With any business, it’s always great to get personal referrals and recommendations. The next option is to research social media and see what kind of experiences others have had. Reading reviews and seeing pictures of someone’s experience and quality of work will give you great insight into what to expect when a plumbing company comes into your home. Check out our homeowners guide for hiring a great plumber.

The average life of a sump pump is 4-5 years. We have seen pumps go out in 2-3 years and have seen them last as long as 8-10 years. The manufacturer and quality will determine the life expectancy of a sump pump. This is another product that you will need to be proactive and not reactive. Trying to replace your pump after it has gone out usually means you have flooded already. Do not wait until there is water in your basement to replace your pump.

The average age of a water heater is 8-10 years. There are certain items in your home that you want to be proactive and not reactive. No one wants to spend money on a water heater but the alternative is when that water heater dies it can lose a lot of water causing damage to your home. That does not take into account sometimes it takes a few days to get a plumber to your home and you will be without hot water during that time. This is why we emphasize to our customers that they should be proactive and not reactive.

The answer to this one is easy. Yes, everyone should have a battery backup system with an alarm. If your primary pump goes out you will have a secondary pump that will turn on and keep you from flooding and will sound an alarm that there is something wrong with the primary pump. This will give you time to call a plumber to come and diagnose what is wrong or replace the primary pump.

Hair is the biggest reason for bathtub and shower backups. There are simple ways to prevent hair from going down your drains. Adding a hair catcher that covers your drain will catch hair before it ever goes down your drain. This is something you can purchase at your local hardware store.

We always tell our customers there is a difference between a garbage disposal and a garbage can. When you are cleaning out your refrigerator all the food needs to go in the garbage can not the garbage disposal. The next reason kitchen sinks clog is that people put things into their sinks that are harmful to drains. Things that go down your disposal that clog your drains are foods like potato peels, lettuce, peels of any kind, and batter mixes such as pancake or cake mix. These may make it past your garbage disposal but they won’t get very far in your drains.

We only provide maintenance-free batteries with our backup sump pump system. There are battery manufacturers that require you to test and add distilled water to your batteries every month. We do not want our customers to have the responsibility of remembering to check, test, and add water to the battery. When we put in our batteries we want you to have peace of mind and not worry about your battery.

Always make sure your plumber is licensed, bonded, and insured. There are a lot of handyman services and heating and air companies that try to sneak these services in. This is illegal and against code. They are not licensed through the Illinois Department of Public Health and will receive fines from the Health Department if they are caught.