Five Ways To Prevent Basement Flooding
Basement flooding is quite commonplace and it may happen due to many reasons. Basements especially face the risk of flooding due to the occurrence of heavy rain or when the snow melts. Besides availing the Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy offered by your city, there are other ways to prevent the flooding in the first place. Let us take you through the preventive steps:
Know As Much As You Can About Your Plumbing System
As the owner of your house the responsibility for plumbing is on your shoulders. We strongly suggest hiring a city-licensed plumber for inspection. With their expertise on the subject, they can assist in identifying the salient features and working of your plumbing system. These include the storm sewer pipes, sewer service pipe through which the plumbing in your home is connected to the main street sewer, as well as the sump pump. In this manner, you will know your plumbing system inside-out. This knowledge will be of immense help should an untoward situation arise.
Have A Sound Plumbing System
A well functioning plumbing system is a pre-requisite to prevent water from entering your basement. By fixing blockages or other fucntional plumbing issues you can ensure there is no cloggage. This can be done by maintaining symple hygiene checks. Items such as wipes, used floss, greasy material such as oil and other garbage should be disposed off and not be allowed to enter the drainage system in the first place.
Keep Your Backwater Valves In Shape
Having your backwater valves installed by city-licensed plumbers is a must. Equally important is the fact that they should be well-maintained and inspected on a regular basis. The backwater valves perform the critical function of shutting the sewer line when there is too much rain. This keeps the water from entering the houses. Ensure that when the backwater valve is shut, you do not operate plumbing fixtures such as sinks, toilets, sinks, washing machines etc.
Sump Pumps
A good sump pump, which can effectively take the water collected by the weeping tile system outside, is a pre-requisite to keep water out. On your part you should ensure the sump pump empties out the water away from the foundation wall. It is good to have a battery back-up for sump pumps as the back-up comes handy when there is a power cut during storms or other natural occurrences. Needless to say, inspections and maintenance of sump pumps is important for their proper functioning.
Block The Water Path
The best way to prevent the water from entering your home and basement is to block its path by sealing any cracks or leaky walls, and other points of its entry such as windows, floors, foundations etc. At the same time you must ensure flow of water where needed. For example: the eavestroughs and downspouts should be clear of leaves and any garbage that may prevent water from draining, which could lead to seepage through cracks, if any. If you have enough plants around the house they will take care of any excess water by absorbing the rain water or water from melted snow.
Save yourself the headache of facing basement flooding by preventing it at the very onset. Write to us or contact us to know more.