How To Keep Flood Water From Coming In House

This is the complete guide to keeping flood water out of your house.

Information technology covers:

How to prepare your firm for flooding
How to finish water from entering your house when flooding starts
How much does information technology price to inundation proof a domicile
New tools to assist yous forestall flood water from entering your dwelling house

So, if you desire to give yourself some command when the water starts to catamenia, yous'll love this guide.

Let's get started.

How to Prepare Your House for Flooding

If you're serious about flood proofing your dwelling, and so yous probably need to face the fact that you lot're going to accept to spend a little money (not a lot, a niggling).

Why?

Well, flood proofing your abode prior to water levels ascension is vital. Preventative measures, one time the overflowing waters start, tin can but practise and then much.

Saying that, wait at the list of solutions below. Start by implementing the gratuitous, basic maintenance offset. Then, assess the situation and try the next solution.

Graphic detailing how to prepare your house for flooding

Motion the Downspouts

If the gutters from the roof of your home run towards a drain that is likely to flood and then pool during heavy rain, then you lot will want to get them moved or redirected as soon as possible. Start by assessing the land slope that your house lays on, then direct the gutters to the drain post-obit the downwards direction. This will let water to run away from home naturally.

Cost: DIY (Complimentary) or Rent a Local Handyman for a Day

Install an Air Brick Cover

Air bricks are the vents on the side of your business firm that permit air circulate in and out of your dwelling house. Buy an air brick embrace that will seal the vent when there is a flood warning. You will demand to remove the encompass when the warning is over as the vent helps foreclose mould or condensation accumulating in your dwelling.

Cost: DIY (£15)

Employ Water Resistant Coatings and Sealants

Purchase a water-repellent sealant and so apply to your walls, doors and windows. This volition act as a flood barrier, preventing water from entering your home through cracks in the brickwork or seeping through windows.

Cost: DIY (£49.99) or a Hire a Local Handyman for a Day

Install Non-Return Valves on Your Drains and Pipes

Non-return valves are pocket-sized components installed on your pipework that ensure water tin only flow one mode. Installing them on pipes and drains volition ensure water can laissez passer through pipes, but tin not menstruation dorsum up the pipes to a toilet or sink. This can often happen in flooding when the drains are chock-full and water starts to rising.

Cost: £l for the component, plus £200 installation fee via a local plumber

Install a Flood Defence Gate

If y'all're lucky plenty to have a gate at the lesser of your driveway, you tin can install a flood defense force gate that replaces your usual gate and seals off your whole holding from incoming floodwaters. Of course, how useful this will be volition depend entirely on your overall house borders and the slope of your land.

Toll: £200 to £300 plus a £50 installation fee

Hire a Landscaper to Regrade Your Garden

This is one of the more expensive floodproofing renovations, but it will besides offering you the most effective alluvion protection. Rent a landscaper gardener to regrade your garden so the h2o runs abroad from your home. Yous volition need to exist careful to ensure the water doesn't run off into a nearby holding, equally this could incur amercement that yous will need to pay. Work with your landscaper to find the right solution.

Toll: £thou plus

Motility Your Electrical Switches and Sockets up past 2 to 3 Feet

While the renovations listed above have been with the aim of preventing flood h2o from inbound your home, you should too have renovations in place to prevent flood damage. One of the most of import is protecting your electrics. Have an electrician move all outlets, switches and sockets upwards by about 2 to 3 feet. This will forbid significant electric harm.

Heighten Your Household Appliances

Protect your internal appliances by raising them two to three feet above the flood level. Heighten all of the following appliances with a uncomplicated (only fashionable) plinth:

Washing Machines
Dryers
Generators
TV
Refrigerator Freezer
Air Conditioners

You should besides have an thought of where to store other key electric items such as a microwave, radios and game consoles or how to steal smaller electronic items such every bit mobile phones, chargers and remote controls. This peculiarly central when there is a severe domicile flood take chances and you have little time to forestall h2o from entering your home.

