Workshop
Ask a question

The Bunnings Workshop community can help with your home improvement projects.

How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater?

Bluetooth
Having an Impact

How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater?

2021-11-1113.09.52643327520802579911.jpg

This week I got this great set of cabinets off Gumtree to help organise my workbench. Unfortunately a few times per year my garage floods with about an inch of water, and I want to protect these cabinets. My initial plan was to build a timber frame for underneath and attach casters to give it to height to keep out of any potential flooding. But I'm open to any other suggestions!

What wood and what casters would.you recommend?

EricL
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

Hi @Bluetooth

 

You can definitely D.I.Y. a charged system. However, if you do it above ground it won't look very nice. I suggest reviewing your current setup and seeing if there are any bottlenecks or areas that trap water. An easy solution is to use a bigger pump pit so that the mercury float or pump switch is not agitated when water comes down to the pit. You can install a gravel pit to slow the water down so that the pump has enough time to get rid of the water that's currently in the pit.

 

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your flooding problem sorted.

 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

 

Eric

 

See something interesting? Give it the thumbs up!

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

@EricLThanks for your suggestion. I think the best solution might be a wet or dry pvc system that goes from the overflow of my rainwater tank out to the street. There is a fence and a hedge for most of that distance, so it would be mostly hidden from view. The wet system would be more hidden as it could be on the gound, but the dry would be more maintenance free going forward.

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

Hi @EricL and @Bluetooth  I wonder if I am the only person who does not know what a charged system is...? Would  you mind explaining it for those of us unfamiliar with water systems please?

TedBear 

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

@TedBearThat's a great question, and before my plumber suggested it, I had never heard of a charged system either. Especially coming from a country where temperatures drop below freezing, it would be unheard of! Correct me if I'm wrong, experts, but a charged (or wet) stormwater system is one where there is always water in the system. Like a trap in plumbing, water moves through the system, but its natural state is full of water. The use case is when you need to move water up hill. Perfect situation is when the roof is above street level, but floor level of the house is not. So the top of the charged system might be at the top of the eaves, and the pipe runs down and under ground, then up hill to street level, and drains there. As long as the end at the street is lower than where the water enters the system, then during a downpour, the water should flow out at the street. Downsides is that the system typically traps debris, so can get gummed up. Upside is that all the pipes are hidden underground (usually).

MitchellMc
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

Hi @TedBear,

 

@Bluetooth is spot on there, but don't worry, I too had only become aware of them recently.

 

The rendering I've put together would be just about the limits of a charged system where the street is just below the gutter. In an ideal world, your stormwater would run downhill into the main collection line, but sometimes, as is the case with steep blocks, that isn't possible. Apparently, most councils prefer a charged system over a pumped system and will give a certain amount of leniency to alter the council strip, allowing the installation if the only other option is a pumped system. The issue with pumped systems is that in the event of a massive storm, power goes out reasonably frequently. It might only be once a year or every two years, but in those events, pumped systems fail and flood properties.

 

Mitchell

 

Charged.png

See something interesting? Give it the thumbs up!

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

Thank you @Bluetooth and @MitchellMc for the excellent explanation and for the diagram. That makes sense as a potential solution for the overflow.

pstq
Having an Impact

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

I get about a centimetre of water in the first metre of so of my garage if it rains hard. I just put everything down that end up on bricks. I can't put a lip across the front to stop it flowing in because it's a tilt door, and it would stop it opening.

 

I have a similar problem with too much water coming off the garage roof that can't be fed to the house drain. I have them feeding into a tank. I keep the tank half full by feeding water from the tank tap to the trees in the paddock over the back fence via a hose. Halfway along the hose, it hangs on a hook on the fence, and has a hole in it to stop it siphoning. When the water level falls to the height of the hook, it slops flowing. So the tank is half full and can catch a big downpour and let it out slowly.

MitchellMc
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

Could you put the lip behind the tilt door where it doesn't inhibit its ability to open @pstq? You'd then have to enclose the sides and box in the bottom of the door.

 

That sounds like a fairly brilliant idea with the hose elevated midway and I would have never thought of placing a hole in the top to stop siphoning. 

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Mitchell

 

See something interesting? Give it the thumbs up!

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

The door problem is more complicated than that. The slab has dropped a little, so if I put a barrier behind the door, it would form a narrow pond with the door sitting in it. I probably need to cut the bottom off the door, and fill that depression. One day.

 

This is the hose arrangement. It doesn't just have a hole, it has a short vertical section off it. That's so a full tank won't have water spurting out the hole onto the fence.

 

IMG_2730.JPG

Re: How can I protect my garage cabinets from floodwater

Hey @MitchellMc That drawing looks pretty good! In my case, the source would actually be the overflow from my rainwater tank (red circle in photo #1). You can see that it currently drains into the pit at the front of the garage (green square in photo #1), so when the tanks are full, and its raining hard, there is a huge amount of water that goes into the pit, and sometimes floods the garage.The sump pump moves the water along the fence to the top of the driveway, and into a pit which drains out into the street. You can just see a little of the pvc sump pump pipe next to the bins in the  photo #2.

 

Now I think the best solution is to run a new 90mm pvc stormwater pipe from the top of the rainwater tank down (blue line in the photo) and along the fenceline at ground level to the front of the property to drain into the existing pit. That way it would flow to the street, without needing to be pumped up the hill. The system would need to be charged, I reckon. I don't plan to bury it, as it will not be visible since its behind hedges for 90% of the distance.

 

Any thoughts on this idea? After watching a few Youtube videos, I think I should use T-joins instead of elbows near the bottom of the charged system, for access in case i need to clean out debris.

Rainwater tank overflowRainwater tank overflowDrain would run along fenceDrain would run along fence

Why join the Bunnings Workshop community?

Workshop is a friendly place to learn, get ideas and find inspiration for your home improvement projects