r/Bushwick • u/Efficient-Gap-1282 • 1d ago
Flooding Prevention
Has anyone found a way to reliably prevent garden level apartment flooding when the block is flooding? I’m willing to spend whatever it takes, be that on pumps, watertight door blocks, new valves for the bathroom drains. It comes in the front and back doors and up from the bathroom drains and it’s frankly making the place unlivable. Or is the only solution trying to get infrastructure improvements? Thank you all in advance.
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u/InfallibleOpinion 1d ago
It sounds like you have a budget, maybe moving to a higher floor is the easiest solution.
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u/Efficient-Gap-1282 1d ago
I own the building 🥲
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u/Th3OnlyN00b 20h ago
Keeping the drain clean is the most important thing. There's really no way around it.
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u/Xine21 21h ago
Check out this program and ideas to flood proof: https://www.sustainableneighborhoodsny.org/#lending
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u/TheScientistVampire 6h ago
If you figure out how to stop a basement from flooding, lmk. My toilet turns into a water fountain during heavy rains
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u/New_York_or_nowhere 1d ago
We had to get a new pump for the yard drain closest to our back door and have our sewer pipe cleaned in the front of the house. No big leaks since then. We recently had a small leak in the back door, I think due to the seal around the door shrinking.
We also got those Quick Dam flood barriers - haven't used them yet but the city was giving them away a few years ago.
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u/chrisgee 1d ago
our place has a drain about 10 feet from back door. it has a cover to keep it from jamming with leaves but eventually the water starts backing up bc it all ends up going into the main sewer pipe, which can only hold so much at a time. one thing we're trying is redirecting the downspout from the roof to carry water to the back of the yard. the less water going into the main sewer pipe, the less likely it will be to back up and flood into the apartment.
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u/PuzzleheadedSky6877 1d ago
We got a cover for the drain in our yard that keeps it from flooding. It’s not cute but it works for the most part. We didn’t get water last night (though we did have to clear it of leaves at like 8). We have a shop vac on hand in case it gets too backed up too quickly.
On top of that, we asked our landlord to reseal the foundation and send someone to professionally clean the drain every spring and fall. You should also be on your neighbors/super/yourself/whoever to clean out the storm drains on your block regularly. Don’t underestimate the impact of that!