Why summer lies to you
In July, most systems are running long and often. If a zone is underperforming by thirty percent, the extra run time covers for it, and the lawn survives. You never find out the zone is wrong, you just pay for it on the water bill.
When temperatures drop and run times shorten, that same deficiency turns into a visible dry patch. Homeowners often read that as a new problem when it has been there all along and the schedule was hiding it.
Inspecting in fall, when the system is not being asked to brute-force its way through heat, gives you a real picture of coverage.
What a real inspection covers
An inspection is not somebody glancing at the controller. Every zone gets run and observed while it runs, head by head, because that is the only way to see what the system actually does on your property.
That means checking spray patterns for blockage and misalignment, looking for heads that have sunk below grade or been buried by mulch and growth, watching for misting that signals pressure that is too high, and looking for weak throw that signals pressure that is too low.
It also means checking the valves and the controller programming. A zone that runs when it should not, or a valve that never fully closes, wastes more water than any single broken head.
Fall is also when freeze prep matters
A fall inspection and freeze preparation are naturally the same visit. You are already at the backflow assembly and already running the zones.
Finding a weeping backflow or a cracked fitting in October means fixing it in mild weather at a normal price. Finding it during the first hard freeze means an emergency call at the worst possible time, alongside everyone else in Brazos County.
Any system that is going to have a freeze problem generally shows warning signs beforehand, if somebody looks.
The water bill argument
Irrigation is usually the largest single variable in a residential water bill in this climate. A stuck valve, an underground leak on a lateral line, or a zone watering the driveway can add up substantially before anything is visible on the surface.
Underground leaks are especially good at hiding. Water follows the trench, surfaces somewhere else or not at all, and the only symptom is a bill that crept up.
Running every zone and watching is how those get caught. It is unglamorous and it is the entire value of the inspection.
What you should get out of it
You should end up with a clear picture of what is working, what is not, and what it costs to fix, itemised rather than described vaguely.
You should not be pressured to buy repairs from whoever inspected it. A useful inspection has value even if you do nothing with it, because now you know.
If you would rather this happened on a schedule instead of when you remember, that is what our WaterWise annual service is. Either way, fall is the window.