How to Price Irrigation Startup, Repair, and Blowout

Price irrigation as three products: startup, repair, and blowout. A valve is not a startup. A compressor day is not a discounted turn-on. Shops that win March and November on volume and still feel broke usually hid labor inside one fuzzy “irrigation service” number.

This is a rate-card guide for operators who run seasonal waves and mid-season leaks. It is not a design bid for a new system, and irrigation service software is not CAD. Build a floor, publish a menu, and keep the punch list off the startup price. Pair it with quoting a repair from the lawn so the number you said at the box matches the invoice.

Three products, three invoices

Write the names customers will see. Train the truck to use the same names.

If your invoice says “irrigation” for all three, AP and homeowners will argue every time. Named products also keep March scheduling honest: a startup slot is not a valve slot.

Commercial sites and HOAs often want a work order per product. That is a feature. One vague PO for “sprinklers” is how a manifold rebuild lands inside a $125 start.

Know the floor before the menu

You still need a cost floor. Irrigation hides money in the truck, not only in the head.

Count:

• Loaded labor (wages, payroll tax, workers’ comp, the helper who holds the hose)
• Truck, fuel, and the miles between clusters
• Compressor ownership or rental for blowout season
• Parts inventory that sits on the shelf (heads, solenoids, wire)
• Overhead slice (insurance, shop, software, phone)

Then add the margin you need. Winning a leak call at cost is volunteering with a wet shirt.

Worked example: one tech-hour (illustrative)

Replace these with your numbers:

A clean residential startup that takes 40 minutes on site plus 10 minutes of allocated travel is 50 minutes of economic time. At ~$126/hour, that stop wants roughly $105 before you round — not $65 because the neighbor “always paid sixty.” Ugly systems take longer. Price the band, not the fantasy.

You do not need perfect books. You need a floor you will not bid under without a reason (density fill-in, a commercial package, or a same-day add-on already on the lawn).

Price startups by the system you will actually run

Do not charge the same number for a 4-zone patio home and a 12-zone estate with a pump. Use bands.

A usable residential menu often looks like:

• Small (up to 6 zones): published startup
• Standard (7–12 zones): published startup
• Large / pump / ugly: higher band or time-and-materials with a cap
• Commercial / HOA: site visit, then a written number

Include: find the controller (if last year’s note is on the property), run zones, flag obvious breaks, set a spring program, leave a punch list.

Exclude: parts, valve rebuilds, locating a clock that was moved behind a new freezer with no note, drip retrofits, “the whole side is weak.”

Last year’s property notes are a pricing tool. “Zone 4 always mists, clock in garage” is faster than a first-year scavenger hunt. Faster visits can stay in the standard band. Unknown clocks should not.

If you also mow the yard, do not bury irrigation inside the mow price. Same property, separate products. After startup, low heads still belong in your flag and damage policy for the mow crew — that is quality, not a free irrigation warranty.

Repair menu: name the failure

Repairs are where irrigation companies either look like a shop or like a hobby. Publish units.

Typical residential units:

• Spray head replace (body, or body + nozzle)
• Rotor replace
• Nozzle / alignment only (small, easy to give away — still price it)
• Valve rebuild (solenoid, diaphragm, springs)
• Valve replace
• Wire locate / splice (minimum, because time hides)
• Controller replace (equipment + program labor)
• Backflow (only if you are licensed and insured for it; otherwise refer)
• Drip repair (often its own messy product)

Add:

• Trip / diagnostic if they did not already pay for a startup or blowout that day
• After-hours or freeze-leak premium
• Return trip if the part is not on the truck

Worked conversation

Customer: Can you just replace that valve while you’re here for startup?

You: Startup is turn-on and the list. The valve is a replace at $X Regular / $Y Cash, plus the part. I can do it now if you approve, or I’ll send the estimate and book the yes.

Then write it. A thumbs-up in the driveway that never hits a quote is how the invoice fight starts at dinner.

Do not estimate a new lateral from a wet fan and a guess. Photo, diagnose what you can see, and quote the known unit. Redesign is a different conversation — and not what service software is for.

Blowout is a seasonal ticket, not a leftover

Winterization has a freeze date and a compressor. Price it like that.

Include: connect, blow zones to your standard, shut down, drain what you drain, note failures you will not “just fix” in the dark.

Exclude: repairing what the blowout revealed, unless they approved a repair line. November is a wave. A hidden rebuild inside 14 blowouts is how Sunday invoicing happens.

