How to Price Irrigation Startup, Repair, and Blowout

Irrigation startups, repairs, and blowouts require different equipment, timing, and labor. Combining them under one vague service price makes it difficult to understand what is included or whether the work is profitable.

This guide covers cost floors, service bands, repair units, travel, and seasonal work. It is not a design guide for new systems, and operations software is not CAD. Pair it with quoting a repair from the lawn.

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 the business needs. Matching a low competitor price without comparing scope and travel can create unprofitable work.

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

Use consistent repair units so customers and technicians understand what each price covers.

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.

If you use separate cash and card prices, show both totals on the quote and invoice. Confirm current processing costs, network terms, and applicable laws before setting the policy. Do not add an undisclosed charge after completing the repair.

Include payment costs in the pricing model and use one consistent, disclosed policy.

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

When a common repair is missing from the menu, require office approval rather than allowing technicians to invent prices in the field.

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 services on quotes and invoices so a startup, repair, and blowout remain separate lines connected to the property and schedule.

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.

Compare current plans and pricing or create an account to test the irrigation pricing workflow.

Frequently asked questions

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

Treat them as separate services. A startup covers turn-on and inspection, a repair covers parts and labor for a defined failure, and a blowout covers winterization. Publish the scope and common repair units so technicians use consistent pricing.

Is a sprinkler valve included in a startup?

Not unless the startup package explicitly includes it. The startup identifies the failed valve; rebuilding or replacing it is a separate repair with parts, labor, and possibly another trip.

How do I price a residential irrigation startup?

Use system-size, zone-count, or complexity bands based on actual service time and travel. Define what the inspection includes, keep repairs separate, and apply a higher band when the controller, pump, or system condition requires more work.

How do I price sprinkler head and valve repairs?

Use clear repair units such as head, nozzle, valve rebuild, valve replacement, wire locate, and controller work. Include parts, labor minimums, diagnostics, and travel when the repair requires a separate visit.

How do I price a sprinkler blowout or winterization?

Price winterization as its own seasonal service, commonly by zone count or residential and commercial bands. Include compressor setup, the defined shutdown procedure, timing risk, and any return-trip policy.

Should irrigation repairs use dual cash and card pricing?

If you use separate cash and card prices, apply one disclosed policy across startups, repairs, and blowouts. Confirm local rules and current processor terms before setting the totals.

When should I charge a trip fee for irrigation service?

Use a trip or diagnostic minimum when the visit is not already covered by a startup or blowout appointment. Midseason leak calls, after-hours service, and return trips should account for travel and interruption.