Everything I Did to Flood

Jul 01, 2023

I vividly remember the night Hurricane Ida hit New York City, in September 2021. My husband, Giovanni, and I were watching a movie as rain hammered menacingly onto our old slate-roof home in Queens. At some point, we paused the film to check on our basement. Bone-dry. About 20 minutes later, Giovanni went to check once more. When he returned, he wailed, “We’re screwed!”

Since I’m the handy and pragmatic one in our relationship (a statement Giovanni, an abstract painter, won’t dispute), I threw on my rubber boots and ran downstairs to see water pouring down the external, underground stairs to our basement. Water also shot out of the sewer grate at the bottom, inundating the space by our basement’s front entrance. Its force had pushed open the door, giving way to a violent cascade inside our home.

All of Giovanni’s large paintings, which he kept stored several inches off the ground on pallets for protection, were submerged in 10 inches of water. Our freezer and several heavy bags of cat litter had turned into flotation devices. Our dehumidifier and wet/dry vac bobbed helplessly. Contaminated water gushed out of the laundry sink and 3-foot-high washer drain. I swiftly waded into the waters to save some of Giovanni’s small paintings.

We had a huge and upsetting mess on our hands, but things could have been much worse. Ida dumped 3.1 inches of rain on the city in just one hour, breaking the previous record of 1.94 inches, set just days prior. The unprecedented storm killed 13 people in New York City; at least 11 residents died in their basement apartments. In our case, and that of our neighbors, the catastrophic damage was due to sewer and stormwater backup caused by the city’s aging and overwhelmed infrastructure. With water having nowhere to go, the streets turned into fast-moving rivers. The National Weather Service declared the city’s first-ever flash-flood emergency too late for us. But even if the notice had come earlier, we would not have been prepared for rainfall of such magnitude.

Heavy downpours have been increasing due to climate change, especially over the past 30 to 50 years. In the country’s Northeast, the amount of heavy precipitation has risen by 71% over a 54-year period. And, worse still, Weather.com’s senior digital meteorologist Jonathan Erdman told me that we can expect some additional future warming due to previous greenhouse gas emissions. “That will bump up rainfall potential in storms in a broad sense,” Erdman said. “The public still underestimates the danger from flash flooding, despite warnings and forecasts from the National Weather Service.”

Planning ahead as much as possible sure beats suffering later on. Both before and after Hurricane Ida, Giovanni and I have learned much about how to protect our home from flash flooding.

In 2008, my husband and I blindly fell in love with a charming fixer-upper in Queens. We were so blinded, in fact, that we didn’t even realize that we had bought a fixer-upper.

The nearly 100-year-old house, with its quaint brick facade and psychedelic, orange-and-turquoise basement bathroom, had us smitten. The sellers were a seemingly innocent elderly couple who claimed they had a hard time letting go. Only after the closing did we discover that furniture had been placed strategically on top of the basement’s floor cleanouts (sometimes called “sewer traps”), concealing their ill-fitting plugs.

Over the past 14 years—and in particular after hurricanes Sandy and Ida—we have played a sort of water whack-a-mole, making improvements along the way. When Ida flooded our basement, we followed many of the same steps outlined in Wirecutter’s guide on how to clean a flooded basement. We lost many major appliances and equipment, not to mention Giovanni’s irreplaceable paintings, and we dealt with frustrating disaster-relief bureaucracy to try and recoup some of our losses.

I have spent hundreds of hours researching solutions and speaking to contractors, insurance agents, and government officials. I’ve spent years scouring the aisles of Home Depot and pestering its employees with questions. For this guide, I consulted a home inspector, a contractor, a plumber, several Home Depot employees, FEMA, and a meteorologist to find out how to deal with our new normal of increased flood risk due to climate change.

Over the past 14 years, we have played a sort of water whack-a-mole.

