If you live in an area that is prone to flooding, you are probably aware that you need to have special insurance.
However, were you also aware that your home’s landscaping could help protect your property from flood. Certain kinds of trees provide your house with more than just beauty.
Also, you can use features such as walls and artificial riverbeds to block water from harming the foundation of your building.
So if you live in an area that can get flooded easily, you should consider making these upgrades to your home.
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How To Protect Your Home Against Flooding
The tips listed in this article can help you protect your home against flooding while adding some aesthetic value to the house in the process.
Working On The Existing Slopes
When your home sits on top of a hill, the natural slope of your house can divert floodwaters away.
In some other cases, you may have to augment the existing landscaping before you can redirect the water away from the property.
If the earth is sloping away from your home, then you are good to go. If it does not, you would have to excavate and grade the area around your home so the earth slopes away from it.
You will have to make sure that the downspouts are away from the slope of your house.
You can make use of plastic sheathing under the landscaping to help divert the water away from your home.
Rain Spout Diverter
You can also collect rainwater at your home and save money along the way. However, what will you have to do when the barrel has reached critical level mass, and the water has started spilling over.
You will place the barrel away from your home as far as you can. You can then attach a hose to the barrel to divert the water from your house.
With the hose, you can direct the water to a garden that requires water or to another place where you can use the water productively.
Planting A Rain Garden
When you plant rain gardens in your home, they do a lot more than improve your home’s curb appeal.
The rain garden soaks up heavy water and then redistributes the water around the rest of the landscaping of your home. You should plant the rain garden about 10 feet away from the foundation of your house.
Suppose not the plants may end up redirecting the water into your basement. It is good to use plants that thrive in the climate of your residence, and these plants should require little water in between soakings.
The plant species with the deepest roots and the highest water needs should be placed in the middle of the garden.
You can ask the local nursery in your area for some advice and recommendations on the plants you should use.
Adding Trees
Is your home near a stream or maybe a creek? If that is the situation, then it could even benefit you if you plant trees and shrubbery along the banks of the stream or creek.
The trees and shrubbery will slow down the stormwater runoff and prevent rising tides from getting to your home.
The trees you plant will also provide some additional benefits apart from preventing your home from getting flooded.
The trees and shrubbery also keep the stream and creek looking beautiful and calm during the summer.
Their roots also help remove pollutants and having a tree like a matured oak or maple tree will give off enough oxygen that about ten people can consume within a year.
So if you are living in areas where there is a creek or stream, you can use these tips to prevent flooding in your home by planting trees and shrubbery near the creek or the stream.
Apart from using the plants to take measures against possible flooding, you would also be making the environment more beautiful and contributing to its health in the process.
Making A Stream Bed
Can you think of something more relaxing than listening to the water gurgling down a stream while you lay on a mat under the sun, especially when the water is heading away from your home?
You can make your landscaping quite beautiful by adding a dry riverbed or arroyo. When you add a dry riverbed or arroyo to your landscaping, they carry the water away from your home when there is a storm or something similar.
To get the best results out of this, you should consider lining the stream bed with a fabric that repels weed and make use of more enormous boulders on the outside of the trenches.
It would be best if you also considered placing a river rock within. You can purchase these rocks at any building supply store in your area, and you can get some by heading over to any building supply store and asking for them.
However, if you prefer to save your money and not waste your time, you can look around your house and dig some of the rock up yourself. It all works whichever way you decide to get it done.
Rock Garden
If you live in an area with a steep slope heading toward your home, you can make a rock garden that will block the drains and prevent them from flowing downhill toward your home.
Although a rock garden will require some maintenance from time to time, its purpose is undoubtedly more important than the little time you will spend maintaining it.
When choosing a color, you should be using plants with long roots that bottle gentian between the boulders.
Also, you can use a plant like manna grass, which grows quite well in various types of soil. These plants can also absorb any water that tries to escape from the garden to your home.
Creating a rock garden is an ideal way to prevent floods in or around your home. Since the slope heads towards your home, the rick garden will block the water and prevent it from coming towards the house.
