subject: Winterizing Your Sprinkler System: Frequently Asked Questions [print this page] Do you have a question about how to maintain the sprinkler system on your new home? Here you'll find information on winterizing your sprinkler system, including how to shut off water and whether it is important to find k rain parts to replace heads lost to improper winterization in the past.
Question: I didn't winterize my sprinklers last year, and I have some repairs to do. Is it important to use replacement K Rain parts (that's the brand on my system), or can any similar parts do just as well?
Answer: You will have fewer problems if you use the same brand name and the exact same part. You will notice that professional grade sprinkler parts usually aren't sold at your local Home Depot.
Usually, you'll have to go to a sprinkler parts store or buy the parts online. Some people think it's not worth the effort of going for the higher quality parts, so they just go with what's available and cheap. Does this work? Sometimes. And sometimes it may come back to haunt you, in a frustrating line break that you end up digging up half of the yard to fix. A professional sprinkler installer would sooner jump into a half frozen river in January as use cheap sprinkler parts that you can find at local home repair and remodeling stores (like Lowes, Home Depot, etc).
If they buy sprinkler parts every day and they still don't think it's worth it to save money on cheap sprinkler parts, logic does seem to indicate that they must have good reasons to buy real Toro or K Rain parts.
Question: This is my first winter in my home, and I don't know how to turn off the sprinklers or winterize a sprinkler system. My neighbor tells me I have a manual drain system. What's the procedure?
Answer: First, determine whether you need to winterize. If you live in a climate where it gets down to freezing temperatures in winter (32 degrees Fahrenheit), you need to winterize your system. Next, turn off your sprinkler system. Then, turn off your water supply to the sprinklers (if your system utilizes culinary water for the sprinklers, your water shut off for the sprinklers will be in your basement or wherever the water pipes come into your home; if you have irrigation water this valve may be located in a box sunk into your yard with a cover on top).
Then you will need to open all of your manual drain valves. After all of the water has drained out, you close the manual drain valves. In order to get all of the water out of your sprinkler system, you may need to pull all of the sprinkler heads up so that excess water can drip out of the check valves. If you don't do this properly
