A blowout pushes compressed air through each zone until the heads run dry. It is done one zone at a time. The air has to be high enough to clear the line and low enough not to cook the seals in the heads.
That is the whole job, and at close to 5,900 feet it is the irrigation visit with the least forgiving deadline.
Why October is not early here
Most irrigation advice online assumes the first hard freeze is a November event. Bear Lake Valley sits on a short season. A hard freeze here can arrive in October, and occasionally earlier. The valley does not run on a calendar date. It runs on the first night the temperature stays low enough, long enough, to freeze water sitting in a pipe.
The system is a network of pipe, valves, and brass just under the surface. After the last watering of the year it is full of water. Water expands when it freezes. A lateral line, a valve body, or the backflow assembly is what splits.
Nothing looks wrong the next morning. That is what makes a skipped blowout expensive. The damage waits under the snow. In April or May somebody turns the water on. A zone will not hold pressure. Water bubbles up where a line split. The backflow leaks from a crack that was not there in September.
For a full-time resident that is an annoying repair. For an owner who lives hours away and comes up in June, a stuck zone can run for weeks before anyone sees it.
If you are not at the lake
Roughly a third of the housing in Bear Lake County is seasonal. Those owners are not here to watch the forecast, and the blowout list fills because everybody wants the same two weeks.
Book in September if you will not be here in October. We need access, the controller location, and a phone number. Ask for confirmation when it is done.
The other thing a blowout does is put eyes on the system at the end of the season. A head that has been spraying the driveway, a zone that comes on twice, a controller that lost its program. None of that is the blowout’s job, but it gets noticed, and it is easier to deal with in October than in May. If it needs a repair, that is a separate quote. See sprinkler repair.
What the flat price covers
Up to 12 zones, one price. The number does not move because a zone took longer. Systems past 12 zones are quoted in writing. Most can be measured from the address without a visit; some need a quick look on site first. Either way, you get the price in writing before any work happens.
Backflow assemblies are cleared with the rest of the system. Testing them is a different certification, and we do not hold it yet, so testing is referred out. Replacement, if the brass is already failed, we do.
Spring is the other half of this visit. Spring startup is when a skipped blowout presents the bill. The irrigation overview, including seasonal maintenance, is on the irrigation page.