We just had our sprinklers blown out, and are starting to suspect the quality of the work we got.
Within 5 minutes of discovering that we had a blowout scheduled, our fee was charged and the guy left. The backyard was wet, but the frontyard was not.
Is it possible to check our sprinklers to see if they have been properly blown out?
If there was no sign of dampness 5 minutes after, if I understood your question properly, then they did not blow out that sprinkler. Look at both sprinklers and compare. If these are retractable, you can't look for grass clippings, and will have to go by how they look. They aren't usually too dirty to start with, so this can be difficult.
It's also possible that they missed the front (accidentally), but they (or most folks, sadly) will tend to deny all accusations/insinuations toward possible unfinished or lazy work. I think the best thing to do is find someone else to do this for you in the future, and be there when they are working. You can look at their work before they leave.
Is the back yard lower than the front? If so, that would mean the water was blown out of the lower elevation heads and not to worry. These guys should be liable for any pipes that are damaged during the winter by water left in the pipes. Most companies know this, charge appropriately and make dang sure the job is done correctly. It isn't a tough thing to do and most companies always include the recharge of water in the spring.
If you don't have this service with this company I would call them back to request they come out in the spring to recharge. If anything is broken, they are responsible and they fix everything at that time as well. Find out now. If you can get the same company to commit to the spring recharge and they've been around for awhile you can probably rest assured. If they want to be paid AGAIN for the spring recharge, find another company that will assume responsibility and that will blow your pipes (or check on their status) AND recharge in the spring. You'd have to pay for the recharge anyway but at least you are getting an 'insurance' policy for your irrigation. The guys that blow them out need to retain the responsibility. I've never known a company not to be responsible for the spring charge if they've done the blow out...all included in the same price. Not separate prices!
Watching them doesn't help much. If you know what you are looking at you could have done the job yourself. Making sure that the same company is under contract for blowing out your pipes and recharging AND taking responsibility for any winter damage is your best assurance!
