Flood protection for your home
If your house is at risk of flooding, or has flooded in the past, there are steps you can take to reduce the damage flooding can cause.
It is your responsibility to protect your property from flooding.
Keeping the water out
- Doors – consider purpose-built flood board / gates that can be put in place when flooding is imminent. It may be possible to replace your existing external door with one that is flood-proof. Door thresholds can also be raised.
- Walls and floors – consider raising damp-proof brick courses. Sealing floors and ‘tanking’ (creating a tank-like seal to protect walls against water penetration) can prevent water rising up through the ground.
- Air bricks – replace with those that automatically close when flood water rises or fit specially designed covers that can be placed over ventilation bricks when flooding is imminent.
- Drains and pipes – non-return valves on drains and water inlets/outlets can prevent water from coming back up the drains and toilet foul pipe.
For more information on flood protection products and services you can access the ‘Blue Pages Directory’ and the 'Six Steps to Property Level Flood Resilience', to help property owners learn more about flood resilience.
If you are going to buy a flood protection product, check it meets the British Standards Institute (BSI) specification. The BSI maintain a list of all manufacturers of flood protection products that have been approved by them.
Page updated:
04/12/2020
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