Property protection

Property protection measures for homeowners fall into two categories: resistance to prevent the worst happening and resilience, should the worst happen.

Homeowners can also look at sustainable drainage, to help manage and conserve the water around their home.

Resistance

The following measures can be used to try to prevent floodwaters from reaching or penetrating a property;

• The construction of storm porches
• Peripheral walls/fencing and flood resistant gates
• Outside wall renders and facings, including veneer walling and water-resistant external doors
• Non-return valves in waste pipes and outlets
• Products needing deployment such as free-standing barriers, door boards and flood skirts
• Airbrick covers (including periscope covers and those that seal automatically when there is a flood)
• Low bunds around a property and/or the raising of thresholds
• Keep pipes clear, don't pour fats down the sink or flush away anything other than toilet paper

Resilience

The following measures can be carried out inside a property and are designed to minimise the damage caused, should any floodwaters enter the building.  Examples include:

• Pump-and-sump systems to extract floodwater
• Sealing of floors (known as "tanking") and/or flood resilient skirting
• The use of concrete to fill under-floor voids or delay flooding from the ground
• Raised electrical sockets, TV points etc
• Flood resilient kitchens (plastic, stainless steel, free standing removable units)
• The raising of white goods, kitchen units or other vulnerable items
• The storage of vulnerable items off the floor or in upstairs locations
• Changes to internal walls to speed recovery after a flood (e.g. different rendering, drylining and horizontal use of plasterboard)
• Internal doors that can easily be moved to safety during a flood

Sustainable drainage

• Install water butts on down pipes from roofs, including sheds, greenhouses and conservatories
• Keep or restore permeable surfaces such as grass or gravel to allow water to soak away naturally
• Check that existing driveways, patios, sheds, greenhouses and conservatories are not draining into the surface water or foul drainage system
• Install sustainable drainage systems to any new or poorly connected driveway, patio, shed, greenhouse or conservatory

We strongly recommended that you seek professional advice from a building surveyor, architect or other independent professional if you are considering flood protection solutions for your property.  There are many specialist flood protection firms who can offer kitemark quality "fit and forget" products that do not rely on manual installation by you prior to a flooding incident taking place.