Coils will buzz sometimes when there is no problem this humming/buzzing is not a sign of a problem. Valves typically fail because of a bad diaphram in the valve. This normally leads to one of two problems. First, the valve wont open and the second that it will not close. In both cases if your valve is more than a few years old the best solution and the one that fixes the problem the vast majority of the time is to replace the diaphram. Most home systems with multi-station systems have small rather inexpensive diaphrams. If the valve is several years old the parts are past their prime anyways. Often debris get in valves because of work on city water lines or because of dirty water BUT often if the debris get in the valve to cause them to stay open they have somewhat or completely damaged the diaphram anyways. One thing to be very careful of is to not let dirt or rocks get in the valve while you have it apart. Almost certainly your going to need to keep the valve apart while you get the diaphram so either reassemble the valve missing the diaphram or cover it so nothing can get inside. Several years ago I left a valve open that was clear of any possible dirt. Over night a frog got inside it and up the pipe enough that I didnt see him.....yea that was a mess. Good luck, Tom

I believe lehua13 is steering you in the right direction. To really determine if there is a leak from the head and not something else (like ground water drainage), dig down as much as needed and remove the sprinkler head (this shouldn't require much digging as the TOP should most likely be able to unscrew allowing the "guts" of the head to be serviced without digging the whole head up out of the ground and disconnecting it from the pipes). If there IS water comming up into the sprinkler head with both of ya'll systems shut down and no water meaters turning, then about the only thing that makes any sense to me is that he has a broken pipe that is somehow allowing water back-into the system after a blowout. After all, it is possible that a broken line has created a little cave underground that fills with water when he runs the irrigation system. When he then blows out the system, that little cave can still be filled with water. Then, with the system shut down, water from the little storage cave could be flowing back into the broken pipe and out the leaking head.

Jeremy, Hopefully, the guys who installed the sprinkler system for you, put in a quick and easy to access, method to turn off the main to the system, and then to drain out the water that's stored between there and the sprinkler valves, and in the backflow device. Assuming that's true, then you should be good to turn it on FOR A FEW HOURS ONLY, any time now. BUT... You MUST drain the water back out of the backflow valve etc. immediately after you finish watering. If you don't do it right after the sprinklers finish, every time, then you will forget about it, and a couple days later you will wake up in the morning to the sound of running water. Like me, you will wonder who woke up early enough to already be in the shower. Then later when you wake again, you'll realize the water is still running. Then you'll lay there and wonder...just where is that water running? Sooner or later you'll discover you have a new 10 foot fountain in your front yard. And it has a great big pool underneath it. If you're particularly unlucky, the back flow device is right near the basement window well, and your basement is flooding. Then, once you get the water turned off, you'll find out those 2 or 3 cute little plastic parts in that backflow device cost about 100 bucks if you buy and install them yourself, or I imagine twice that if you have someone else install them. Actually, it was my buddy whose basement flooded, and had the fountain. My backflow is pretty far from the house, and both times I messed up and forgot to drain it, it didn't actually do a fountain it just leaked out enough water to make the yard really muddy for a few days. Depending on weather and snow fall, I usually turn mine on, and water, and then drain it again several times each spring. I never turn it on and leave it on until Mother's Day, and even then, I keep a sharp eye on the weather, and I go cover up the back flow device with some thick blankets if we get a frost warning. Denver last frost is about the same as Fort Collins, so Mothers Day is probably a sensible date for you to go by also. Bruce

Jackie that's crazy that you had 8 straight days of rain! We both live in the Bay Area... but in my neck of the woods we only got about 2 good rainy days. Now there's no rain scheduled for at least the next 2 weeks. Sigh. Kelly I swear by mulch mulch mulch and more mulch for both winter and summer in my climate. But be careful with your sources. I'm not sure, but I think the grub problem I recently have been dealing with may be in part from the "free" mulch I got from tree trimmers in the area. Sometimes they trim healthy trees, but often they are cutting down unhealthy trees infested with things like beetles. You could probabaly feel safe using free mulch if you also used a systemic soil killer for grubs underneath (poisonous and not so great for invertebrates though) or predator nematodes (I bought mine through Natures Control and think they would have worked better if I applied them BEFORE the grubs hatched and took over). In the end, it may be cheaper to buy mulch instead of using free mulch and treating it. Just my opinion from my recent grub infestation though. I used free mulch before this year and never had any problems until now... so who knows!