Who in New Jersey HASN’T had a flooded basement?

This past weekend was probably one of the busiest for plumbers and people who fix flooded basements.

I got a group text from my sister to us brothers in the family Sunday morning that our parents basement was flooded and be prepared to bail it out after the weekly post-church breakfast. Well, we canceled the stop at the diner, picked up some breakfast sandwiches at Wawa and all headed over to clean it up and figure out what happened.

If you own a home in New Jersey, especially the flatter parts of the state, you've been there. There is one man from the state of Illinois that you can thank for keeping basements dry or drier than they would be without his ingenious invention. His name is Karl Neidermeyer and he is generally credited with the invention of the SUMP PUMP!

I live in fear of my power going out and my back-up battery system not kicking in to operate my sump pump. Mine runs more that my refrigerator and I have an two old ones around the garage and basement in case the one in the hole craps out. Sump in an actual word which means basin that unwanted fluids drain into, and if you own a home with a basement in Jersey you will eventually look into your sump someday.

You may have to reach down into it and replace the pump you ran to Home Depot to get, while your spouse keeps using the shop vac to pick up the water on your basement floor. Get the good one for about $125 - $150 and you won't have to worry about it for another 10 or 15 years.

So this weekend if you were dealing with a flooded basement and a sump pump, you can thank Karl Neidermeyer for giving you the chance to keep your basement dry, at least for now.

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