No Freeze Damage Guarantee for Sprinkler Blowouts
We blowout and winterize 1,000’s of sprinkler systems every year in Northern Colorado. One of the benefits of using our company is that we offer a NO-FREEZE-DAMAGE GUARANTEE on all sprinkler blowouts/winterization we perform. As far as we know, no one else offers this type of guarantee in our region.
At a base level this guarantee is conditional on:
- Bednarik Irrigation winterizing your system in the fall, before the first freeze (usually late September through early-October)
- Bednarik Irrigation performing your sprinkler start-up the following spring, after the last freeze (usually late-April through early-May)
If we find freeze-related damage in the spring, while starting your system, that is not due to ANY of the following issues, we will repair damage at no cost to you.
Common sprinkler blowout issues that void our guarantee:
Late Sprinkler Blowouts
If your appointment is scheduled after the first freeze, it voids the guarantee. Period. Even if you shut off, drain and insulate your backflow before we arrive, there is still a risk that you did not do it properly. If the water is off when we arrive to finish winterizing, it makes it hard to identify small leaks or issues with the backflow. To avoid any concerns with this, we highly recommend letting us perform the complete winterization prior to the first freeze on record. The best way to do this is the schedule in late September or early October.
Customer Shut Off/Drained Backflow
If you shut off the water to your system and drain it (usually in your basement), you will typically get a 1-6″ of water in a 5-gallon bucket (depending on how long your mainline stretches). I can’t tell you how many times I see people do this wrong. If you shut off your water and open the drain but nothing comes out, you’re doing something wrong. If you tell us the water has been shut off and drained when we arrive, we assume this is done properly. If you’re not sure you did it correctly please see our Quick-Drain instructions and make sure to have the technician double-check before he leaves. If we don’t shut off and drain your water, it will void our guarantee.
Early Sprinkler Startup
If you request an early sprinkler start-up, against our recommendations, it voids our guarantee IF we have freezing conditions after the system is started. This is because we may not be able to come back out on short notice to properly drain your backflow again. If you start your system early and we do not have any further recorded freezes then you’re good to go.
Existing Damage
We do our best to document any damage we find during your blowout appointment. This existing damage would obviously not be covered by our guarantee. Your technician will let you know if you identified any areas of concerns after completion. This may include damaged backflow components, broken sprinklers heads and leaks to name a few. We will also send you a damage report that notes any issues you’ll need to address in the spring. If you do not receive this report (by email) please let us know so we can resend it.
Damaged Caused After Blowout
It’s not common but sometimes sprinkler system damage can occur after we’ve left the property. We’ve seen it all from people turning water back on accidentally, to trucks driving over valve boxes, to sprinkler heads that are hit by snow plows. Things like this are pretty easy to identify as not freeze related and would not be covered by our guarantee.
No Sprinkler Blowout Port
A blowout port is a dedicated connection point that allows us to hook air into your system AFTER the backflow preventer. If you do not have a sprinkler blowout port, we are forced to connect air to a test cock/port on your backflow device. Blowing air through your backflow device is HIGHLY discouraged because it can cause premature wear and damage to internal backflow components. Unfortunately, a large number of the systems we winterize do not have a blowout port.
Poor and/or Inadequate Drainage
There are parts of your system that we can not blow air through when we perform a sprinkler blowout. For these sections we rely on gravity draining. Typically you’ll find at least one drain (preferably two) on the mainline from your shut off valve to your backflow preventer. You will also sometimes find gravity drain point inside your valve boxes. If parts of your system have settled (common on new construction) or the water can not be gravity drained from these parts of your system, it will void our guarantee. We will point out this drainage issues and include them in your damage report.
Faulty Components
The most common faulty components we encounter during sprinkler blowouts are weeping main shut off valves, defective controllers and non-functional electric valves. If you have a weeping main shut off it will allow water to slowly fill your mainline and make its way back to your backflow. Sometimes this takes over a month (1 drip at a time) and will eventually result in freeze damage at your backflow to the copper pipe or your ball valves. If you have a defective controller and we are unable to find all your valve boxes, there is a risk that we can not clear all your lateral lines. Please let us know if you have been having trouble with your controller before your appointment. Similarly to a defective controller, if you have a valve that wont turn on from the control, and we can’t find the valve to open manually, we will not be able to blow the water out. We will explain any faulty components we might encounter during your appointment but some issues (weeping valves) may not be discovered until the spring.
If you suspect an issue with your sprinkler blowout, contact us right away so we can set up a time for an assessment. If you have any questions about our Fort Collins sprinkler blowout guarantee, please contact us. We perform sprinkler blowouts and winterization for most of Northern Colorado, including: Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Windsor, Timnath, Wellington, Laporte, Severance, Johnstown and Ault. Please see our service area map.