As the cleanup after Ida progressed, I also talked to employees at Drylok and Quick Dam about some of their products, particularly those I’ve used and can recommend. Perhaps most importantly, I got my hands dirty and learned from my mistakes. Giving up was not an option. Each problem I encountered had to be overcome. As a result, I’ve been able to put together a comprehensive list of many inexpensive DIY solutions for preventing, ameliorating, and combating the intrusion of water into your home. And though my experiences are with urban flooding, many of the recommendations here apply to homes at risk of coastal and river flooding as well.

Gutter drain extenders divert water away from your foundation, and this one comes in multiple colors.

This charming outdoor receptacle collects rainwater so you can reuse it around your yard.

We quickly realized that correcting the issues on the inside of the house would have to start with some fixes on the outside. Jordan Gable, a licensed home inspector in New York who serves the five boroughs and parts of New Jersey, begins every home inspection at the perimeter. “You see a lot of houses where the gutters do not drain far enough away from the foundation,” he said. “It’s ruining foundations and creating wet basements.”

Gutter downspouts should empty at least 5 to 10 feet away from the house, and the ground should slope at least half an inch per foot away from the house for the first 10 feet. There is little that city dwellers can do by themselves to increase an insufficient slope. But there’s an easy and cheap way to correct a downspout that dumps water right against your foundation: Connect a flexible extension.

We chose an inconspicuous green downspout from Home Depot that blends into our environment. It was inexpensive, received great reviews online, and has done its job without any problems for the past 14 years. You can also get them in a few different colors. If your gutters don’t have guards (which I recommend, particularly if you live in an area with a lot of trees), you should have them cleaned out at least once a year (and more often if you live in a wooded area). This prevents the gutters and downspouts from clogging and overflowing, causing rainwater to pour down your foundation.

Even with an extension spout, water still needs a place to go. And though a paved driveway or backyard might work swimmingly for you—so to speak—it may cause a headache for your neighbors and for the city as a whole. Water takes the path of least resistance, which in tightly built urban environments means next door or into a city’s already overwhelmed sewer system. Check your local ordinance to find out how far from your neighbors your downspout should empty, and make sure that it leads to absorbent ground.

Another early step that I took was flattening the soil in our backyard, to correct some odd dips and channels that filled with water whenever it rained. Then I bought rain barrels, outdoor containers that, as the name suggests, collect rainwater. You can reuse the water for your garden, potentially saving hundreds of gallons a year. Your barrel should have a small hole for an overflow hose on the top and a spout on the bottom that lets you connect a garden hose for watering plants. The hose also makes it easy to empty the barrel at the end of the season. The size of the barrel will depend on your needs, but when in doubt, opt for the larger one. Your barrel will likely fill up quicker than you’d expect!

There are multiple types of rain barrels; some of them connect directly to the downspout, and others can be placed under the gutter of an awning or porch to catch rainwater as it drips down. We have both, and I particularly like the RTS Home Accents 50-gallon barrel in our backyard. It’s large and has survived many seasons unscathed. And I love having a rain barrel that resembles an actual barrel, making us look like serious whiskey drinkers! But before you buy, first check with the local government. Some cities, like New York, now offer rain barrel giveaways.

Make sure to drain your barrel before a cold snap so the water inside doesn’t freeze, since expanding ice can make the barrel burst. (Yep, it happened to me!)

This fast-drying cement can even be applied to actively leaking cracks or holes.

This easy-to-apply wall and floor sealant helps keep modest hydraulic pressure at bay.

After we first moved into our home, we noticed small cracks and holes where the foundation met the garden’s paved perimeter. During big storms, these small openings allowed water to seep into the basement. Over the years I tried various types of cement, and I found that hydraulic cement works the best and lasts the longest. The only disadvantage is that it dries very quickly, so you can mix only a small amount at a time. After you waterproof your foundation on the outside, look for any cracks and holes inside your basement and seal those as well.

