Make sure to prepare your sprinkler system for winter

By Stacy Downs

Fall is just appearing, and it’s time to winterize sprinklers. This annual chore applies to in-ground irrigation systems only. But if you have sprinkler attachments stored outdoors, consider bringing them indoors soon.

It’s best to winterize in-ground sprinklers before the first frost.

A good rule of thumb is to winterize sprinklers at least by Halloween, said Tim Fore, owner of Fore’s Sprinkler Service in Oak Grove in Jackson County, Mo. “Most years, that’s when it starts to freeze in the area,” he said. “But it can change in a day.”

Residential in-ground sprinklers cost $3,000 on average. The danger of not winterizing a system could mean broken pipes, fittings and sprinkler heads. Repairs can cost hundreds of dollars.

A spiral fracture in the pipes means professionals will have to dig as much as 30 feet to replace parts and repair the system. A broken backflow preventer, a brass device that irrigation systems feature as the main way of shutting off the sprinklers, could cost more than $500 in labor and parts.

“People forget to winterize all the time,” said Curtis Davis, owner of Curtis Sprinklers in Olathe, Kan. “It’s not hard to do.”

If you don’t know where your drains are or your electric valves, hire professionals who use air compressors to blow water out of the valves. The service will cost between $50 and $100 and will take at least an hour.

People who have gravity-drain systems can winterize sprinklers themselves in 30 minutes to an hour. Scott Wedman of Weatherby Lake, Mo., shuts off his sprinkler system himself, and he has hired professionals. Some drains are manual and some shut off automatically, so the chore doesn’t take too long. “I make a checklist to make sure I don't miss anything,” he said.

Here’s how people can winterize their sprinklers:

• Go to the backflow preventer, located inside the basement or outside near the water meter. Turn levers off so that the waterflow is stopped. The preventer should be tested before you turn the sprinklers back on in the spring, and costs at least $50.

• Insulate any above-ground piping with self-sticking foam-insulating tape or foam insulating tubes from a home-supply store.

• Shut down the timer. Most controllers have a rain mode that shuts off signals to the valves. The controller continues to keep time so the programming information such as start times and valve run times isn’t lost. The only change is that the valves will not activate.

• Drain the system. Open each drain valve. There should be one per zone, and a master valve for the whole system.

• As an optional added precaution, insulate backflow preventers and valves if they are above ground, using insulation tape. Don’t block the air vents and drain outlets on backflow preventers.

• The sprinkler system should be shut off until March or April. “That’s when you find out if you have any problems like a leak or something,” Wedman said. “So far, I haven't had any trouble.”

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