Preventing Water Damage in Your Brooklyn Home

It may not feel like it now, but spring is coming. With warmer weather comes spring rains, and the threat of basement flooding. Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning wants our Brooklyn neighbors to know how to keep their homes safe from water damage.

Prepare Your Home

The best defense against basement flooding is preparation. Check for existing leaks before wet weather hits. Patch any cracks in the exterior of the home’s foundation with waterproof epoxy. Also check and patch any cracks in basement floors, walls, and windows.

Regularly clean the gutters of your home, at least twice a year, to keep them free of debris. Ensure that downspouts extend at least three feet away from the home.

Make sure that water does not pool around the foundation of the home. Soil should slope away from basement walls to prevent pooling.

Sump Pumps

A basement sump or ejector pump can help protect your home from damage if you live in a flood-prone area. They collect excess water flowing into the basement and push it outside of the home. The experts at Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning can advise homeowners on the type of pump that would offer the best protection for their houses.

In the Event of Flooding

In the event that your basement or home does flood, it’s important to begin cleaning up the mess immediately:

• Remove any wet or damaged items from the affected areas.
• Removing any standing water with a wet-dry vacuum or a sump pump/ejector pump.
• Use fans and a dehumidifier to help speed up drying. It’s important to discourage the growth of mold and mildew, which can lead to expensive remediation efforts.
• Even without flooding, excessive moisture can lead to the growth of unhealthy mold and mildew in your basement. Consider purchasing a dehumidifier to remove excess moisture from the air.

The team at Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning is ready to help protect your Brooklyn home from flooding. We can install new sump pumps in your home, repair existing ones, and replace older pumps that no longer work. If you need help keeping your plumbing in good shape, contact us at (718) 748-1254 today!