When you buy a new custom Florida home from ICI Homes, you’ll quickly discover that the sprinkler system is one of its important exterior features.
Luckily, Florida’s sub-tropical and tropical climate comes with Mother Nature’s sprinkler system — those typical summer showers and occasional tropical downpours. But, like most climates, Florida also has a drier season and sometimes lawns and flower beds need an extra drink.
Enter your home’s sprinkler system. It can be programmed to run on regular intervals or adjusted to run more or less frequently. Regardless of how often you use it, your sprinkler system is a hero to all those blooming plants and the lawn around your home.
We at ICI Homes know that not all customers may have used such a system at their previous residences. Even those who have may not know about this simple yet important maintenance task — cleaning your sprinkler system’s filter.
Why it’s helpful
Your new custom Florida home comes equipped with a highly functional sprinkler system. It includes the obvious sprinkler heads that pop and spray the lawn, and drip lines hidden just under the mulch and topsoil surface of your trees, shrubs and landscaping beds.
Odds are it’ll operate like clockwork for quite a while, without any attention from you aside from periodic adjustments to its run times and frequency. But, since your sprinkler system is vital to your landscape’s health, make sure it continues to operate at full force by inspecting its filter.
Doing so quarterly can help reduce, or eliminate the possibility of a clogged sprinkler filter disrupting or shutting off the water flow to sprinkler heads and drip lines.
Note: you might not have to inspect a sprinkler system filter if you live in one of ICI Homes’ low-or-no-maintenance townhomes. Common areas such as lawns and landscaping usually are maintained by contractors hired by those homeowners associations, so ask a neighbor or HOA representative to be sure.
How to do it
All you need is a screwdriver, a garden hose and/or its spigot. You might not want to wear your finest attire in case you get splashed by hose or spigot spray!
First, locate your irrigation box and remove the cover. If it proves stubborn, use the screwdriver tip to pry it open.
Inside the box, look for a plastic cover that protects the sprinkler filter. Remove the protective cover, then retrieve the filter. Even if it doesn’t look dirty, it’s a good idea to clean it. One easy method is spraying it with a hose nozzle, then rinsing the inside of the filter while holding it under a running spigot. Wear waterproof gloves if you prefer not to handle any debris.
Then, replace the clean filter, its protective cover, and the irrigation-box lid. You’re done!
For more helpful tips, take a look at the rest of our Homeowner Maintenance series.
Ready to find the home of your dreams? Talk with Florida’s Custom Home Builder, ICI Homes.