The water is then absorbed by the plants growing in the rock garden. These are plants that can absorb a lot of water without dying.
So if your home is situated in such an area, you should consider creating a rock garden as soon as possible to prevent any flooding shortly.
A surrounding Wall
One of the most effective ways to keep rainwater away from your home if you live in a sloppy area is to build a wall around your home.
You can build a wall to surround your entire yard and your home if you have pets that like to play outside the house.
With the wall in place, you do not have to worry about the pets getting missing since the wall will keep them inside the compounds of the house.
You can also choose to build just a single wall as a backdrop to the garden or as an architectural accent.
Trying to make the wall a curving one and add a bench or a swing in the front of it. On either side of the seating area, you can plant rose flowers or some other fragrant blooms in the garden patches.
Doing this will help protect your basement from flooding while adding some beauty to your home.
What Do I Do When My Basement Gets Flooded?
The spring season is a beautiful time when people can go outside and have a great time with family and friends.
People work in their gardens with their children while others do a thing or two around their landscape. However, the same rains that grow your garden and keep your lawn looking green can also cause your home to flood, especially your basement.
Houses in areas prone to flooding are at a much higher risk than others.
When there are heavy rains and storms, the ground level of the water can rise, leading to flooding in your basement.
This usually happens when the home is not equipped to handle such situations effectively. Although you may be concerned about the damage to your basement, you should not panic at all in such cases.
Below are some things you can do when your basement gets flooded. Make sure to keep these in mind.
Do Not Get Into The Flood Water
It would help if you never tried to get into the floodwater in the basement, no matter the reason.
This is because you may not have turned off the power in the cellar since most electrical boxes and other appliances are kept in the basement.
The electrical shock in the water can be dangerous enough to kill. So when there is flooding in your basement, you should never get into the water for any reason.
Evacuation
When you notice that things are getting worse and the water levels in the basement keep rising, you should know that it is time to leave the house for the time being.
You can try and save some items that are important to you before leaving the house. However, it would help if you only did that when there was enough time.
Some of the things you should consider saving are your important documents and other such papers vital to you. You should also make sure to turn off the electricity if you can do so.
If You Stay In The House, Be Cautious
If you see that the water levels are not rising and you decide to stay inside the house, you should be very cautious.
As stated earlier, you should avoid floodwater from the basement. Apart from preventing the basement water, you should also avoid any food that the water has touched because it could be tainted.
Do not use water from any private well or flushing toilets as well. This is because once your basement has been flooded, it is likely that the above-mentioned areas have also been attacked.
Cleaning And Rebuilding
Although this will not be easy, you can still do it. After the flooding has ended, you will have to clean the basement and begin rebuilding the place.
You may need your insurance company to come and assess the damage that has been caused to your basement by the flood.
It would be best to look into some permanent pump solutions for your basement.
Some Landscaping In Rainy Seasons
So we have just seen some tips that you can employ to prevent your home from flooding.
We all know that the rainy season is when flooding can occur, even in places not prone to flooding.
This usually depends on how heavy the rains fall, but you can never bet on how serious it will fall at any particular time.
So the best thing to do if you love your home is to be prepared in advance when the rainy season is drawing near. Let us now get down to business as usual.
You are already aware that landscaping can add some value to your house’s curb appeal. Doing this helps increase the home’s overall value and get you a reasonable price when it is time to say goodbye to the house.
Using suitable trees and some decorative items can also protect the home from the damage caused by flooding. This is undoubtedly the perfect combination for an ideal home.
Conclusion
So these are some of the ways to prevent flooding around or in your home.
As you can see, all these are natural ways of preventing a flood while beautifying the environment in the process. Talk about solving a problem and making a positive impact on the environment simultaneously.
With these tips, you also end up creating a beautiful meditation and relaxation area where you can enjoy some fresh air while you read a book or listen to your favorite music.
For more general articles, you can check out some backyard flooding solutions, how to transform a residence with a low budget, and how to landscape your home against flood zones.