Once the cement is dry, apply Drylok Extreme Basement & Masonry Waterproofer to your cement floors and walls. Drylok’s formula promises to keep modest hydraulic pressure at bay. (If you have severe hydraulic pressure, creating large cracks that may have harmed your foundation, you’ll have to call in the professionals.) Drylok applies easily with a thick roller and soaks into coarse surfaces. Although it has only a faint chemical smell, you should always keep your windows or doors open to allow for adequate ventilation. Also, Wirecutter strongly recommends using a respirator for paint projects, with VOC-rated replaceable filters.

The best way to apply Drylok waterproofer (or any kind of paint) to a floor is to start in one section in the back of your basement, giving yourself a way out without having to step into a wet surface. From there, work your way toward your exit. Drylok dries in two hours, after which you should apply a second coat. We next applied a topcoat color with water-based Behr Premium Porch & Patio Floor Paint. We used dark gray, but there are several hues to choose from. This paint adheres well, dries quickly, and hides dirt. It has endured years of paintings and exercise equipment being dragged across the floor.

A few months after we applied Drylok, we noticed yellow stains showing up on the wall. I called the company to find out what the problem might be and was told that they were harmless mineral stains. The Drylok representative recommended that I paint the walls with a layer of Kilz oil-based primer, a more powerful stainblocker than its water-based cousin. I could then repaint the walls in the color of my choice, as long as I used an oil-based paint that would adhere to the primer. I chose a white topcoat to brighten up the space.

This little pump detects rising water at 1/25 of an inch and can pump water out of a flooded area at about 33 gallons per minute.

After one particularly strong storm, Giovanni and I ran to our local Home Depot (which has long been my second home, and one that I mercifully don’t have to waterproof). Water had been seeping through the bottom of a newly installed basement door. We showed José Rivera—who works in the store’s window and door section—photos of our dilemma, which he appreciated. He said it’s always helpful when people bring pictures of their issues to the store. And he advised me to take off the flimsy door sweep that’s standard on regular entrance doors and install an under-door threshold, which allows for a tighter and more waterproof fit between the bottom of the door and the floor.

Rivera also suggested I add a weatherstrip to both sides of the door. He then gave me an excellent tip on how to tell whether I’d installed everything properly: With the indoor and outdoor lights turned off, shine a flashlight into the seams of the closed door from the outside, while someone (my husband) inside checks to see if any light still shines through (it didn’t).

After Hurricane Ida, we bought our first utility pump—a small device that’s designed to detect rising water and then pump it out via a hose to a different location. Best case scenario: These devices remove pooling water quickly. Worst case scenario: It will at least limit the damage. We placed the utility pump in the entranceway at the bottom of the stairs leading to our basement. But we hadn’t done enough research into how utility pumps work, and the machine failed us.

We learned later that a good utility pump should have a built-in sensor that’s as close to the ground as possible, so that the pump goes on automatically when it comes in contact with water. A lot of utility pumps I looked at have a “suction level” of 0.5 inch or more, so the pump doesn’t start pumping until the water has risen to half an inch, which might be high enough to allow plenty of water to seep beneath a door. A pump should also have a high gallon-per-minute pumping ratio.

For our new pump, we chose the Green Expert 1/3HP Submersible Sump Pump. Unlike our previous model, this one has a sensor and, when plugged in, will turn on and off automatically. (During hurricane season, I always leave it plugged in, in case it rains at night or when I’m away.)

In the under-$200 range, we’ve found that the Green Expert meets our needs the best. At 1/25 inch, our new pump has a lower suction level than the old, more expensive pump, and it promises to move water faster: up to 33 gallons of water per minute, if the hose is level to the ground, and 22.5 gallons per minute at 10 feet.

Luckily we haven’t had a huge storm since purchasing the Green Expert, but I wanted to put our new little engine to the test. I pulled a hose up the 6-foot wall that leads to our basement entrance, and then I filled an 11-gallon recycling bin with water and dropped the pump inside. The bucket was empty in just over 30 seconds.

As an extra precaution for our next big storm, we picked up some water-activated Quick Dam Flood Bags. These are essentially flat bags filled with a polymer that reacts with water, containing the liquid in a gel form (they aren’t designed for salt water). We wedged our bags between the security door and the basement entrance door to create a seal, so if water somehow still finds a way in, they’ll be activated. Before we did that, I put the bags to the test in a plastic basin: They lived up to their promise of absorbing four gallons of water in 10 minutes.

