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One Household Tries to Plastic Wrap Their Home to Save It From Flooding

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Kristin Massey and her family have endured flooding inside of their home twice in the past two years, but they were hoping to avoid a third time during Harvey. When they heard that the storm was brewing and approaching the coast, these Houstonians got to work and devised a plan so crazy it might have worked if Harvey hadn’t been so destructive.

According to Click2Houston.com, the family set up 18,000 pounds worth of sand bags underneath yards and yards of plastic wrap that looked like a temporary wall around the house. The supplies ended up costing them nearly $4,800, and sadly, it wasn’t enough to keep the water away. Massey says that it held up for a while, but once the flood reached over a foot in height, it gave way and water damaged their home once again.

They aren’t the first concerned homeowners to come up with a plan to attempt to keep flood waters away from the indoors. On a blog called YouRepair.com, a writer floated a similar idea, years ago, saying, “If two guys can wrap a home in about 30 minutes with Tyvek that is approximately the same size .. a ten foot tall roll.. 100 feet long.. then why couldn’t two guys wrap a home and seal it up with standard or heavy grade food plastic wrap to protect it from water?” I guess we know the answer to this question now; it doesn’t quite work out the way you think it will (unless flood waters are rather low).