Six Ways to Protect Your Home from Flooding

Floods can strike anywhere and at any time in the United States. Floods are the most commonly experienced and most expensive natural disasters, and no territory or state is safe. Therefore, you should not ignore the risks to avoid losing your home and your assets in the process. You can avoid all these damages by staying above the water. Here are six ways that you can flood proof your home.

Elevation

Elevation is one of the most obvious and oldest ways of flood proofing your home. If you build your house close to a river, lake or sea, you should lift the house above the height of flood waters. You can opt to build your home on stilts or a raised platform, for example, a beach house or on concrete or a bank of earth.

Modify your water valves

When your sewer system is flooded, it can cause the sewage to flow back into your house. You can avoid this eyesore by installing an exterior or interior backflow valve. Gate valves are the most recommended because they can be operated by hand and are a bit complex. They offer stronger seals when compared to check or flap valves.

Flood walls

Homeowners can also protect their homes from flooding by building a waterproof and sturdy wall. These walls can be constructed to protect whole villages or towns. However, it can also be built to protect individual dwellings. Homeowners can create perimeter walls that are watertight. They can also add walls and beams into their landscaping to keep off water from the property or allow their gardens to flood while shielding the house.

Safeguarding your electrical system

Protecting your electrical system is one of the best flood pro of floridallc strategies. Ensure that you raise your sockets, circuit breakers, wiring, and switches to approximately one foot above the projected flood level in your locality. You should also modify your water heater, furnace or other indoor equipment to ensure that they are above the flood level of your property.

Wet flood proofing

Wet flood proofing is another way of minimizing water damage. It involves allowing water into the building but minimizing its damage. You can do this by fitting a solid floor instead of wood. You can also ensure that unmovable furniture is made of waterproof material and install your power outlets up your walls.

Protect outdoor equipment

You should also ensure that outdoor equipment, for example, generators, air conditioning units, and fuel tanks are raised and anchored above the flood level. This is crucial because unanchored fuel tanks can open up and disengaged supply lines may contaminate the surrounding ground. Even in the areas that are not prone to flooding, the generators and electrical power units should never be fixed on the ground.

When constructing a flood-proof home, you should determine how you want the water to flow around it. To avoid flooding, you can direct water away or towards your home. You can find ways of directing water from your home by watching how water accumulates or flows during a normal rainstorm. With these aforementioned techniques, you can keep the water away from your home and protect your assets and your home.

Charlie Brown is a freelance content writer. He has written many articles on different categories like Technology, fashion, finance, travel, health, etc. To know more about him, please his blog.