Until you face a serious basement flood, it can be easy to ignore the many expensive assets you have in your home’s basement. Mechanical systems, the foundation to your home or business, storage, gym equipment, media: there are so many assets in your basement that could be lost in a flood, assets you may not have considered. In this article, we’ll go through how to protect your basement assets with basement waterproofing for your Rochester home, and how to ensure that you’re protected during flooding issues with a quality system.
Basement Waterproofing to Protect Your Basement Assets
Mechanical Systems
In many cases, your home’s mechanical systems reside in your basement. A furnace, water heater, dehumidifier, circuit breakers, and many other systems can live down there, systems that cost thousands of dollars to replace. What about your laundry facilities? How are you protecting thousands of dollars in appliances that are used in your basement? Especially in these situations, where the systems can’t be moved above the floodwaters without significant equipment and effort, basement waterproofing is vital to protecting these assets.
Guest Suite
A guest suite is a great way to make friends and family feel welcome in your home, and it often includes a range of special touches and amenities to make it even more comfortable. You could have purchased specific furniture to keep your parents comfortable when they visit or added a Nespresso for your coffee-maven sister-in-law’s visits. Guest suites often include a kitchenette and bathroom, as well as a small couch or chairs to provide guests with a place to wind down. Even if you simply moved your old bedroom set downstairs for your guest suite, how much will it cost to replace them?
Home Gym
You gave up your gym membership to get better equipment and be able to exercise comfortably in your own home. Though you may not have considered it expensive at the time, how many pieces of equipment have you added to your home fitness center? Did you add mirrors to keep an eye on your form? What about the special flooring that keeps your weight workout from waking up the household? You probably have a lot more invested in your home gym than you actually realize, making it important to keep your equipment safe.
Media Room
Basements make wonderful theatre and media rooms, partially due to their limited window lighting. They’re a great place to escape to and really lose yourself in the experience of the film or show that you’re watching. But how much is that big screen 4K OLED TV going to cost to replace? What about your soundbar and additional speakers? Let’s not even get into the massage theatre chairs that you installed for a really awesome experience. Your snack bar could also take a hit, with all of the appliances suffering damage that makes them unrecoverable.
Playroom
In upstate New York, it’s pretty common for your kids to have a playroom in the basement, which is especially used in our harsh New York winters. What happens when that playroom floods? My daughter’s precious stuffed animal was Mama Pup, and I can’t tell you how many times we turned around and drove an hour or more to retrieve it, just to avoid a few days of tears if it had to be mailed instead. What would you do if your child’s precious toys were damaged beyond repair in a basement flood?
Storage
Though we tend to think of storage as a simple process, it’s often not until you’ve faced a loss that you realize how precious some of those items were. We lost antique Christmas ornaments in a burglary, I know of a genealogist who lost heirloom family pictures in a flood, and businesses lose vital records. Consider everything you have in storage in your basement. Can you really stand to lose those items? Will getting money from insurance really cover the emotional cost?
Create an Insurance Catalog
One of the most important steps you can take to protect your assets is creating an insurance catalog of everything in your basement. This can be done by video or by taking individual or group photos. However, for larger or more expensive items, you’ll also want to record model and serial numbers. Once this information is recorded, keep a copy of it in a fire safe or safe deposit box at your bank.
Get Your Basement Waterproofed!
By taking the time to get basement waterproofing for your Rochester home and having your assets cataloged for insurance purposes, you can protect your bottom line, your time, and your effort by preventing a basement flood. If you’re considering having your basement waterproofed, the experienced team of waterproofing professionals at Storm Basement Waterproofing in Rochester are always ready to help. Why not take a few minutes to get a free estimate through our system or call us with any questions you may have about the process?