Bands that usually work:

• Residential by zone count or small/standard/large
• Commercial / HOA as its own ticket
• Add-on drip if you actually blow or drain it
• Return trip if they missed the window and freeze is already here (premium)

Do not set blowout at half of startup “because it is faster.” Compressor days have helpers, setup, and a weather cliff. If it is faster, your margin should improve, not your price collapse.

Trip fees, minimums, and the leak call

Density still prices the day. A $78 head on the way home from a cluster can be fine. The same head 28 minutes off route is a no or a trip.

Write:

• Diagnostic / trip minimum for mid-season calls
• After-hours / freeze-break premium
• “On a wave day we already sold” vs “special trip”
• Decline radius

Courtesy is allowed. Write it as courtesy with a date. Recurring “we never charge a trip” is a hidden warranty on every leak in the neighborhood.

Dual pricing, cards, and the parts ticket

Parts plus labor is where card fees quietly eat the job. Decide once.

Use Regular vs Cash dual pricing on every irrigation product so the cash number is the number you needed from the floor, and the card number covers processing. On MowProHQ, Free cards are 4% + $0.30 and Growth cards are 3.5% + $0.30. Cash and check stay free. Put both totals on the quote and the invoice. Do not add a surprise “card fee” in a text after the valve is in the ground.

A $240 valve on a card at 4% + $0.30 is real money. If you only published the cash number, you paid the processor. If you only published a blended number, cash customers funded card customers. Pick the policy. Print it.

A one-page menu you can train

Paste this, then fill dollars:

1. Startup small / standard / large
2. Startup commercial (quote)
3. Spray head / rotor
4. Valve rebuild / valve replace
5. Wire minimum
6. Controller replace (quote + equipment)
7. Blowout small / standard / large
8. Blowout commercial (quote)
9. Trip / diagnostic
10. After-hours / freeze premium

If a line is blank, the tech will invent it. Invented prices are how two customers on the same street pay two numbers for the same valve.

Round to numbers you can say in the yard. $187.50 is an argument. $190 / $199 Regular vs Cash is a shop.

How MowProHQ holds the menu

MowProHQ keeps named products on quotes and invoices so a startup, a valve, and a blowout do not collapse into one “irrigation” line. Core CRM, scheduling, quotes, invoices, dual Regular vs Cash pricing, the customer portal, and the website editor are free with two seats. Growth is $39 with unlimited seats, dispatch, GPS, a live site, and timeclock. Pro is $89. Business phone is $19. AI receptionist is $29. Cards: Free 4% + $0.30, Growth 3.5% + $0.30. Cash and check are free.

Dedicated zone-by-zone fields are still coming. Until then, store ugly-zone notes and photos on the property so the next quote is not a cold estimate. The same property can hold mowing and irrigation.

Sign up when you want the valve to invoice as a valve, and March to stop paying for November’s compressor day.

Frequently asked questions

How should I price irrigation startup, repair, and blowout?

As three products with three prices. Startup is turn-on and inspect. Repair is parts plus labor for a named failure. Blowout is winterization with a compressor. Do not hide a valve inside the startup fee. Publish a menu so the tech is not inventing numbers at the manifold.

Is a sprinkler valve included in a startup?

No. A startup finds the dead valve. Replacing it is a repair: solenoid, diaphragm, or the whole valve, plus labor and a trip if you come back. If startup “includes whatever we find,” you donated March. Write the punch list and quote the valve.

How do I price a residential irrigation startup?

Use a published startup fee by system size or zone count, not a driveway vibe. Cover truck, on-site minutes, and the inspection. Ugly systems and first-year clocks get a higher band. Repairs stay off that line. Round to clean numbers and show Regular vs Cash if you take cards.

How do I price sprinkler head and valve repairs?

Price the unit: head, nozzle, valve rebuild, valve replace, wire locate, controller. Add a trip fee when it is not on a startup day you already sold. Parts plus a labor minimum beats “we’ll take care of it” that never matches the invoice.

How do I price a sprinkler blowout or winterization?

Price blowout as its own seasonal product, usually by zone count or a residential vs commercial band, with a compressor and a freeze window. It is not a discounted startup. Same-day completion should invoice the same day so November cash is not a January story.

Should irrigation repairs use dual cash and card pricing?

Yes, one policy. Show Regular and Cash totals on startups, repairs, and blowouts the same way. Card processing on MowProHQ Free is 4% + $0.30 and Growth is 3.5% + $0.30. Cash and check are free. Do not invent a third rate at the valve box.

When should I charge a trip fee for irrigation service?

When the visit is not already paid as a startup or blowout wave stop. A leak call, an after-hours zone, or a return for an approved repair can carry a trip or a minimum. Density still matters: a $90 valve 30 minutes off route may be a no.