Making a house flood resistant

[Andy Champ]

Sounds like a Queenslander. They were designed to keep cool with no aircon though - shaded windows, and the breeze blows underneath.

[Bruce]

It's a bit inconvenient having to shin down a rope to go to work, though. And hauling the missus up to first floor level with the weekly shopping using a block and tackle sounds like hard work.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Champ saying something like:

say, you can drive a car up the ramp onto the deck, but I'm unsure if there's enough room to turn or whether reversing is necessary - perhaps there's another ramp at the rear. It's a really nice house and would be perfect almost anywhere, but especially in Cork or Clonmel.

[Jules]

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Nightjar saying something like:

May as well go the whole hog and make it a floater.

[Dave Liquorice]

Aye, getting the sponge back is one of the reasons the North Pennines ANOB is spending quite a bit of money in blocking up the grips cut to drain the blanket bog just after WWII. Not that this would have helped along the Derwent/Cocker but it will help the Tyne and the Wear.

[Rod]

Aviva appear to agree with you:

and specifically the case study link from that front page.

But they specified Limelite plaster rather than non-absorbent.

[Steve Walker]

It'd make far more sense practically to put keeping water out first and build traditional houses with a step or two (or more) up to the front door. Then have a fund so that anyone who is or becomes disabled can have a ramp or other appropriate access fitted rapidly and free of charge whenever they want to move. This would also open up the existing housing stock for anyone with such a need. I also dislike ramps not only because they take up so much space, but because they are dangerous for the able-bodied in wintery weather. Incidentally, in my local town centre, the bank was recently extended into the shop next door and although there is a very wide pavement, they did not take the option of putting a ramp outside, running along the front of the building, with steps at the high end, so that people could choose which to use - instead they ramped the whole pavement, making a dangerous slope in the winter where it was previously flat.

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

is much more fun, but a bit pricey to run!

SteveW

[Dave Liquorice]

Pardon? The Met Office had a red weather warning out on the Tuesday IIRC, a red weather warning means "take action". The warning forecast

250mm of rain over the fells.

The EA had Severe Flood Warning for the Cockermouth and several other places on Wwednesday evening. A Severe Flood Warning means "Severe flooding is expected. There is extreme danger to life and property. Act now!".

Or by "unexpectedness" do you mean the fact that the waters rose so high in just a few hours? 'Cause even that shouldn't have been unexpected, the fells were already saturated, the lakes full any freash rain would just run off and run off fast as the Lake District isn't exactly flat.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Liquorice" saying something like:

Mostly that, I suppose. From what I read I see there was a flood in '05, and that should have girded some loins, but ho-hum. I don't suppose most people there expected this one to go as high as it did.

[Jules]

OK, I seriously want one of those! Wonder if anyone in the cab was conscious after that landing - or did it just slowly pootle off toward the opposite bank afterwards? :-)

cheers

Jules

[<me9]

If there's no flood defences then it may be relatively slowly. However when defences are topped, it can be *very* quick. Our local town had expensive defences installed in the early 90s. A very apprehensive evening was spent a few years later with the water lapping within 75 mm of the tops, and some fairly minor leakage from the drains. Another 600mm has been added to the tops of the defences which hopefully should be enough. I think this would defend to the level of the 1881 flood, but possibly not the 1771 flood. Many were drowned then.

[<me9]

In our last major alert the new expensive apartments had the water lapping within 75mm of the patio doors on the lower floor. Since then another site the other side of us, which was abandoned after floods in the 1930s has had very expensive houses erected on it. Few locals have bought.

Fortunately we're about 30m above the river, so probably safe for a century or more.

Where I used to work had a flood in the 90s due to building work blocking drains. It was 1200 feet above sea level. Not a lot was done to relieve the problem, it was a one off, they said despite my pointing out the cause. Of course it was repeated a year or so ago, this time I think they sorted it.

[Chris J Dixon]

After a period of prolonged heavy rain, a house near me developed a substantial flow of ground water springing out of the middle of its drive. Clearly you never know where it is going to hit you.

Chris

[Bruce]

After 2005, the locals girded their loins and worked very hard to persuade the Environment Agency, against much opposition from nature conservationists, to dredge the river in order to increase its flow capacity and reduce the risk of flooding. Because of the opposition from the conservationists, persuading the Agency took several years.

The Agency finally caved in in the summer of 2009 and the work was programmed to take place in late spring/early summer of 2010.

The problem is that too many warnings are given, and the warnings are often too severe (understandably erring on the side of safety). When the floods don't happen, people become complacent. So when they get

*yet another* severe warning, they perhaps don't react as they should.

[whisky-dave]

Where there's a Will he's usually being fired at until they run out of amo. firing at Wills is just another tpye of 'ism it should be outlawed ;-)

[Derek Geldard]

And also at some very fashionable beach side locations such as Galveston.

Trouble would seem to be that they behave to some extent like the houseboats they are derived from, IE storms and hurricanes treat them like playthings.

Derek

[SS]

maybe even a floating

But would it float with all that furniture on top of it?

[Andrew Gabriel]

Government asked for ideas for making electrical installations flood resistant some years back. My response is in the last section of the following doc...