 | Zach Steven
is a supervisor for Reddi Industries Inc. He manages Reddi Irrigation, Reddi Landscaping and Reddi Fencing. Zach believes in customer service above and beyond. Reddi Irrigation specializes in residential and commercial installations as well as servicing any type of system. Reddi Irrigation was honored with the "Excellence In Landscaping and Irrigation" award from the Wichita Garden Show in 2002. Call him at (316)946-0679, fax (316)942-9971. |
Lawn, Garden & Landscaping
2003-10-01 16:28:00
Is sprinkler winterizing needed?
: How important is it to winterize my sprinkler system? I had it done last year and it didn't work. Can I do it myself?
ANSWER: The winterizing process removes the water from the pipes to prevent them from bursting when the water freezes and then expands. It is your best protection. Unfortunately, water can get back in after the system has been shut down and winterized. If the main shut off valve is not turned off tight or is leaking internally, even just a little, over the course of the winter it can refill the pipes causing damage. It may be a good idea to have the valve replaced or the problem could reoccur each year. Freezing temperatures can also cause the ground to shift resulting in some underground damage. This is hard to protect against as it even causes concrete to crack. Whether or not you can reliably winterize your system yourself depends on how many heads you have on any one zone. The more heads you have on a zone the larger the air compressor must be. As is normally the case in these kinds of situations, it is most often best to let people 'who do it for a living' winterize your system.
