Need to make sandbag-like things right now

September 11, 2013 8:26 PM

My area is currently experiencing flash flooding. A small stream of water is flowing into our garage, and the pooling water is moving toward the interior of the house. What sandbag-like thing can we make with common household items to hopefully keep the water out of the house? We do not have sand. Note that we can't travel anywhere for supplies because travel is too dangerous due to flash flooding.
posted by medusa to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

If you have trash bags and duct tape, I'd start there. You should be able to put just about anything that isn't bouyant inside the bags and you can patch the seams using the tape and additional bags.
posted by feloniousmonk at 8:30 PM on September 11, 2013

Baking stuff like sugar, flour, salt, etc., dumped into plastic bags of various kinds could make a kind of improvised sandbag.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 8:35 PM on September 11, 2013

Best answer: Plastic trash bags filled with dirt or mud. I have done this in a similar situation with good results.
posted by procrastination at 8:36 PM on September 11, 2013 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Do you have any bags of garden soil/potting mix? Those are sandbags, basically. Otherwise, trash bags full of the heaviest most conforming substance you have - kitty litter? Or wet comforters, towels, sheets - roll up, soak, encase in plastic or trash bags.

You'll have to try to guess how high the water might get if it backs up or the flow increases. Can you re-route it out a back garage door or is the ground too low? Anyway, I'm just saying don't roll up 4 comforters if four rolls of one comforter each, which I'd guess gives you 4-6" of barrier, will probably suffice and give you four long barriers versus one high one.

Same deal if you're using dirt - don't fill a big trash bag, fill a trash bag a few inches and roll it up into a tube.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:37 PM on September 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

If the volume is significant, my experience from childhood suggests you should put your energy into elevating or evacuating your valuables and sentimental. Sandbags are for floods you see coming (seeping).
That said, kitty litter? aquarium gravel? snow melt salt? haven't tried this, but water in a trash bag? if you have heavy duty trash bags and a shovel, just use dirt.
posted by Mngo at 8:39 PM on September 11, 2013 [2 favorites]

Agree to get stuff off of ground level first. It is not much, but I would put as many towels as you can under and around the entrance from the garage to the house where you think the first break will come.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:44 PM on September 11, 2013

Trash bags filled with water (if you don't have dirt). Underfill them and either tape them in place or put bricks (or anything heavy) to weight them down.
posted by zanni at 8:45 PM on September 11, 2013 [2 favorites]

Can you dig a trench to fill with water in the direction of the flooding?
posted by Pants! at 9:12 PM on September 11, 2013

Best answer: Do you have a tarp? You can make a termporary dam by propping it up or wrapping an object in the tarp and then sealing the tarp to the ground by piling dirt on it. It'll hold quite a bit of water.
posted by fshgrl at 10:17 PM on September 11, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice. We did move valuables already. The combination of trash bags of mud, blankets, and tarp is working so far. You're the best.
posted by medusa at 4:01 AM on September 12, 2013 [3 favorites]

The solutions above are good, and I have none of my own. However, as a homeowner who just experienced water pouring into my basement, I just wanted to say I'm sorry this is happening to you. It sucks and is upsetting and can certainly make you feel hopeless. Move your valuables, do what you can to slow or stop the water, and just hang in there. Hopefully the water will stay away!!
posted by kellygrape at 4:01 AM on September 12, 2013