Tinkerer wrote:
"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
Whenever I hear about the poor b*ggers waiting for months to get back into
their flood damaged houses I always wonder whether the repairs shouldn't
just stop at "repair" but should be aimed at making a house flood
resistant.

By this I don't mean "keep the water out" as I suspect that this is
actually very hard to achieve. I'm thinking more of waterproof
non-absorbant walls (possibly tiled) downstairs, all electricty cables
coming from upstairs (or from the loft) *down* rather than from under the
floor up, solid concrete floors downstairs and maybe even a floating
"raft" floor on top of the concrete floor for your furniture that would
float on top of flood waters keeping your valuables dry.

How much of the above is practical? Would it be terribly expensive? What
other measures could one incorportate to make recovery from a flood in a
flood prone area just an inconvenience rather than a disaster?



I suppose the ultimate is what they have done, in the so called third world,
for years in flood prone areas - houses on stilts.

I've also seen it done in an expensive looking house beside the Thames.

Colin Bignell