Springtime Ripe for Flooded Basements

If you’ve ever had basement flooding then you realize what a catastrophe it can be. It doesn’t sound like much, after all what kind of damage can a little bit of leaking water cause? Well the answer is quite a lot, and it can be seriously damaging to your home and can be a risk to your health if left unattended. So how do you prevent basement flooding from happening?

A flooded basement can happen in a number of ways, most often it is caused by excessive rain storms that flood the area, a large amount of snow melting too fast for the ground to absorb or a backed up sewer. Ultimately flooding occurs when there is more water than the ground can handle and it seeps in to your basement.

The steps to preventing basement flooding aren’t terribly difficult but they’re something you have to make sure you do often.

First you want to do some outdoor maintenance around your property. Make sure that your gutters are cleaned out and clear so water can flow freely. If they aren’t cleared out on a regular basis the water gets backed up and will pool below the gutters, often near your basement which causes flooding.

Take a walk around your yard and look for any standing bodies of water and if there are you need to either clear them out, or better yet make sure you provide some sort of drain for the area. Any standing water could leak in and cause major basement flooding damage.

Make sure any drainage pipes and downspouts are clear and properly aligned to move water away from the foundation of the house. Also, you may want to extend any drainage pipes further away from the foundation if you aren’t certain that the water will be far enough from the basement walls.

Make sure any trees and shrubbery is kept neat and cleaned around the house. By allowing plants to grow wild will prevent the sun from reaching the ground and thereby drying any standing water beneath the plants.

Next, you’ll need to inspect the house itself, especially the basement area. Be sure to inspect your basement’s walls and make sure that you don’t see any cracks. If you do find cracks in your basement foundation you’ll need to make sure they are properly sealed with caulk.

If you have a history of basement flooding in your home, any items you have stored in the basement should be kept a few inches off the ground. The same should be done for any appliances like a washer and dryer, or refrigerator. If the basement gets flooded these items will get rotted or rusted and contribute to the problem.

If you don’t already have a sump pump installed in your basement you should look in to having one installed. Sump pumps remove water that forms in the basement and drain it in to an area where it won’t cause much damage. Also a dehumidifier will help keep the air dry and absorb some of the moisture that could potentially flood the basement if condensed.

As you can see a lot of these tips are very simple and can do a lot to prevent flooding in your basement. With a little upkeep on your property and some minor adjustments to your basement you can prevent serious water damage from basement flooding.

Ronald Dwyer is an independent insurance agent licensed in Michigan for Home - Auto – Business Insurance. He can be reached at rondwyer@roninsureme.com or 248-390-6345. His website address is www.roninsureme.com , Linkedin address is www.linkedin.com/in/ronalddwyer and Facebook address is www.facebook.com/dwyerinsurance