How To Prevent Flooding In Your Home

• How to determine if your property is in a flood-risk area
• Ways to prevent flooding in your home
  • Raise your home above the flood level
  • Install a sump pump
  • Install anti-backflow valves on toilets
  • Regrade your lawn
• How to prepare for flooding
  • Seal gaps in doors and windows
  • Move outlets and switches to a higher position
  • Choose floor tiles in rooms that are vulnerable to flooding
• What to do during a flood
• Contact our team today

Did you know that one in six properties in England are at risk of flooding? If your home is included in this statistic, there are lots of ways to protect it against flooding and minimise damage to your property.

Here at ICE Cleaning, we offer a comprehensive flood restoration service. Our technicians have years of experience cleaning up flood damage, whether it was caused by a coastal flood, a river that burst its banks, or a leaky pipe. In an emergency, they can be on site in a matter of hours.

Read on to find out the best ways to protect your home and possessions from flooding, and what to do should your property flood.

How to determine if your property is in a flood-risk area

To figure out how best to protect your home from a flood, you need to assess how likely one is. You can check if your property is in a flood-risk area here.

You must also learn how floodwater could enter your home to determine areas that need to be flood proofed, such as doors or basement windows. Investigate the surface runoff after rainfall or snowmelt, and see where it flows towards your home and pools.

Should you live in a property that could be flooded, there are several flood prevention renovations that will minimise the likelihood of floodwater entering your home.

Ways to prevent flooding in your home

Raise your home above the flood level

Stilts and piers can lift your home and enable water to flow under it, reducing the amount that could get in during a flood. This expensive and time-consuming renovation might also protect your home from vermin.

Install a sump pump

Sump pumps detect elevating water levels and pressure, and automatically turn on when the level gets too high to pump water away from a property. They are installed in the lowest point of the basement floor where water tends to accumulate.

Install anti-backflow valves on toilets

During a flood, large amounts of water can enter the sewage system and cause water to flow backwards through pipes and into your home. Valves can stop sewage backing up in your toilet and spilling in your property. You can find out more about the dangers of a sewage spill in this blog.

Regrade your lawn

If your garden tilts towards your property, water will pool around it. Level out your lawn with heavy soil to redirect the water elsewhere, such as towards a gutter. Porous materials like gravel and grass can also absorb runoff water.

How to prepare for flooding

Just in case floodwater does get in your property, here are some ways to minimise damage to your property and possessions.

Seal gaps in doors and windows

Water-resistant doors and window frames can help keep water out. Sandbags will also block doorways, drains, and openings that may enable water to enter your home.

You should swap your air bricks for self-closing air bricks, too. They will still allow ventilation in your home but can stop floodwater entering your property.

Move outlets and switches to a higher position

All electrical outlets, sockets, circuit breakers, and switches should be a foot above flood level to reduce the chances of electrical damage.

Choose floor tiles in rooms that are vulnerable to flooding

Some types of flooring are difficult to dry and clean after a flood, and can sustain irreparable damage, like carpets and wooden flooring. Tiles can be easily and quickly cleaned, speeding up the flood restoration process.

What to do during a flood

If you have received a flood warning but have some time before your home floods, there are some practical steps you can take to minimise damage. You can find out more about what to do in the event on a flood here.

First activate your flood defences to reduce the amount of water that can enter your property. Then, turn off the gas and electricity.

Put expensive, electrical, and sentimental items, and important documents in a safe place, such as on high shelves, upstairs, or in the attic. Move vehicles to higher ground, too.

If the emergency services have told you to evacuate, you must leave the property to keep yourself and others safe. Only when you are told it is safe to do so return to your home. Then, contact your insurance company to begin the flood restoration process.

It is recommended you bring in flood damage cleaning specialists, like our technicians, to restore your property as close as possible to how it was before the flood. We can quickly remove all the water, dry out your property, and deep clean and decontaminate your home.

Contact our team today

Our expert technicians can also provide a wide range of related including water damage clean up, water damage restoration, mould remediation, and water extraction. We operate nationwide, round the clock, 365 days a year.

Give our team a call on 0208 066 0360 or send them an email at enquiries@icecleaning.co.uk to find out more about our flood damage clean up services.