| Over the past two year the UK has seen some of the | | | | of protection please use sand bags provided but be |
| worst flooding since records began. Many | | | | aware of their limits. There are also many excellent |
| homeowners were taken by surprise and did not | | | | flood boards and flood gates available on the market |
| know the basic precautions to follow in order to | | | | today that can dramatically reduce the effects of |
| minimize the effects. So what should you do in the | | | | flooding. Where possible it is advised that you choose |
| event of a flood warning being issued in your area? | | | | products that have been awarded the BSI Kite mark. |
| There are many products on the market today to help. | | | | These flood products will have been extensively |
| Please follow the manufacturer's instructions. Flood | | | | tested and will provide you with the greatest |
| water can enter your property in many ways but | | | | protection. |
| there are steps that you can take to minimize this. | | | | There things that you can do to your property that will |
| Air bricks can let as much as 50,000 litres of flood | | | | make it easier and cheaper to repair once the flood |
| water into your property every hour. Many local | | | | water has receded. |
| councils provide sandbags for your use and if this is | | | | 1. Lay Ceramic tiles on your ground floor and use |
| the only option available to you then please take | | | | removable rugs instead of fitted carpet. |
| advantage. Sandbags should be stacked against all | | | | 2. Raise the level of electrical sockets to 1.5 meters |
| known air bricks. If you are planning now for the next | | | | above ground floor level. |
| flood then it is worth considering alternatives to sand | | | | 3. Use lime plaster instead of gypsum on walls |
| bags as these have many advantages. The main one | | | | 4. Use stainless steel and plastic materials instead of |
| being that sand bags have to be filled manually and | | | | chipboard etc |
| can become contaminated with toxic flood water. | | | | 5. Fit non return valves on all water inlets |
| External doorways obviously will let in massive | | | | 6. |
| volumes of flood water. If you have no other means | | | | |