How to prevent a basement from flooding!
Floods are a mess, a big mess, and a flood in your basement is just plain wrong! Basement floods can blind side homeowners and really hurt them financially.
Generally flooding can happen due to some poor sealing around windows, doors, or due to electrical outages, causing your sump pump to stop pumping the excess ground water out. Another cause could be a clogged or loose gutter, which can result in leaking. Floods can ruin foundations of your home, not to mention your basement flooring or items. If flooding isn’t caught soon enough or handled well enough, mold and rot can also occur!
So lets talk about ways we can prevent flooding in your beautiful home!
- Start by checking your roof, ensure gutters are hanging correctly and are free from excess debris and leaks.
- If you don’t already have one, a sump pump is essential. Newer sump pump systems have two pumps, one being able to run on electricity and one being able to run on a backup power source! When acquiring a sump pump, ensure it is in fully functioning condition.
- Hire a plumber to take a gander at your basement and suggest which version of sump pump would be best for your home!
- In the off chance your still having some floods despite the aforementioned anticipatory measures, the french drain is an option. A french drain is a gravel-filled trench that goes around your home. The water that falls into the trench travels through a perforated pipe at the bottom of the trench. The water that enters the pipe is lead away from the home to a safe distance where it will cause no problems at all!
- If installing a french drain, ensure it is not leading the water to neighboring homes or yards.
