Each spring in Utah we receive many calls regarding flood insurance. Over the years we have learned that instead of buying flood insurance with its many limitations What Does Flood Insurance Cover? | Anderson Insurance Group, your money is better spent preventing flooding before it starts.
The vast majority of homes here in Utah are not in flood plains and don’t need flood insurance but that does not mean that extra measures shouldn’t be taken to prevent basement flooding that can occur from rain runoff or when the ground becomes saturated with water. Builders are only required to build and grade your home to the basic building codes and will only do the bare minimum to prevent flooding, after that, it’s up to you. Here are a few recommendations you can use to prevent flooding to your home:
- Install rain gutters on all down slopes of the home. Builders are only required to install rain gutters over the entrance/exits of your home leaving large areas where rain or snow will simply run off the roof and soak the ground next to your home. Rain gutters cannot be installed on the inclines of the roof but can be installed on all flat areas at the bottom of the roof line. There is a LOT of rain that comes off of your roof and it’s important to get that water as far away from your home as possible.
- At the bottom of the rain gutter downspouts add the ten-foot black drainage tubes that you can purchase from Lowes, Home Depot or Site One Landscape Supplies and Materials | SiteOne. If you want to get serious you can buy a roll of the 4″ black tubing and run the water even further away from your home. You will need to bury the tubes and have a place where the water surfaces in the grass with a green cap.
- Grading is super important. You will want to make sure that the dirt around your foundation slopes away from your home as much as possible. You may even need to bring dirt in raise the level and make sure water flows away from your home.
- Clean window wells are also important. At the bottom of your window wells there should be at least six inches of pea gravel that will help serve as a French drain. Make sure you have gravel and that your window wells are free of debris that can clog them.
These are just a few of the suggestions to help prevent flooding to your home. If you have an area that is problematic, you can add a sump pump as another way of removing water from trouble areas.
Thank you for insuring with Anderson Insurance Group and please don’t hesitate to reach out with any other way we can be of service.
