Autauga and Elmore counties
Basement and crawl space waterproofing in Prattville
In Prattville the first question is how close you are to moving water. The answer changes which repair makes sense, and the city can help you find it.
Near a creek, or not?
The City of Prattville's floodplain page lists where flood hazards exist: along the Alabama River, Autauga Creek, Fay Branch, Noland Creek and Pine Creek, and along the smaller streams that feed them.
If your house is near one of those, water in the basement or under the floor may be the creek rising, not rain soaking down beside the wall. A perimeter drain and a pump are built for seepage. They are not built to hold back a stream, and a company should say so plainly.
If you are well away from all of them, treat it as an ordinary drainage problem and start with the gutters and the slope of the yard.
What the Planning Department may have on your address
The city says flood maps can be inspected at the Prattville Planning Department, and that its records may also include:
- the depth of flooding above a building's first floor,
- past flood events in the area,
- elevation certificates for buildings in the floodplain built since 1987.
Ask for these before you sign for a drainage system. If the lot has flooded before, you want to know that from a record, not from a salesperson.
Regrading and trenches can need a permit
Inside the mapped flood hazard area, the city requires a Floodplain Development Permit for most development. Its list includes filling or excavating, alterations to the natural terrain, and any change to a drainage way or stream.
A French drain, a regraded yard or a pump outlet aimed at a ditch can fall under that. Before work starts on a lot in the flood hazard area, have the company confirm with the Planning Department whether a permit is needed, and get the answer in the proposal.
Insurance, while you are thinking about it
The same city page states that homeowner's policies do not cover flood losses, that anyone in the city can buy flood insurance whether or not they are in a mapped zone, and that a new policy has a thirty-day wait before it takes effect. If you are near a creek and uninsured, that wait is the reason to act in dry weather.
Montgomery and nearby towns
Ready to have someone look at it?
Call and describe what you are seeing and when it happens. You will be put through to an independent local waterproofing company, and they arrange the visit with you.
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