Protect Your Basement From Flooding

Your finished basement may very well be your pride and joy. You’ve probably spent thousands of dollars and a lot of time converting your concrete foundation into customized living space. You probably don't want a tidal wave of ground water or sewage making it's way into your new finished space. A flash flood, a cresting river or creek, or a simple summer tropical storm can potentially turn your new carpeting and dry-wall into a giant mold fest. Your finished basement isn't really finished, unless you have taken some of these flood prevention steps to protect it in the future.

• Check around your home for ways to divert rain water away from your home. Extending rain gutter down spouts away from your home and ensuring the grade of your yard surface pitches away from your home, are crucial first steps.

• Remember to clear your gutters in the spring and the end of fall. Clogged gutters can make roof water to dump directly against your foundation, increasing the prospect of basement flooding.

• Walk around your yard in a heavy rain storm. Watch to see if water is pooling next to your home. If so, seek a local landscaper or excavation contractor for advice on ways to re-grade the pitch of your yard as mentioned before, so the surface water is directed away from your home.

• Install a sump pump. This should help keep water leakage from normal amounts of rainfall from accumulating within the underground room. So long as the sump pump tank has an opening in the lid, the sump pump will act like a huge floor drain and keep the water from getting deep. Also consider installing a back up sump pump as well, since you have a lot on the line.

• Installing French drains and sealing your foundation from the outside are also excellent things to consider.

A few things to know about flood insurance in NY, or nationally:

1. Flood insurance will not cover your basement improvements or your personal contents in your basement from water damage.
2. To have an eligible flood insurance claim, your flooding must meet the federal definition of a flood; which is two or more houses and / or two or more acres of land have been flooded along with your home.

So prevention is the surest way to protect a finished basement. Flood insurance is better suited to cover your above ground contents and improvements.