Treasure Valley Repairs Blog

I finished all sprinkler blowouts in the Boise 83713 except for two (dang it), because I ran out of daylight.  I will get those in the morning.  The streets are:

Woodspring Dr.

Morrow Place

I will be doing sprinkler blowouts in the Meridian 83646 on Monday, and the 83642 on Tuesday, and then back to Boise again.  I will only get about half of what I have left in Meridian in the next two days, so the sprinkler blowouts I don't get to on Monday and Tuesday I will get on Friday and Saturday.  If all goes well, I will have all sprinkler blowouts complete by next Tuesday, unless of course, I continue to get new ones coming in.  Once I get caught up I may open other areas again and see what happens.

My GPS got FUBAR on Sunday, and had to pick up another one in a rush.  It was six years old and telling me to make turns and "recalculating" every few seconds even when on the Interstate.  Even taking the time to pick a new one up I had a pretty successful day.

I was totally exhausted last night so I didn't get this sprinkler blowouts post done until this morning.  There were four sprinkler blowouts I could not do in Garden City yesterday.  The streets are listed below with what the problem was:

Ben Street – locked gate

Ringbill Ct. – couldn't find valve boxes, request use of timer

Pandion Ct. – Gated community, can't get in without keypad code

Runway Dr. – Can't find shut-off and drain valves (found outside timer, found vacuum breaker near well, but not main valves)

I worked in the Boise 83713 area for the rest of the day Saturday and will continue in the area on Sunday.  I hope to complete them all today.  If you live in the 83713 area, please make sure if you are not going to be home that you leave me access to your yard, mark your valve boxes if they are hard to locate, or leave me access to your sprinkler timer.

Monday and Tuesday I will be in Meridian, and Wednesday and Thursday back in Boise.

Sprinkler blowouts went really well today even with one on a city system that is leaking so badly I had to shut the water off to the house and then the sprinkler main.  I turned the house water back on and the main sprinkler valve leaks from the bottom. 
That explains their high water bill……….

I am not a fan of daylight savings time this time of year.  First I lost an hour of daylight, and now close to losing another.  It is used to get dark at 7 p.m., but within a week it will be getting dark at 5 p.m.  Having to quit earlier helps me with other repair jobs I have that I can do in the evening.  Friday night I re-keyed an apartment in Nampa for one of my favorite real estate management companies.  (Yes, I am also a locksmith).

I finished Eagle and several in Garden City, and will hopefully finish the rest of them on Saturday and be able to start the Boise 83713.  I will post where I will be doing sprinkler blowouts very early Sunday morning as to where I will be on Sunday.

Sprinkler blowouts in Nampa took longer than expected having two properties with acreage that were larger than expected with more zones.  Therefore, I will finish five sprinkler blowouts I have remaining in Eagle before heading to the Boise 83714 area.  If I have any available time, I will start sprinkler blowouts in the Boise 83713.

Sprinkler blowouts in Meridian 83646 went well, and finally got the 83646 down to 30 sprinkler blowouts to go at this time, and about 28 left in the 83642.

The cost for sprinkler blowouts raise to $40 to any NEW requests on November 10 and later.

Thursday I will be finishing the remainder of the sprinkler blowouts I have in Nampa and Eagle.  This is my last time this season I want to go through these areas.  If I am unable to perform the sprinkler blowouts because of access issues I am not returning, so make sure you leave me access to your system and yard, and if your valve boxes are hard to locate mark them somehow so I can find them.  Ideally, leave me access to your sprinkler timer.

It was not a good day for sprinkler blowouts in the Meridian 83642 area on Tuesday, but an interesting one nonetheless.  There were SIX properties I could not do on arrival.  Two had locked gates I couldn't access, one was already done and I was not notified so they will get a trip charge invoice for $20 as per my policy, one had a BOAT on top of the main irrigation box (unbelievable), one locked his dog in the house and unlocked his gate, but the main irrigation box was inside the dog kennel and the kennel was locked (didn't know whether to laugh or cry on this one), and the last one had a hose connection that was buried in the dirt that I couldn't access.

