Sprinkler Repair
Broken heads, stuck valves, dry spots, and leaks — diagnosed zone by zone.
Learn moreSprinkler winterization in Salt Lake City
Water expands about nine percent when it freezes. A sprinkler line does not. Everything else about winterization follows from those two facts.
What a hard freeze actually breaks
Any water still sitting in the system when the ground freezes turns into a wedge. It does not matter how little is left — a partly full pipe cracks just as reliably as a full one, and the damage almost never shows up until spring, when you turn the water on and find it.
- The backflow assembly. Sits above ground, holds water, and is the most expensive single component on most systems. It is the first thing to split.
- Valve bodies and solenoids. Water trapped in the diaphragm chamber cracks the housing.
- Lateral lines and fittings. Poly and PVC both fail at the joints first, which is exactly where a leak is hardest to find later.
- Sprinkler heads. Water in the riser splits the body, so the head weeps at the base every time the zone runs.
A blowout is the cheapest insurance a system can get. The repairs it prevents cost multiples of what it costs.
When to winterize in the Salt Lake valley
Before the first hard freeze — usually late September through October. That is the window, and the reason it is a range rather than a date is that the valley does not freeze on a schedule.
The mistake worth avoiding is waiting for the freeze to be forecast. Once a hard frost is three days out, everyone books at once and the calendar fills. Scheduling in September costs the same as scheduling in October and removes the risk entirely.
Waiting too long is the expensive error. Winterizing a couple of weeks early costs you a few late-season waterings; winterizing a week late can cost you a backflow assembly.
What a proper blowout involves
- Water off at the irrigation shutoff. The system is isolated from the house supply before anything else happens.
- Compressed air, zone by zone. Each zone is opened in turn and cleared until it runs dry. Every zone gets done — a single zone left full is a single zone that cracks.
- Backflow assembly drained and left open. Test cocks opened so nothing can pool in the body over winter.
- Controller set for the off-season. So it does not try to run a zone in January.
Air pressure is the part people get wrong when they try it themselves. Too little and the lines never clear; too much and you blow the seals out of the heads you were trying to protect. A shop compressor is generally not the right tool for the job.
The filter screens come out looking like the before-and-after sliders in our recent work gallery — the sediment that accumulates over a season is worth clearing while the system is down.
Questions we get asked
When should I winterize in Salt Lake City?
Before the first hard freeze — in the Salt Lake valley that usually means late September through October. We shut the water off and blow out every line with compressed air so nothing cracks over winter.
Can I just drain it myself instead?
Draining removes standing water but not the water clinging inside laterals and valve bodies, and most systems in the valley are not installed with enough slope to fully self-drain. Compressed air is what actually clears a line.
What if I already had a freeze before booking?
Call anyway. Winterizing after a light frost still protects the system from the rest of the winter, and if something already cracked it is far better to find it in October than in April.
Do you also handle the spring side?
Yes — see spring start-up. Systems that were blown out properly come back online with far fewer surprises.
Where we handle fall winterization
Salt Lake City is home base — 84116. We work across the valley and into south Davis County.
- Salt Lake City
- Rose Park
- Glendale
- North Salt Lake
- Bountiful
- West Valley City
- Taylorsville
- Murray
- Millcreek
Not sure whether your address is in range? Call (801) 381-5591 and ask — we answer Monday to Friday, 7 AM to 8 PM. You can also see the full service area map on the homepage.
One team for the whole system
System Installation
New systems, drip lines, and smart controllers built for Utah summers.
Learn moreSpring Start-Up
Lines pressurized slowly, every head checked, controller reprogrammed.
Learn moreBook the blowout before the calendar fills.
Every job starts with a free estimate, so you know the price before any work begins. Most estimate requests get a same-day response.