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How often should you check your sprinkler system?

Updated

Short answer

At spring start-up and every few months through the season. The start-up is the big one: the system has sat all winter, and the first run shows every head that cracked, clogged or shifted. After that, run each zone and watch it every few months, since heads get knocked by mowers and settle into the soil. A full check takes 30 to 60 minutes and $0 to $20 for a replacement head or nozzle. A sprinkler company charges $75 to $150 for a spring start-up visit.

Why it matters

A sprinkler system fails one head at a time, and a single failed head is easy to miss. A head that's broken off sends a geyser into the air and starves the rest of its zone of pressure, so one patch floods while the others go dry. A head that's turned spends its water on the sidewalk or the house. A clogged nozzle leaves a dry arc that shows up as a brown patch weeks later, when the lawn has already given up.

Water bills are the other cost. A system with a few bad heads uses more water than one that works and waters the lawn less. And water put in the wrong place does damage: a head spraying the siding keeps it wet and feeds mildew, and one that puddles against the foundation does the one thing a foundation shouldn't have done to it. A seasonal check keeps the water on the lawn, where it belongs, and off everything else.

When to do it more often

The index gives no modifiers, so the schedule holds: start-up, then every few months. Within that, run a check after anything that could have disturbed a head: a mowing crew, an aeration, a landscaping project, or a vehicle on the lawn. And when a patch of lawn goes brown in a watered yard, run that zone and watch it, because a head there has failed.

What you need

  • A screwdriver, for the adjustment screws on the heads and nozzles
  • Flag markers, to mark heads that need attention while the zone is running
  • Replacement heads and nozzles matched to the ones installed, for anything that's cracked or won't adjust

Steps at a glance

  1. At start-up, open the main valve slowly to fill the system without a pressure shock, and check the backflow preventer for leaks.
  2. Run the first zone from the controller and walk it while it runs.
  3. Watch each head: it should pop up fully, spray its full pattern, and reach the heads next to it without soaking the sidewalk or the house.
  4. Flag any head that's low, blocked, broken, turned the wrong way or spraying a short pattern.
  5. Repeat for every zone, then fix the flagged heads: clear or replace nozzles, adjust the arc and the distance, straighten tilted heads, and raise heads that have sunk.
  6. Check the controller's schedule against the season, and set it to water early in the morning.

You're done when every head in every zone pops up, sprays its full pattern onto the lawn, and the controller is set for the season.

Signs it's overdue

  • Dry patches in a watered lawn.
  • A geyser from a broken head when a zone runs.
  • Heads spraying the sidewalk, the driveway or the house.
  • Puddles, especially against the foundation.
  • Low pressure in one zone, with the heads barely popping up.

DIY or pro

This is an easy job, and the heads are built to be adjusted with a screwdriver. Replacing a head means digging a small hole, unscrewing the old one and screwing on the new, and a nozzle swaps in seconds. The watching is what matters, and nobody does it better than the person who walks the lawn every week.

A sprinkler company charges $75 to $150 for a spring start-up, which includes pressurizing the system, checking the backflow preventer, running every zone and adjusting the heads. That's worth it for a large system, for one with a backflow preventer that needs testing, or for the first season in a new house when you don't know where the heads are. After that, the checks through the season are yours.

FAQ

How often should you check sprinkler heads?

At spring start-up, then every few months during the season, and whenever a patch of lawn goes brown.

Why is one zone of my sprinklers weak?

A broken or missing head in that zone is dumping the pressure. Run the zone and look for a geyser or a flooded spot, then replace the head.

How do you adjust a sprinkler head that sprays the sidewalk?

Turn the head's body or its adjustment screw until the arc starts and stops at the lawn's edge, and reduce the distance screw if it's reaching too far.

When should I start my sprinkler system in spring?

After the last hard freeze, once the ground has thawed. Open the main valve slowly and check for leaks before running the zones.