I will be doing sprinkler blowouts in the Meridian 83646 area on Wednesday, and will cover as many as I can, especially those who have been waiting the longest.  Thursday I will be in Nampa and Eagle, and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I will be back in Boise.  I have decided after this weekend to limit my run to each area to two days at a time instead of three so customers won't be waiting as long for me to get back to their area.

I made a nice dent in the sprinkler blowouts of Meridian 83646 on Monday, but still have many more to do.  I will be back in the 83646 area on Wednesday.  On Tuesday I am going to concentrate on the Meridian 863642 area, and hopefully take a lot off my list.  I will eventually get to them all, as I do every year, but being the #1 guy on the Internet for sprinkler blowouts does have it's challenges. 

I am still planning on being in Nampa and Eagle on Thursday to clear out my list, but with 17 in the two areas combined it could be tough if I can't get the access I need to do the sprinkler blowouts.  Any sprinkler blowouts in Eagle I do not finish on Thursday will get finished Friday on my way to Boise.  With only 4 in Eagle that shouldn't be a problem.

As stated in yesterday's post I had some battery issues with my compressor which through diagnostics found it to be an alternator issue.  I will be replacing the alternator in my compressor at first light on Tuesday, but that shouldn't take me longer than 30 minutes to do since all mechanical parts of my compressor are so easy to get to.  My compressor has performed several thousand sprinkler blowouts, without many mechanical issues at all, so I am very fortunate.

Sprinkler blowouts went very well today in the Boise 83709 area until right before dark when I had a battery cable issue.  I am glad it was getting too dark to do another one and that I found out the issue BEFORE hooking up to another system.  The new cable will be installed tonight and I will be back on the road fresh for Monday.  I didn't get all of the sprinkler blowouts completed in the 83709, which I knew I wouldn't, but did get more than half of them.  I will be back in Boise Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of next week to continue.  I have closed sprinkler blowouts in the 83709 area for NEW requests so I can concentrate on the ones I currently have when I get back to the area.

I will be doing sprinkler blowouts in the Meridian 83646 area on Monday,  and will be starting in the Paramount subdivision because I have several there to do, Meridian 83642 on Tuesday, and then work both areas if possible on Wednesday.  Thursday I will finish Nampa and Eagle sprinkler blowouts and then it is back to Boise again on Friday.

Sprinkler blowouts in the 83704 area have been completed, and closed down so that no more requests come in from that area.  Unfortunately, I had to cancel two of the 83704 sprinkler blowouts on my own.  One was a problem system that needs work done to the sprinkler system for the blowout to go smoothly, and the other because I had made two separate trips to a home on that didn't leave me the access I needed even after phone messages.  I will try twice, if I can't get access to what I need it gets taken off my list.  I have too many to do to keep going back without a result.

Because of the extra travel time going to properties where I could not execute the sprinkler blowouts, I didn't make it to the other zip codes areas I was shooting for on Saturday.  I will be working the Boise 83709 area on Sunday with Gisborne Street my first stop.  I have too many in this area to complete on one day, so will get the rest of them on one of my next rounds to Boise.  Many in the 83709 area are close together, so I am hoping to be able to get many of them done since I won't have as much travel time between each of the sprinkler blowouts.

Sprinkler blowouts in the Boise 83704 area didn't quite get finished on Friday due to locked gates, valve boxes I couldn't find, etc.  Saturday, I will make a quick swing through the 83704 area to catch the following streets before I move on.

Boise 83704:

Holbrook Ave.

Rifleman Ct.

Decatur – couldn't find valve boxes so I need access to the timer

Sampson Ave.

Kampton – lock on gate

After the quick run through in 83704 I will am going to work in the Boise 83703 area, and time permitting will start in the 83705 for the remainder of the day.  Sunday I will work in the 83712 area and work the 83709 area afterwards.  I currently have 27 sprinkler blowouts in the 83709 area which can't be finished in one day.  My first stop in 83709 on Sunday will be Gisborne Street, so please leave access through your gate and especially the sprinkler timer if at all possible.