How to Prevent Flood Damage in Your Home

What if your whole life washed away in a single day? It may sound like a horrific nightmare, but this is a grim reality for many homeowners whose house has flooded. There are some easy tips to help prevent your home from flooding. Keep reading to learn the answer!

Crack Down on Cracks

If you really want house flood protection, you need to start with the basics, and that means protecting your foundation. These cracks let water seep in and may widen over time, opening you up to the threat of flooding. All you need is some masonry caulk and/or mortar. Systematically go through your home and fill in any gaps and cracks you see. Afterward, continue monitoring your foundation. 

Location, Location, Location

Most of our guide focuses on protecting your current home from flooding. But one of the best ways to protect houses from flooding is to pay careful attention when you pick the location of your next home!

Landscaping Galore

Homeowners don’t always associate landscaping and flood protection. However, regular landscaping is one of the best things you can do to keep your home safe. For example, it’s important to clean your splash pads, gutters and downspouts. If they get backed up, then rain will build up instead of flowing away from your home. It’s also important to keep your ditches and drains clean so they don’t overflow. Consider collecting rainwater runoff in a rain barrel. This keeps water from pooling up and also gives you an easy way to water your plants.

Seal Away

It’s also important to do this for the rest of your home. With some basic sealant, you can seal up areas such as doorways, windows, and walls. You can even seal up the foundation and offer it an extra coat of protection.

Raise Your Home

This next suggestion is a bit extreme. However, it also helps you to maximize your home flood protection. With enough time (and money), you can raise your existing home up on stilts or piers. Alternately, if you are building a new home, you can make this part of your plan from the beginning.

Drain Plugs

If the sewage should back up, your home may be flooded with very smelly water! To boost your sewer protection, be sure to install drain plugs into all of your basement floor drains. Have a plumber install backflow valves on your various pipes so that water from both waste and flooding.

Lawn Secrets

If it points towards your home, then the lawn will help rainwater to collect around your house and, eventually, deep inside. You can change the grade of your lawn so that it points away from your house.

Professional Maintenance

It’s important to know when to call for professional help. Sure, you can probably handle the sealing, caulking, mowing and other basic maintenance. Remember, this is no time to be cheap or prideful. A house is the most expensive thing many of us will ever own.

We specialize in reconstructing homes and businesses after disaster strikes. To see how we can bring your home back to life, contact us!