I just heard on the news last night that experts are already concerned about the thaw coming from all the beautiful warm weather this week and next.  The concern is that there is no place for the water from the melting snow to go.  The ground is frozen and saturated already.  The thing homeowners need to understand is that even if your home has never flooded before, or you don’t live in a flood plain, that doesn’t mean you won’t have a soaked basement this year.

Other factors that contribute to flooding in your home are foundations shifting over time creating small cracks in the walls that you may not even see until water is pouring in through them.

Even if you already have a sump pump, have you checked it to make sure it’s working properly?  Don’t wait for the surge of water to test your sump pump.  Do it now, so you can be prepared.  Proactive is always better than reactive in this situation.  To check your sump pump, pour water into the pit from a 5-gallon bucket and check to see that it actually turns on.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know if you’ll need a backup pump until the thaw comes and your regular sump pump can’t keep up.  Therefore, we highly recommend all homes with a sump pump should automatically have a backup pump.  It’s not worth the risk. Not only will you have a terrible mess, you could damage your personal property, as well as your flooring and walls.  Then there’s the issue with mold.

There are even water powered sump pumps available, so if  your power goes off and your main pump stops working, the backup water powered pump will take over keeping your home dry.

If you have any questions, just give Terry a call. He loves sharing his knowledge and helping people take the best care of their home as possible.