How Flood-Proof Is Your Home Basement?
by Wendy Croix
wendy.croix@homeimprovementideas.net
Home Improvement Ideas Columnist
Hurricane Katrina wreaked devastation across the Gulf states. The images of high winds, storm surges, and broken levees dominated the news. It's clear that cleanup for those in the hurricane's path will be massive. Yet, some home owners will weather the flooding much better than others.
While no home improvement will insulate your home from a category four or five storm, these basement remodels will help you beat the wet basement blues if you live where the probability of flooding is high.
- Electrical home improvements lessen wet basement risks:
Your main panel and circuit breakers should be at least a foot above any projected flood water elevation for your area. Outlets, too, should be elevated, since even a wet basement poses a threat to switches, sockets, baseboard heaters, and wiring. If you persistently find your basement damp, connect all your basement electronics to a ground fault interrupter (GFI) circuit to avoid shock or electrocution.
- Elevate appliances above probable basement flood water levels:
If you, like so many people, have a basement laundry, consider putting your washer and dryer up on blocks. Do the same for your furnace and water heater, if they're on the basement level. For minor seasonal flooding, 12" concrete or masonry blocks should do.
- Protect your sewer system from basement flooding:
Your sewer system needs to have a backflow valve, so that flooding won't cause sewage to back up and enter your basement. If you have floor drains in your basement, installing a floating floor drain plug will keep the floor drain pipe from backing up; any basement flooding will cause the float to rise and plug the drain.
While these basement changes won't save you from a storm whose force can take the roof off the Superdome, they do insure that any basement flooding you experience when your nearby river turns rogue won't leave you without power and basic services.
About the Author
Wendy Croix is a cultural critic, creative writer, and freelancer with more than twenty years’ experience in the field of education. She received her doctorate in English from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and is a professor and self-confessed home improvement junkie.
Sources:
|
