Late May in the Treasure Valley means one thing for most homeowners: it is time to wake up the sprinklers. From Boise to Meridian, Nampa to Caldwell, lawns are greening up, garden beds are getting planted, and irrigation systems that have been dormant since October are about to get blasted with water pressure for the first time in seven months. That first turn of the valve is where a lot of homes run into trouble, and the damage is rarely cheap.
A sprinkler system, your home’s hose bibbs, and the backflow preventer that sits between them are all part of the same exterior plumbing chain. If any link in that chain has been compromised by a hard freeze, an aging gasket, or a critter that decided to nest somewhere it shouldn’t, the first pressurized cycle of the season will find it. Better to catch the issue on purpose, on a Saturday morning, than to discover it accidentally when water is pouring across the basement floor.
Start at the Backflow Preventer
The backflow preventer is the unsung hero of your irrigation setup. It keeps fertilizer, pesticide residue, and standing irrigation water from being siphoned back into your home’s drinking supply, which is exactly why Idaho code requires it. After a Treasure Valley winter, those internal springs and check valves can crack or get fouled with debris. A preventer that leaks, hisses, or sprays when you charge the system is telling you something. Annual backflow testing is required by most municipalities in the valley, so this is a good time to schedule it if you have not already. Our team handles backflow preventer service throughout the area and can knock out testing and any needed repairs in one visit.
Check Every Hose Bibb Before You Trust It
Hose bibbs are the most common casualty of a Boise winter. The damage usually happens inside the wall, where a frozen pipe split sometime in January and the leak only reveals itself the moment you crank the faucet open in May. The test is simple: turn the bibb on full, then walk inside and put your hand on the wall directly behind it. If you feel water, hear hissing, or notice damp drywall, shut it off immediately and call us. If you have a bibb that is already weeping, dripping, or refusing to fully close, now is the time to swap it out before summer watering puts daily stress on the valve.
We are currently running a BOGO Half Off Hose Bibbs special, so if you need one replaced, the second one is half off. It is a great chance to get the front-yard and back-yard bibbs handled in a single visit.
Don’t Forget the Pressure Side
Spring is also when well-pump and pressure-tank homes start to feel the strain. Doubling your daily water use overnight, between morning sprinklers and evening hand-watering, can expose a weak pressure switch or a waterlogged tank you did not notice over the winter. If you are hearing the pump short-cycle, or your house pressure feels weaker than it did in April, get it looked at before peak summer demand hits.
A Quick Walk-Around Saves a Big Bill
Most sprinkler-season plumbing emergencies are catchable in about ten minutes of attention. Walk the perimeter, eyeball every spigot, listen for hissing at the backflow, and watch your first irrigation cycle from start to finish. Anything that looks off probably is, and the fix is almost always cheaper today than it will be in July.
If something does not look right out there, give us a call at (208) 362-6200 or request service online. Whether it is a backflow test, a busted hose bibb, or a full irrigation supply repair, Drake can get it handled before the lawn starts suffering. Fast. Friendly. Fixed. Just Drake it.
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