A motto for the prepared home owner: Water is coming.
Apologies for jumping aboard the Game of Thrones trend – “Winter is coming” is the motto of a dynastic family in the book and TV series. But there is no overdramatizing water’s malevolent force when you own a house with a basement.
To help both home owners and property-insurance companies fight basement flooding, a group based at the University of Waterloo has assembled a list of things you can often do for less than $250 to protect your home.
Some zero-cost, no-brainer steps: Clean out your eaves troughs and remove debris from the storm drains nearest your house. If you have a sump pump, test it periodically to make sure it’s in good working order. And if you have a backwater valve, meant to prevent sewer backups into your basement, clean it out from time to time.
Some do-it-yourself upgrades that often cost less than $250: Extend your downspouts and sump pump discharge pipes at least two metres from the foundation of your home; store the valuables and hazardous materials in your basement in watertight containers, or remove them; move boxes and other obstructions that block the flow of water to your basement floor drain; install and maintain window well covers; and, install and maintain flood alarms (kind of like smoke alarms, for water).
What is shocking is how simple is it, with just a little bit of guidance, to put a lot of these precautionary measures in place,” said Blair Feltmate, Water Institute member and head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo.