Snowmelt and Basement Flooding Prevention

[caption id="attachment_8599" align="alignleft" width="300"] Prevent flooding before it happens[/caption]

Lots of weather sources are predicting a huge warm front coming up over the weekend and temperatures are supposed to hit 50º next week. It spells great news for those of us sick of terrible road conditions, brushing snow off our cars every morning, and boogers freezing in our noses, but all that snowmelt has to go somewhere; and that somewhere isn't always where we want it to.

Another college story; I lived in a house my senior year that was owned by the school and after a large rainstorm, there was a gigantic puddle about 100 feet from my house, not doing any damage to anything but grass. But the maintenance crews find it necessary, for one reason or another, to pump the water out of the puddle and into a poorly maintained ditch that runs along the side of my house. As to be expected by a pessimist, the ditch backs up and all the water from this puddle sallies up along the wall of the house and promptly floods the basement. As a solution, we grabbed the pump hose and dragged it away from the ditch and pointed it at the sewage drain in a nearby parking lot, which was actually closer than the ditch. So in the end, I learned that I am wise in the ways of water and to never underestimate the ability of water to get into your basement.

Luckily, that basement was unfinished and nothing was ruined but having a finished basement is a huge investment in your home and protecting that investment is just as important. There are many prevention methods out there, some indoor (such as applying chemical sealants on the interior walls of your basement or installing a pump to collect any water that comes to your basement), and others are outdoor, landscaping fixes to escort water away from settling around your house.

Check out more details on preventing floods in your home here, and for more tips on upgrading your home, take a look at our blog. And if you’re looking for a house for rent in Cleveland, OH, take a look at our Cleveland rental properties and call Reilly Painting and Contracting for all your Home Mechanic and remodeling needs. If you’re looking to rent out your home at any time of the year, we are also a property management company for anyone looking to rent out a home without the hassle.