However, a lot can happen in 10 minutes, and Rivera told me he prefers to use old-fashioned sandbags. Unused Quick Dam bags are easy to store, but they become slimy when wet. And though they’re reusable up to a point, it can take weeks, if not months, for them to dry, and they have to be thrown out after a few exposures to water. Sometimes New York City hosts events where free sandbags are given out. But you can also assemble them on your own by buying some cheap, empty sandbags and filling them with play sand.

Rivera said in recent years he has seen an uptick in people asking for pumps, sandbags, and general water-proofing advice. But he cautioned, “There’s a lag time between ‘I need’ and ‘I have.’” He said he’s seen his fair share of frustrated homeowners—including Giovanni and me—who were forced to spend their date night at Home Depot following a basement flooding disaster that could have been prevented.

This plug-in Wi-Fi hub, with an optional sensor cable, can connect with up to 16 battery-powered remote sensors. It responds quickly to potential problems, with both a loud siren and fast smartphone alerts.

Homes with basement sewer lines often have difficult-to-remove plugs, but these expansion plugs make opening and closing cleanouts a snap.

If you ask five different contractors how to protect your home from flooding, you’ll get five different opinions and five widely varying estimates. The purpose of this exercise is to help you fully understand your needs, gain a complete picture, compare different solutions, and make an educated decision. It will also help protect you from getting fleeced.

After Hurricane Ida, my contractor friend Richard Taglieri suggested I install a backflow valve, a device that prevents sewage and stormwater from the outside backing up into your basement. Also known as a backflow preventer, the valve senses when water is flowing in the wrong direction and seals off your drains with an internal flap.

Our backflow valve was relatively inexpensive and required minimal excavation, but it was also a compromise of sorts. Two sewer contractors dug up about 2 square feet of floor in the front of the basement, to gain access to one of the pipes and insert the backflow valve. Ideally, the valve is installed in a pipe that comes before all of your basement cleanouts. That way, any incoming water gets blocked before it reaches your drain.

Due to some logistical complications with our original plumbing, the contractors left two of our cleanouts exposed to potential backflow. The backflow, however, wouldn’t reach the four cleanouts in the back of our basement or the laundry sink and the washer drain. One of the valve’s disadvantages is that you can’t use appliances during major storms because the flap will close, causing wastewater to be trapped inside and then overflow in your home. But that’s a small price to pay for this increased level of protection, and it’s a good excuse to get out of doing laundry.

The contractors also wisely exchanged our old-school cleanout plugs with extra-tight expansion plugs. Unlike the leaky old plugs that had to be hammered back in anytime they were removed, the new plugs have a screw on the top that makes them expand and contract when the screw is twisted, allowing for a tighter seal.

What works for me (a relatively inexpensive improvement with compromises) might not work for you. Each house presents a unique situation with a unique maze of pipes, traps, and drains. Our neighbors across the street had a pump in front of their basement door and got three times as much water in their basement during Ida as we did; the no-pump neighbors next door got almost twice as much.

I asked Gerard A. Campitiello Jr., co-owner of JCG Plumbing and Heating, what he thought of our setup and what else he’d recommend. He said ideally he’d excavate a sump basin, replace our existing old house trap (the U-shaped seal that stops sewer gasses from rising up into your house), and install an ejector pump. Campitiello described the contraption: “Picture a garbage can with a pump inside of it with a sealed lid with bolts, okay?” This is a major project that requires a permit, digging up much of the floor, redoing lots of piping, and undergoing an inspection. Campitiello’s estimate fell between $15,000 and $18,000.

Each house presents a unique situation with a unique maze of pipes, traps, and drains.

