With winter right around the corner, you should be thinking about getting started on winterizing your home—and that includes your sprinkler system. But, while you may be a proud home project do-it-yourselfer, it’s imperative that you not attempt to take on difficult projects on your own—that is, unless you’re professionally trained and have the skills and right tools. For example, if you winterize your sprinklers wrong, there could be damage, even bodily injury. With that in mind, here are the top reasons to leave sprinkler winterizing in South Jersey to the pros.
Why is it important to turn off your system?
First, let’s look at the importance of turning off your sprinkler system during the winter months. During the drier summer months and into fall, you are probably watering your lawn and plants constantly. The system gets a lot of use and, if it’s working properly and fully intact, you won’t run into any issues. However, come the end of sprinkler season and the start of the cold weather, any water left in the system has potential to freeze and expand sprinkler piping. This is likely to lead to pipes bursting, or worse, creating expensive internal damage throughout the entire system.
The wrong equipment can cause damage
Having the right equipment to winterize your home sprinkler system is essential. All that water still lingering in the pipes needs to come out before it has a chance to get slushy or solidify. To make sure all the water is gone, air must be used to push it out. But not just any old air pump will do. A bike tire pump is too weak and if you set the pressure too high on a rented compressor, tremendous damage to the system is likely. The pros use a high-volume air compressor to move water through the lines to pump it all out.
Alternatively, if you wait too long to pump residual sprinkler water out, the cold temperatures may reach it, in which case you’ll wind up with a pipe popsicle.
Inexperience can put you in harm’s way
As simple as sprinkler winterizing in South Jersey may seem to be, it’s actually a rather dangerous job. Inserting that much pressure into piping can send trapped debris and stinging, fast moving water flying in all directions. That is why eye protection is worn by professionals, and oftentimes gloves, boots and long pants and sleeves. Also, let’s say you hired a professional with the experience and right equipment, but you want to stick around the project site. In this case, it’s best to stay out of their way and to not interfere with the winterizing process, and to wear eye protection.
In short, if you are not experienced with how to perform sprinkler winterizing, don’t try it. Save yourself the trouble and leave it to the sprinkler and irrigation professionals for a job done right.
Don’t put yourself in a situation that can leave you with costly damage to your sprinkler system! Instead, consider contacting the professionals at Star Sprinkler Systems Inc. to avoid problems with residential or commercial sprinkler winterizing in South Jersey.