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House Flooding: Internal Causes and Prevention

House Flooding: Internal Causes and Prevention

How prepared are you to handle things when a roads goes out, a bridge and even worse, if your home has severe flooding?

Most people generally have an idea that they are in a flood zone (FEMA) or that they live near a river or low lying area. There are others however, who never would believe that they could have a home flood from something other than a broken pipe.

Storms, snow melting, rivers rising, hurricanes, tornadoes, and micro bursts; they all carry water and some carry strong winds with it. Water can find its way into the home after damage from wind.

Do you have Flood Insurance? Your normal policy does not cover “Acts of God” such as water intrusion from outside the home. You actually have to get additional coverage, a “Rider” to be covered properly.

However, if there is no wind damage possible, and no rivers near by, how does one get water into their home?

  • Water levels rise under the ground and break into your crawl space or basement. Hydrostatic pressure comes from super saturated ground and movement of water under ground. Foundation walls can fail and give in to this type of pressure.
  • City Sewer backing up is also likely. This is caused by a breach in the city sewer system. Water gets inside and pressurizes the system bringing sewer water back into the house, and sometimes with great pressure.
  • Septic Tank and Drain Field problems. Having too much water in the drain field will saturate it, so that nothing can flow through it, and then . . . you can imagine what a septic back up is like.

    • What can you do to solve/prevent these problems?

    Hydrostatic pressures are hard to fight against, just do everything you can to keep surface water flowing away from your house. Put long gutter extensions on the down spouts to move water 10,15,or 20 feet away.

    City Sewer System pressurization is also hard to fight. If you have a basement with a drain or bathroom you are more vulnerable. If the drain backs up and causes a problem you can catch, get a wood cone (round or tapered) big enough to be pushed into the basement drain. For toilets, stuff cloth tightly into the toilet hole.

    Septic Tank and Drain Field problems require you to do everything you can to minimize water going into the system from the house or above ground. We have seen people put tarps down over the drain field area to move water away from it.