For now, Campitiello’s solution is, unfortunately, out of our budget, a fact that puts me, a water control freak, to the test. I was disappointed that FEMA had granted us a measly $3,167.80 in disaster relief after Hurricane Ida—too little even to have appliances and doors replaced and the walls and floors cleaned up and repainted. We ended up spending $20,000 for home repairs and replacements, and Giovanni’s gallery estimates the loss of his paintings at around $150,000.

Instead of getting upset, I reminded myself that things could have been much worse and that, along the way, we have done everything within our power and budget: In addition to all I’ve outlined so far, we also had the funky basement bathroom removed, after the toilet turned into a geyser during Hurricane Sandy. I had cellar doors installed to protect the back entrance. I had contractors raise the basement wall outlets 3 feet off the ground to keep us from being electrocuted when wading through water. I had an enclosed, up-to-code boiler room built, with the new furnace placed on cinder blocks to prevent, or at least minimize, water damage. We get our sewer lines snaked twice a year so that built-up debris doesn’t cause additional backup. And we have added backup insurance to our homeowner’s policy, which was much cheaper than we had expected. (Make sure to inform your insurance agent of your exact problem, to determine whether you need flood or backup insurance or both.) Moreover, buying a smart water-leak protector, with add-on sensors that can detect any kind of water anywhere in the house, will alert you to any water leakage the moment it begins.

Creating a rain garden is a potentially self-sustaining solution that can help keep water away from your foundation. A rain garden is essentially a dedicated area that’s designed with plants that soak up rainwater and can withstand standing water as well as droughts. It can also attract bees and butterflies.

Depending on your needs and energy, a rain garden can be a small project based on your existing surroundings or a multiday endeavor. Ideally, you should dig out a basin in your yard that’s at least 6 to 8 inches deep. Your rain garden should be close to your home’s downspout but at least 10 feet downslope from the foundation. Once you’ve installed piping that carries water from your downspout(s) into the basin, fill the area with different layers of soil and stones. And add plants that can tolerate wet and dry growing conditions and that are suitable for your yard’s sun or shade exposure.

Creating a rain garden is a potentially self-sustaining solution that can help keep water away from your foundation.

In my case, it was enough to ameliorate our packed soil with lots of compost and have our downspout empty into a bed of ferns (chosen for their absorbency and low maintenance), flowering stonecrop, and clover (my pet rabbits love nibbling on the latter).

In addition to my starter rain garden, I have several large metal planters. I placed them on the shady paved perimeters, close to the foundation, to soak up rainwater that might otherwise find its way to the foundation—despite my best efforts to divert it. The planters are attractive and easy to put together. And they don’t require me to bend down to sow and weed, so they’re great for certain people with limited mobility. I love how sturdy and spacious these planters are: I can grow ample amounts of spinach and arugula in the spring and fall, and basil in the summer.

I’ve put a lot of work into my own home, but I also believe that it’s important to advocate for myself and my community on a larger scale. Honoring my role as the squeakiest wheel on the block, I have contacted the Department of Environmental Protection and my council members more times than I can count. For years, I’ve begged for our block’s catch basins to be cleaned out on a regular schedule and for the sewer system to be expanded to handle the combined stormwater and wastewater. Both the DEP and my councilwoman admit that our old sewer system wasn’t designed to manage the kind of storms we’ve been seeing as of late. I was also told by my councilwoman’s community liaison that the DEP has plans to revamp the system but that it would take time. There’s still no actual plan of action that I’m aware of.

In the meantime, we homeowners and tenants have to continue bothering our officials to support new infrastructure and to protect ourselves with home upgrades. Also, it never hurts to own a good pair of rubber boots.

This article was edited by Joshua Lyon and Harry Sawyers.

José Rivera, Home Depot, millwork specialist

Gerard A. Campitiello, co-owner of JGC Plumbing

Jordan Gable, owner of Sunnyside Home Inspection

Sabine Heinlein

Sabine Heinlein is a staff writer at Wirecutter. Her work has previously been published by The New York Times, The Guardian, Psychology Today, and many other publications. When she is not following her dream of an immaculate home and a flood-proof basement, she is taking care of her menagerie and creating magical animal quilts.

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