When a lawn looks wrong in Lubbock, the irrigation system is usually involved. Heat, wind, hard water, and freeze/thaw cycles punish heads, valves, and laterals. This note is the checklist we use on a repair visit: the same order of operations, without the fluff.
Start at the controller
Before digging, we run the system from the controller:
- Does every station fire?
- Do runtimes and days make sense for the season?
- Is a rain/freeze sensor blocking operation?
- Are there error codes, dead displays, or dead transformers?
If the controller is down, we open valves manually so we can still see water on the ground. A dead panel does not mean the underground work is fine, or broken. You have to separate the brains from the plumbing.
Walk every zone
For each station we look for:
- Coverage: dry wedges, overspray on pavement, heads blocked by growth
- Pressure: fogging (too high), dribble (too low), mist that never reaches the far edge
- Head condition: broken, sunken, tilted, clogged filters, failed rotors
- Surface leaks: around heads, fittings, and obvious wet spots
Dry spots are not always “needs more heads.” Sometimes one nozzle is half-plugged with grit. Sometimes a head is two inches too low after years of soil settlement. Sometimes a zone was never designed for the landscape that grew in around it.
Listen for valves and wires
Zones that will not start, will not stop, or chatter often point at:
- Failed solenoids
- Torn diaphragms
- Cut or shorted control wire
- Valve boxes full of mud or roots
West Texas soil and landscape work destroy wire. A multimeter and patience beat replacing parts at random.
Do not skip the backflow
If the assembly is leaking, frozen-damaged, or due for test, that is part of the same system. A “small drip” at the backflow is not cosmetic, and cities care about certification. See our backflow testing page for what certification involves.
When DIY is enough (and when it is not)
Often DIY:
- Clearing a single clogged nozzle
- Adjusting a rotor arc with the tool that came with the head
- Raising a head with a proper riser (if you know what you are threading into)
Call us:
- Underground leaks (soft ground, unexplained high bills)
- Electrical diagnosis across multiple zones
- Valve replacement in a flooded box
- Anything involving the backflow assembly and city paperwork
- Patterns that show up every summer and never stay fixed
What we will not do
We will not sell you a full system replacement because one lateral broke. We do not install new systems. We repair and renovate what you have when it is worth repairing, and we will say so when it is not.
Next step
- Irrigation repair services: full list of what we fix
- Maintenance plans, if you want scheduled wellness checks
- Contact, or call (806) 794-1300 (Mon-Fri 9-5)
Same crew for trees when irrigation and canopy problems travel together.
