Spring rain can be more than a nuisance that ruins your outfit or turns your front yard into a moat. If your house isn’t prepared, the heavy showers could send water flooding into your basement. It could cost a fortune to repair the water damage and to replace lost valuables.
Don’t underestimate the destructive capabilities of a rainstorm. Keep your basement safe and dry by taking these precautions.
How Can You Prepare Your Basement?
Get a Backwater Valve
The first thing you can do to protect yourself from basement flooding is to get a professional plumbing company to install a backwater valve in your main line. The device is meant to stop the water from the municipal sewer system from pushing up through your drains during heavy storms.
If you’re interested in a backwater valve, you can learn more at Sewer Squad about the installation process and the benefits of getting one for your property. If you’re debating about getting the device, ask yourself whether you or your neighbours have dealt with flooding from sewer back-up in the past. Previous incidents mean that your basement is vulnerable and that flooding will probably happen again.
Get a Sump Pump
A backwater valve will only help with sewage backup. You will also want to get a sump pump installed to collect excess water from the house’s weeping tile and direct it safely away from the home’s foundation.
It’s possible that you already have a sump pump installed in your basement. If you do, test to see if it works properly — you don’t want to find out it’s broken by stepping onto a flooding floor. Go to the sump pit and slowly pour buckets of water into the basin, until the device turns on and starts removing the water. If nothing happens, you need to get it replaced.
Move Valuables to Higher Ground
Everything from expensive gym equipment to boxes of family photographs can be found in basements. Using it as storage space is convenient until a storm turns the room into a shallow lake.
Even if you take plumbing precautions, you should still move your valuables away from the basement floor. Consider moving them into the attic. If you don’t have room in your attic, place small valuables in airtight containers and keep them off of the ground.
Make an Emergency Kit
It’s always good to be prepared for the worst. Put together an emergency kit to help your family get through a difficult situation — this will be effective for floods, power outages and major storms.
Here are some items that should be in your kit:
- First aid supplies
- Food that won’t spoil
- Bottled water
- Cash in small bills
- Flashlights
- Extra batteries
- A list of important phone numbers (plumbers, electricians, emergency contacts)
Finally, the last thing you should do is check if your insurance covers flooding. If all of your preventative efforts don’t work, you want to make sure that you don’t have to cover all of the repairs and replacements on your own. You’ll rest easy knowing that your back-up plans have back-up plans.
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