If you’ve lived in Indiana for any length of time, you know the month of April is full of pop-up rain showers and thunderstorms. All of that rain tends to lead to flooding and, if your basement is prone to flooding, you’ll want to take precautions in order to keep your home and possessions safe and dry.

Why Does My Basement Flood?

Many families in Indianapolis and beyond find themselves facing the same problem every time it rains , a flooded basement. This can lead to a variety of issues, including mold growth, damage to your belongings, and structural damage to the building. But why is it happening?

If your home has a sump pump, you shouldn’t find that your basement is flooding consistently. A sump pump’s job is to effectively pump water away from the home’s foundation. A failing sump pump, though, won’t be able to pump water away from the home, allowing water to pool into your basement.

However, the cause of consistent flooding can go beyond sump pump issues. Water pooling, sewer backup, and water damage to the foundation of the home can all be at fault. To have your basement inspected and to determine what the cause of your spring basement flooding is, get in touch with a professional.

Emergency Power Source

Spring basement flooding will often cause electrical outages. It’s important to be prepared by installing an emergency power source. Install a generator to provide emergency electrical service for your furnace, refrigerator, and septic tank pump in case power is lost. 

If you do not have a generator installed, you could find yourself running into flooding, frozen pipes, or a flooded septic tank. These issues can cause even bigger and more expensive problems down the road.

Install a Sump Pump

A sump pump is vital to keeping your basement dry and pumping water away from your home. This device pumps groundwater from heavy rain out of the pump pit in your basement. If you don’t already have a sump pump, you will need to have one installed. 

If you already have a sump pump, but you still find that your basement is flooding, get in contact with a plumbing professional. They can inspect your sump pump to determine if it is still working and, if it’s not, they’ll be able to replace it.

Install a Backup Sump Pump

Even the most reliable piece of equipment can malfunction and fail. That’s why it is important to invest in a backup sump pump system. A backup sump pump, even a battery-operated model, can begin working if the main sump pump is out of commission. This will greatly reduce your chances of basement flooding. Some systems even come with additional security features like an alarm that will alert you if the battery-operated sump pump has started to work.

Preparation is key to protecting your home and everything in it. By properly preparing for heavy rain with the installation of a backup sump pump, you’ll ensure that your home stays safe and dry. 

Contact Chapman for Sump Pump Installation

Spring storms can really take a toll on your basement. Flooding costs homeowners thousands of dollars on average each year. Get in contact with Chapman today to discuss your options and to determine how you can protect your home from the damage caused by flooding.

If you deal with basement flooding year after year, it’s time to do something about it. Call us at 317-943-8717 for more information about sump pumps, or schedule an appointment with us today.

Homes in Indianapolis and beyond look forward to the warm weather brought by spring. After spending many months cooped up inside during the colder winter months, many families will jump at the first chance to spend some time outside in the warm weather. As spring arrives and the weather gets warmer, however, those within your home will likely deal with symptoms caused by seasonal allergies.

One of the main causes of seasonal allergies, cottonwood, can cause a variety of allergy symptoms. However, cottonwood can also cause serious and expensive problems with your home’s air conditioning system.

What is Cottonwood? 

Cottonwood is the little white tufts of cotton that have been floating through the air. They come from cottonwood trees. Notorious for causing allergy symptoms like sneezing, itchy eyes, and congestion, cottonwood can wreak havoc on your family if it manages to get into your air conditioner’s condenser coils. However, it can also cause issues to the AC system itself.

Unfortunately, one cottonwood tree can cause hundreds of dollars worth of damage to your air conditioning unit. Cottonwood produces small and fuzzy bits of cotton that fly around outside and can latch onto your air conditioner coils. They can easily be sucked into a condenser coil and cause reduced airflow across the coil. 

Over time, this will cause your air conditioner to become less energy efficient. It will have to work twice as hard as it normally would, causing you to pay more money for the same, or even less, cool air than you might usually have. These problems can build and could potentially even result in an overheated compressor, requiring you to have an expensive replacement installed.

How to Protect Your AC Unit

Don’t wait until your air conditioner is beyond the point of a simple repair. The easiest way to get rid of a cottonwood problem is to have your air conditioner professionally cleaned as soon as possible. You might think this is an easy task to handle yourself, but we strongly recommend the help of a professional. If you try to clean off the coil yourself, you might embed the cottonwood seeds deep into the coils and make the situation worse. 

Air Conditioning Cleaning Services

Certified HVAC technicians understand how every make and model works because they have received the proper training. Your air conditioning technician should be able to inspect your system, determine if cottonwood is causing any airflow problems, and properly clean out the cottonwood. 

Beyond being incredibly important to your home’s comfort during the warm weather, air conditioners are very expensive to replace if you try to fix the issue yourself and cause further damage. Trying to fix the issue yourself might end up damaging your machine beyond repair. To avoid causing irreparable damage, get in touch with a professional.

Contact Chapman for Air Conditioning Services

Don’t let the increased amount of cottonwood in the air ruin your air conditioner. Solve the problem by calling an HVAC service technician to properly clean your machine. They will make sure your coils are cleaned without doing more damage to your AC unit. Save yourself the time and money, and pick up the phone and call Chapman Heating and Air Conditioning at 317-943-8717 or schedule a service appointment online today!