4 Tips for Protecting Against Home Flooding

Over the last several years, flooding in several major American cities and towns has made national headlines. In most of these cases, home flooding has caused irreparable devastation, negatively impacting thousands of lives, homes and budgets. 

It’s impossible to prevent a flood or make your home entirely flood-proof. However, there are things you can do to protect your home from rising flood waters. Especially if you live in an area where floods are common or expected.

4 Tips to Protect Against Home Flooding

Whether or not you have flood insurance, these proactive tips can help your home weather the storm with less damage.

1. Customize your electrical

One obvious risk associated with flooding is the submersion of electrical switches, sockets, and breakers beneath the flood waters. This creates a dangerous and even deadly situation within the home and should be avoided at all costs.

If you live in a flood-prone area, one of the best ways to ensure your electrical system can make it through a flood is to raise all of your sockets, breakers, and switches above expected flood levels. This also goes for furnaces, water heaters, and other such appliances.

While this may be a costly renovation, it can make a massive difference. Especially for those who live in an area where floods are common or expected.

2. Secure backup generators, air conditioners, and more

If you have large outdoor appliances, such as backup generators, air conditioning units, or a reserve fuel tank, it’s essential to secure them and ensure that they’re above projected flood levels. In addition to preventing them from becoming filled with flood water, securing and raising them also prevents them from being carried away and helps to ensure that your backup appliances function well when you need them the most.

3. Grade your exterior landscape, so water flows away from the house

If your home sits on the bottom of a natural or man-made bowl, flood waters will collect around the home’s foundation. This can cause more damage than they otherwise would have. If, however, you grade your landscaping so that the land slopes away from your home’s foundation, the flood waters will drain away from your house. This will help to preserve its integrity and keep it intact in the event of a massive flood.

4. Ensure water valves don’t create backup

If your sewer system becomes flooded, raw sewage can back up into your home. This is a dangerous health situation and can damaging your home irreparably. With this in mind, hire a company to place a backflow valve on the interior or exterior of your home. Keep in mind that you’ll need to install a valve on all pipes that come into your home for the system to work correctly.

Protecting Against Home Flooding with Proactive Steps

While you can’t prevent a flood, you can take smart and active steps to mitigate the damage a future flood could have on your home or property. By following the four tips listed in this article, you can prepare your home to withstand a flood and ensure that you and your belongings weather the storm as well as possible.