Cost: DIY (Free)

Buy a Range of Sand Bags

Practice not wait for the quango to supply you with sand bags. Purchase your own, store them in the garage and have them ready to get when the h2o starts flowing. It'due south called emergency direction, and when it comes to protecting your own abode, do non depend upon someone else coming to your rescue.

Cost: £22.95 each

Purchase Inundation Insurance

There'southward only so much you can do to protect your home from flood damage. Almost of the suggestions listed above will protect you from pocket-size floods, but severe floods could leave you with hundreds of thousands in damages, especially if there is structural damage to your home. Practise not leave insurance to hazard. Even forgetting to seal a door frame with sealant could cost you thousands. Play it condom, get insurance.

Toll: Depends on your personal circumstances

How to Cease Water From Entering Your House When Flooding Starts

The flooding has started, the water is pooling outside your home, yous have limited time before it breaches your defences - what do you lot do?

The following:

graphic detailing how to stop flood water entering your home when the flooding starts

Clear Gutters and Drains

Get outside and clear gutters and drains of any leaves, waste or other droppings. Water needs to flow freely abroad from home and a blocked drain or gutter will let water to quickly pool and flood.

Deploy Hydra Snake Sandbags

If the flooding has already started, then yous need to deed quickly. Unfortunately, heavy 15 to xx kilo sandbags are not practical when the flooding has already started. That'southward why we recommend stocking upwardly on Hydra Snake Sandbags. These are less than 10% of the weight of traditional sandbags and only increment in weight when activated by water.

Start Upward the Sump Pump

The final (but nigh key) line of defence force is a sump pump. This is a type of pump that can be submerged in h2o and volition pump it up and away from your home. They're likewise adequately cheap, especially when you compare it to the potential harm caused to your home by flood water. Invest and defend your habitation.

New Tools to Assist Yous Forbid Flood Water From Entering Your Home

Unfortunately, with body of water levels rising, British weather condign (even more than so) unpredictable and new houses built of flood plains, you are no longer able to defend your dwelling with simply a mop and bucket.

Here are the tools you need to protect your abode:

H2o Repellent Sealant

You need a clear, high-performance waterproof treatment for exterior porous surfaces. This will assistance you repel water on forest, brick, physical, paving, asbestos and cement. It's a very versatile product that can fifty-fifty be used on garden brick walls to help protect your home. A great investment that will stop low-level h2o seeping into your abode.

Search prices on H2o Repellent Sealant here

Hydra Ophidian Sandbags

Sandbags are an absolute must. Unfortunately, regular sandbags are super heavy and tin be a real hurting to take lying effectually your home. That's why we recommend Hydra Snake Sandbags. They only weigh 0.5kg when unactivated and will aggrandize to 15kg once activated with water. That makes them super easy to deploy and super effective at defending your home from floodwaters. The only downside is that they are, as you can imagine, a one-employ production.

Search prices on Hydra Serpent Sandbags hither.

Submersible Pump

The sump pump is another absolute must. In astringent flooding, the water will alienation your defences, no matter how hard y'all attempt to inundation-proof your home. That's why having a submersible pump to hand tin can be actually handy when the water starts to pool outside your home. You should also practice using it, merely so you know how to handle the kit when nether pressure.

Search prices on Submersible Pumps here.

Flood Divert Gate

Flood diversions can come up in all different shapes and sizes. You can become them for doors, windows and fences. Withal, we think the most practical is a flood divert gate. This looks the most natural and also allows y'all to keep water off your whole property, non simply your house. You lot could likewise go a flood divert door installed, if you felt the extra protection was necessary.

Search prices on Flood Diversions here.

Free Communication

If you lot're struggling for communication regarding protecting your home from flooding, band our dedicated experts on 0800 112 3134 or 0333 577 3134. We're open Monday to Friday 07:00 - 17:xxx and Saturday 08:30 - 12:30.