How Sprinkler Freeze Damage Happens in Maplewood and How to Prevent It
Water left in the lines freezes, swells and splits pipes, valves and the backflow preventer. We blow systems out each fall so it never gets the chance, and we fix what a freeze already broke.
Free, no-obligation estimates. We quote the whole job before we start.
How freezing water breaks sprinkler lines
Water left in the lines expands as it freezes, and that push is enough to burst a pipe, crack a valve and split the backflow preventer.
A sprinkler system is buried pipe that stays full of water between runs. If nobody clears it in the fall, that water sits in the lines, the valves and the heads, and one hard freeze is all it takes. Ice needs more room than the water it came from, so the pipe or the fitting around it gives way.
The damage stays out of sight all winter. The ground thaws, the system sits quiet, and nothing looks wrong until the water goes back on in spring and finds the crack.
sprinkler repairPipes, valves and backflow preventers at risk
A freeze does most of its damage to the pipes, the valve bodies, the backflow preventer and anything standing above the ground.
These are the parts a freeze damages most.
- Pipes, the buried lines that split when the water inside them turns to ice.
- Valves, whose bodies crack in the "valve box", the green lid in the yard.
- The backflow preventer, the brass device by the foundation, which a single hard freeze can crack.
- Above-ground parts, everything exposed above the soil, where the cold reaches first.
Spotting freeze damage at spring start-up
Freeze damage can show up at spring start-up as a leaking backflow preventer, a wet spot over a buried line or a zone that runs with low pressure.
A "start-up" turns the water back on, tests the backflow preventer and the flow and checks for leaks, so it is the first time a winter's damage has water pushing on it. Watch for these three signs the first time the system runs.
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A leaking backflow preventer
Water dripping or spraying from the brass device by the foundation once the system is under pressure points to a body or a valve the freeze cracked.
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A wet spot over a line
A soft, soggy patch in the lawn, or a valve box standing full of water, sits over a pipe that split underground.
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A zone with low pressure
Heads on one zone that barely pop up or throw a short stream mean water is escaping somewhere upstream of them.
Spot one of these? Turn the zone off at the timer and call us; running a broken line only pushes more water into the soil.
Found a wet spot at start-up?
Call and tell us what you see. We trace it to the cracked pipe, valve or backflow preventer and quote the whole job before we start.
We answer the phone or call back the same working day. A call outside working hours goes to voicemail and we return it the next working morning.
How a blow-out prevents freeze damage
A blow-out pushes high-volume compressed air through every line until the water is gone, and full winterization also closes the backflow device and protects the above-ground parts.
We clear the pipes, the valves and the heads with professional-grade compressed air equipment, so nothing is left in the system to freeze. This is the order a fall visit follows, the "winterization" most owners call the fall shut down.
- Close off the backflow device. The water to the system is shut at the backflow device, so nothing new runs into the lines while we clear them.
- Blow out the lines zone by zone. High-volume air runs through each "zone" in turn and pushes the water out of the underground pipes, the valves and the heads.
- Set the valves to 45 degrees. Leaving the valves at that angle over winter keeps them from cracking.
- Shut down the controller. The "controller", the timer most owners know, is switched off so it does not call for water over the winter.
- Protect the above-ground parts. The backflow preventer and anything else standing above the soil is protected against the cold.
Neighbors on blow-outs and start-ups
These are our Google reviews, as the neighbors wrote them.
Glenn with Rainmakers Irrigation is super cool, awesome and trustworthy. We are in Woodbury and almost the whole block on our street goes to Rainmakers for sprinkler installation, general maintenance, winterization, and spring startups. Their services are top notch, responses are timely, and prices are affordable. I would recommend Rainmakers Irrigation to anyone who is out shopping for a service provider to install, expand, or service an irrigation system.
Absolutely great company to deal with .I was quoted by a different company that I needed a whole new irrigation system rainmakers came out and fixed a leak and replaced two sprinkler heads and got my system up and running and saved me $2700.00 dollars .if you need irrigation work done give them a call there an honest family owned local business.
Always responsive...Always Fast...Always done right. LOVE THESE GUYS.
Get the water out before the first hard freeze
Call to book a fall blow-out, or to have us find what last winter broke. Estimates are free, and we quote the whole job before we start.
- We answer or call back the same working day
- We show up when we say we will
- We clean up when the work is done