Brown spots are usually a geometry problem
Look at a brown patch in an otherwise green lawn and you are looking at a coverage map: the area the sprinklers do not reach. Head-to-head coverage — each head's spray reaching the next head — is the fundamental rule of sprinkler layout, and it gets violated constantly. Landscaping grows and blocks spray. A shed, playset, or pool screen goes up where heads used to throw. Heads settle, tilt, or get relocated by well-meaning mowing crews. The fix is not more water — it is putting the water in the right place. We relocate heads, add heads where the layout has gaps, and rebalance zones until coverage is edge to edge.
What breaks coverage over time
Plant growth is the slow killer: the shrub that was a foot tall at installation now eats half a rotor's arc. Hardscape changes are the sudden one — the new fence, the extended patio, the trampoline that lives in the throw path all summer. Settling and tilt change the spray angle gradually; a head leaning ten degrees leaves a dry wedge that grows every season. And original design gaps — the corner the installer skipped, the strip along the driveway nobody zoned for — reveal themselves the first hot summer. We map the actual dry areas against head positions to see which cause applies where.
Relocation, addition, and rebalancing
Relocating a head means moving it to where its throw actually covers the dry area — sometimes feet from its original spot, sometimes to the other side of an obstruction. Where the layout has true gaps, we add heads on the existing zone (when flow allows) or split the zone when it does not. Every change gets rebalanced: new heads mean new precipitation math, so run times adjust to keep the zone even. We also trim back the plant growth blocking spray where appropriate, and flag the spots where the landscaping — not the irrigation — needs to change.
Why not just water longer
The instinct with brown spots is to increase run time, and it is exactly wrong: the areas already getting water get more (hello, fungus and runoff), while the dry wedge stays dry because no water reaches it at all. Longer watering on a coverage problem wastes water and grows disease in the wet areas without fixing the brown ones. Proper coverage means every square foot gets the same water — and then run times can often come down, because you are no longer overwatering the good areas to compensate for the bad.
The catch-can test: proof of coverage
After relocating heads and rebalancing a zone, we can prove the coverage with a catch-can test — small gauges placed in a grid across the zone, run for a set time, showing exactly how evenly water distributes. Good uniformity means every gauge collected nearly the same amount; the dry wedges and drowned spots are gone. Most homeowners do not need the full test — the visual difference is obvious — but it is available when you want proof, and it is the same test we use in water-use audits. Coverage you can measure beats coverage you have to take our word for.
How it works
Coverage mapping. We run each zone and mark the dry areas against head positions to find the gaps. Written plan. Which heads move, which get added, and how zones rebalance — priced in writing. Relocation. Heads moved or added, pipe extended where needed, all at proper height and spacing. Rebalancing. Run times recalculated for the new layout. Prove-out. Zones run while we verify the dry areas are gone.
What it costs
Coverage correction in Kissimmee typically runs $200-$600, depending on how many heads move and whether new heads or zone splits are needed. Simple relocations sit low; adding heads with pipe extensions sits higher. Prices vary by yard — you get a written plan and price after the coverage mapping, before we move anything.
Every square foot deserves water
If you have brown spots that survive every schedule change, the problem is where the water lands — and that is fixable. One coverage visit usually ends the brown-spot era permanently. Send the form and tell us where the dry areas are.
Coverage is a system property
Here is what years of coverage work has taught us: even watering is not about any single head, but about the system of heads working together — spacing, arcs, precipitation rates, and run times all balanced as one. Moving one head without rebalancing the zone just moves the dry spot. That is why our coverage service always includes the full zone: relocated heads, matched nozzles, recalculated run times, verified with a test run. The result is not a patched lawn but a uniformly watered one. If your yard has dry areas that survive every adjustment, the system needs this holistic look — send the form and we will map it.