Timely tips to keep water outside your home when heavy rain falls
Our 7 Storm Team is calling for up to three inches of rain in parts of the Tri-States by the time the weekend ends.
That's a lot of rain anytime, but it could be a lot worse this time.
Local contractors are finding frost just 12 inches underground, which means the rain we get this weekend will have no place to go.
That could flood your basement. KHQA has some options to protect yourself.
Who stands to have the most problems from this?
"People with crawl spaces. People who don't have gutters running away from their homes. Getting that water away from the house will save them a lot of headaches in the future," said Tim Daggett of Lowe's Home Improvement in Quincy.
If you haven't cleaned out your gutters, you'll want to do that now. The most important thing to keep water out of your basement is to make sure your down spouts flow the water away from your house. There are temporary fixes like purchasing a flex-a-hose; you can bend it anyway you want to make sure the water goes anywhere but your home.
"Water can find a way to get into a home through the smallest cracks, especially in older homes with cinder block foundations," added Daggett.
If you typically see standing water outside of your home, this weekend's rain could be bad for you.
"It'll leak through drywall onto the carpet and cause a lot of mold issues,'' said Daggett. "Several thousand dollars could be done in one home.''
Daggett also said your sump pump might not be able to keep up if we get this much rain. He also recommends having a battery backup for you pump. Should your basement leak, some of your best tools to fight it would be a utility pump and a shop vac.
Daggett says if you've never had water in your basement, don't think you're safe.
He says with this much rain and nowhere for it to go, you may find leaks where it never leaked before.
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