LEAWOOD, Kan. – Homeowners across the metro continue to feel the effects of this week’s storms. As many are dealing with water in their basements it’s plumbers that are being flooded with calls.
Many people are seeking help after waking up Tuesday morning to find their basements full of water and a mess ahead of them.
"Well it wasn't deep enough, I had cords all over the floor, it wasn't deep enough to shock me," Father Michael Mulhearn, a Leawood resident, said.
Having only lived at his home in Leawood for one month, Mulhearn said he did not know what to do after finding his basement a few inches underwater.
"When I got out of bed in the morning, I was walking on water," Mulhearn said.
Much like everyone else, Mulhearn's first thought was to call a plumber.
"Today we're completely slammed and I'm guessing we'll probably be for the rest of the week," Jake White of Neal Harris Service Experts said.
Following the flooding in July, White said the company had just recently started to get back on track, right before this week’s round of storms rolled through.
"I think we were booked up for like two weeks. We were still lighting pilots on water heaters that went out over a week ago," White said.
Working around the clock, Neal Harris Service Experts are fixing everything from sump pumps to water heaters.
"The big problem is the sump pumps go bad or their power will go out and if their power goes out then their sump pump won’t work unless you have the battery backup," White said.
In Mulhearn's case, it was the old sump pump failing to handle all of the rainfall.
"It's so rusted, you can't even see a serial number or anything on it," White said.
Replacing a sump pump can cost several hundred dollars. White said to avoid breaking the bank, you have to maintain it.
"It's just like anything -- like a car -- if you're not maintaining it, if you're not changing out parts on it, it's just sitting there getting old, most people don't think about it or look at it, but if things are getting old then eventually it's going to fail," White said.
If you're in need of a plumber, don't be surprised if one can't come out to your home right away. Neal Harris Service Experts say they are currently overbooked and working to schedule people in where they can.
