Each year, right before the first snow falls, a practice common among homeowners in the freezing regions of the land is always done. It is the time when irrigation systems are dried out of any remnant of water for the coming freezing months. Failure to do so would be destructive and costly.
When water is left in the irrigation systems during the winter months, it freezes and expands and could eventually destroy your pipes. This is the reason why for many homeowners of the freezing regions, it is important that irrigation systems are winterized.
Winterizing is common for sprinklers. This is because when sprinklers are not used during the winter season, the remaining water that is lodged inside these sprinkler pipes freeze and could, later on, cause havoc. It could break your pipes and would cause for extra costs during spring.
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Average Cost of Sprinkler Winterization
On the average, the sprinkler winterization price would range from $50 to $110. It could depend on your location, on whether there is an offer for group promotions or not, and on the number of zones that need winterization.
AIM AZ Irrigation and Maintenance, for example, set their pricing at $55 to $85. They could lower your quote if you are in an accessible location, but it would cost you more if your house is out-of-the-way and would require their technicians to make that special trip for you.
There are also companies would match whatever price any competitor has. Jackson Contracting of New Hampshire does this. And while their published rate for sprinkler winterization is at $50, they have also vowed to match competitor prices as long as you present a copy of the rough estimate.
There are others that can winterize your sprinklers for as low as $30 while there are companies that would price you at $150.
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What are Included
Winterization is the process of draining your sprinkler pipes of excess water to make way for winter. This is because water expands when frozen. You don’t want them to freeze and eventually destroy your pipes, do you? And so the water is drained before winter comes.
The main water supply to the sprinkler is turned off. As the water is now shut out of the pipes, the only problem is on how to rid the pipes of the remaining water. This is now where the process of draining comes in; of which there are three types. There is the manual draining process, an auto-draining procedure, and a popular method which is known as the “blow-out”. The blow-out is when you would need the help of an air compressor to remove every drop of water from the pipes and the sprinkler zones.
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Additional Expenses
Sometimes, winterizing is not just limited to the sprinklers alone. There are instances when you would also need to winterize your faucets, other water-related products like lake pumps and sand points. Doing this would balloon your expense to a few hundreds more. You may ask the company who is working on your winterization whether they can have it packaged. If they do, it would be less expensive than paying for each winterization process.
Also take note, that if you live in a neighborhood with numerous households that all winterize their sprinklers before winter, you may be paying a regular price. A much higher cost is paid for households that are far from main roads, and are solitary, for the reason that the servicing company has to travel long to reach your place.
Shopping for Winterize Sprinkler
Conserva Irrigation has numerous locations nationwide. All you need to do is to go to their locator on their website and enter your zip code. You will then be given a list of their affiliates that winterize sprinkler systems.
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Factors Affecting Cost of Sprinkler Winterization
One of the most common factor is the number of zones that you have. The more zones there are, the more expensive it would be. For example, Washington-based Aquasence would normally charge a fixed price for households with one to ten zones. A $4-charge is added to your winterize sprinkler system cost for every zone in excess of ten. There are others, though, that would charge you the same price regardless of the number of zones you have. Conserva Irrigation does this and charges an average of $65, regardless of the number of zones.
Getting your neighbors to winterize their sprinklers on the same schedule as yours can avail you of discounts. Aquasence has a regular rate of $79.95 but if you and your neighbors winterize your sprinklers on the same date, you would only be paying $59.95.
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Winkler’s Lawn Care and Landscape, a company in Missouri, gives a $10-discount if you are able to refer new customers.
If you do it towards the end of fall, it would be less expensive than doing it in winter. There are also companies that publish their calendar of coverage. It shows the dates when they would be in your area to winterize sprinklers. Having them drain your irrigation systems on the date when they are supposedly in your area would be cheaper. If they have already published their calendars, and you employ their service beyond that scheduled date, it may be more expensive.
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