Make sure your property is properly assessed for flood risk.

UK Flood Barriers Ltd can carry out a full on-site flood risk assessment survey to help you to protect your property from the possibility of flooding.

If you live in a neighbourhood where there is a real risk of flooding and you can't afford to wait for local or central government to step in and provide help you should call on our experts to help you build a case for portable flood defences.

We can provide reports for single properties or entire communities detailing all flood defence options available to you from major works to individual property defence.

We can also quote for any type of ground work or building work required to help reduce the risk of flood damage.

If you are worried about flooding the five questions listed below are major issues which need to be seriously considered.  There may also be other problems specific to your property.

1. Will water come in through doors, windows and other openings? 
The answer is almost always yes.  Unless they have been built specifically to prevent water ingress (unlikely), you have to protect your building apertures.

2. Will water come in through my walls? 
The answer may surprise you, but quite often it is also yes.  It may not be commonplace knowledge outside of the construction industry but most bricks and more often the mortar joints are porous – they let in water after a surprisingly short time.  So if floodwater is liable to persist more than 24 hours it may well come in through your walls. 

3. Will water (or worse, sewerage) come through downstairs drain outlets, like toilets, baths and sinks? 
Unless you have protected those outlets the answer again is probably yes depending on the depth of floodwater and back pressure.  You have to consider protecting your drain inlets.

4. Will water come up through my floors, through rising groundwater levels or through sub floor ventilation (airbricks)? 
This would depend on the geology of the ground around you and the structure of your floors, even foundations.  If your house is built directly on to an impermeable material such as clay then rising groundwater will probably not come up.

5. How strong are my walls?
If you stop water coming into your building then its weight bears against the building perimeter walls.  They have to be strong enough to take the expected weight of water or they may suffer damage in flood conditions. 

What to do next?

In short, if you suspect you are at risk of flooding, then you should carry out a comprehensive flood risk assessment and then make educated decisions on protecting your property from flooding.

Start off by completing the online Flood Risk Assessment Form, selecting the correct type of property you live in.  Or if you wish download the form here, complete it and return by post to UK Flood Barriers Limited, Unit 1, Site 9a Wassage Way, Hampton Lovett, Droitwich, Worcestershire, WR9 0NX or email info@ukfloodbarriers.co.uk.  Our team of evaluators are always on hand to visit people’s homes, or talk to communities about the flood risk facing them, and to give impartial advice on the types of products that would be best suited to their properties.