone until it runs dry, or a timed pass per zone?
- What PSI are you running? (You want to hear 50–80 for poly pipe, not 'whatever the compressor does.')
- Does the price include shutting down the controller and the backflow preventer properly?
Red flags you're being upsold
- A springtime 'full system rebuild' quote from the same company that winterized it — if their blowout was done right, spring damage should be rare.
- Prices over $200 for a standard residential system under 8 zones with normal access.
- Anyone winterizing without touching the backflow preventer — it's the most freeze-vulnerable and most expensive single component on the system.
The call
Hire this one. A proper blowout needs a tow-behind-sized compressor, and the guy with the machine does eight houses a day at a price that doesn't justify buying one.