SO here's the short review, I bought these 'just in case'. The reviews were mixed, but my basement was going to flood after the snow melted from a WI winter. You can read my experience below. Well it did flood, I caught it at the beginning. I placed these bags down where it was coming up and they absorbed the water and also acted as a barrier to make the steady flow drop down to a very slow trickle that I was able to keep mopped up by placing a towel down in front of the bags. This helped immensely while I got to the source of the flooding. I bought more for next time. Not quite sure if I'll be able to reuse, and I wouldn't necessarily use these again to clean the mess, but if you know where the water is coming in at and place it there, I would use it for that as it does slow down or act as a barrier preventing further mess. The long review with other products: I knew it was inevitable this Spring, my basement was going to flood. No way around it. I hired a lemon of an excavation company last year to stop it, they did the worst job imagineable and made the problem worse. They basically created a basin that collects rain water up against my house and then just DUMPS it into my basement. Plastic sheeting on the outside helps keep the rainwater out, but after a WI winter with heavy snow & ice, I was concerned that I didn't quite make sure I placed enough sheeting down. So, after a day of chunking ice & vacuuming water on the outside so I remove old sheeting and place new down new before March rain... I placed these sensors down. I was pretty confident only a small amount would leak in the usual spot. I thought 3 sensors was more than enough and I'd place the other 2 in areas of mild concern. Well the usual spot didn't leak, my efforts of ice picking and vacuuming (and probably worrying the neighbors) has paid off. The water came from under the house! A sensor went off just as the water was trickling in. I ran to action... placing towels and quick damn bags down to keep the water from flowing in from the area in the floor. I only had maybe 1/4-1/2" of standing water in a low spot of the basement floor. I discovered my sump pump had actually burned out! And my drain tile was overflowing! Now, keep track of all the gadgets I mention in this post if you deal with flooding, because I believe my paranoia saved me this year... I still had messe, but I cleaned them up quickly and my life was only derailed for a few hours vs days like usual. I love my basement when it's dry, I have a little gym down there. Its my version of a she-shed... Not only did I purchase the quick dam bags, I purchased a portable pump in case s#!% hit the fan and the flooding got bad... so when I discovered my sump pump quit working, I was able to drain the basin and draintile in about 20 mins once I set up the portable pump and garden hose. So make sure you have this essential in your power toolkit also! Because when I discovered the pump was out, it was 630 at night in a rural area where every hardware store was closed and the closest Menards is 45 mins away. I would've had to drive there while my house continued to flood. I just kept up with the portable until I could get my sump replaced! You know what they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! So then the 2nd time the sensors went off, it was because I realized after all this mess with my sump pump, I had unplugged my water softener. I plugged it back in, not realizing the thing drains and the drain pipe was not pointed back into my drain basin where the sump pump is. (K, folks, I'm a single mom with NO mechanical ability AT ALL, everything I have learned in this area is because I'm in desperation to fix an issue and I don't have a man to call) So after I plug it in, and I'm all thankful that everything is finally fixed and I probably survived Spring flood season already, I sit down with a cup of coffee so glad that all the above steps were in place and things didn't turn out as bad as they could've, a sensor goes off ???????? 66 gallons of water from that f'n water softener. Imagine if I didn't have the sensor tho, and I just sat upstairs enjoying life thinking all was peaceful and calm while it just kept pouring water in! I caught it 10 mins in thanks to these and was able to stop the flooding and clean up the mess in an hour. So here's your flooding grocery list: GOVEE Water sensors (these are great, especially if you're away from home like I am!) Quick Dam flood bags (can absorb, act as a barrier to keep water from continuing to flow in) Wet vacuum Portable sump pump Dehumidifier Flashlight that you keep on a hook near the area of flooding because you should cut power to the house until you know its safe to enter without getting electrocuted Lots of extra towels to dry up the floor after you've removed the bulk of the water! Husband ???????????? jk
