Wichita's Sprinkler Winterization Window Is Open: Four Star Lawn Care Is Booking Blowouts Now

Kansas fall weather has a habit of turning in a single afternoon. One week it's 75 and sunny, and the next there's frost on the windshield. For anyone with an in-ground sprinkler system, that swing matters: water left in the lines when a hard freeze arrives has nowhere to go but out, and it takes pipes, valves and sprinkler heads with it.

Four Star Lawn Care, the family-owned Wichita lawn and landscape company that's been working on local yards since 1989, is booking sprinkler winterization appointments now for homes and businesses across the metro.

When to winterize in Wichita

Four Star's crew aims to have every system cleared before the first hard freeze, which they define as 28°F or colder for at least an hour. In Wichita, that usually lands somewhere between late October and mid-November. Their advice is simple: book about a week ahead of the first forecast hard freeze, and don't wait for the forecast to get specific. Early is never a problem. Late can mean a cracked line you won't find until April.

What a freeze actually breaks

• Underground pipes can split and leak below the surface, where you won't see them until the water bill or a soggy spot gives them away.
• Valves and sprinkler heads crack when trapped water expands.
• The backflow preventer, the device that keeps irrigation water out of your household supply, is one of the most exposed and most expensive parts to replace.

Why it isn't a DIY job

Some systems have automatic drains, and some have manual drain valves, but neither reliably empties every low spot in the lines. The most thorough method is a compressed-air blowout, which pushes every bit of water out of the system. It has to be run at the right pressure for your pipe and fittings, though. Too much air can crack a line just as surely as ice can. Four Star's technicians match the method to how your system was built and protect the backflow preventer while they work.

The payoff comes in spring

A properly winterized system is easier and cheaper to start back up, because there's no freeze damage to hunt down. Four Star handles both ends of the cycle: the fall shutdown and the spring start-up, when they inspect the system, turn the water back on and make sure every zone runs the way it should. Lawn treatment customers can add sprinkler start-up and winterization to any program.

Book your winterization

Four Star Lawn Care serves Wichita, Goddard, Clearwater, Haysville, Derby, Rose Hill, Andover, Augusta, Bel Aire, Park City, Valley Center, Maize and nearby communities. Call (316) 832-9366 or request service online to get on the schedule before the weather makes the decision for you.