How to flood-proof your home

Aussies are no strangers to extreme weather events like flooding and the damage these events cause. That’s why we’re committed to researching ways to make homes more resilient.

One way to mitigate the effects of flooding is to build or renovate your home so that it’s more resilient – as Suncorp Insurance customer Christine Newsome did following the 2011 Brisbane floods.

Christine's story

In 2011, the Brisbane floods forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. Three quarters of the local council areas were deemed disaster zones.

Christine Newsome’s home in Graceville was badly affected. Her property is a few hundred metres from the Brisbane River, and her home and possessions were significantly damaged. To make matters worse, her insurer at the time had sold her policy to a different company – and her new policy didn’t include flood cover.

'Somewhere in the bottom of the Brisbane River was the insurance document saying that I wasn't covered for flood. That was the last time I'd spoken to that particular insurance company,' Christine tells us. It was at this point that she became a Suncorp Insurance customer.

Unable to imagine living anywhere else, Christine worked with architect James Davidson to design a flood-resilient home.

How to design a flood-proof house

Christine's architect, James Davidson, has become influential in designing ‘flood acceptant' homes since the 2011 flood. James approaches projects with the belief that it's impossible to control the amount of rain that falls, so he considers strategies to assist homeowners in living through and recovering from potential flooding.

To create a home that is resilient to flooding, James selects materials that can tolerate water. ‘Accepting water and living with water is the main point about the design,' James says. For Christine's home, he selected polished concrete floors, rendered concrete walls and moveable cabinets that can be shifted to the second floor before heavy rain. There are also large doors in each room to allow water flow if necessary.

The redesign has helped Christine and her family to feel more secure.

Other tips for flood-proofing a new home include the following:

• Installing all sockets and appliances as high as possible.
• Including enough weep holes at the bottom of cavity walls to allow drainage.
• Choosing more resilient materials, such as core-filled blocks or single-skin polycarbonate, instead of materials like plasterboard.
• Using waterproof materials for cabinetry.

To find out more, explore Suncorp’s One House initiative.

How to flood-proof an existing house

If you’re not building a new home, some of the flood-proofing strategies mentioned above may not be practical to implement — but there are still things you can do.

• Raise electrical switchboards and powerpoints to above flood level.
• Replace cabinetry with flood resistant materials.
• Raise appliances, such as your washing machine and dryer, to above flood level.
• Replace hollow core doors with solid core doors.
• Apply flood-resilient sealant to your tiled areas.

Of course, this is just a handful of ideas. Consider consulting an architect, builder or other qualified professional for suggestions tailored to your property.

Don't forget flood insurance coverage

Ensuring you have adequate flood cover is another way to stay prepared. Depending on your insurer, flood cover may be included in your home and contents insurance policy^#. Suncorp's Home and Contents Insurance has three levels of cover, and each level automatically includes flood cover.

Update your policy

For more information on how to prepare for extreme weather-related flooding, download our Must-Have Flood Checklist. It's impossible to control the weather, but you can control how prepared you are.

What to do after a flood

Suncorp Insurance aims to make it as simple as possible for customers affected by flood to make their claim and access help.

Make a claim

Read more:

• Your flood recovery guide
• This is not business as usual
• Resilience Road: Putting Queensland on the road to resilience

Insurance is issued by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as Suncorp Insurance. Consider the Product Disclosure Statement before making a decision about this insurance.

^#We do not insure you for bushfire, storm, storm surge, flood or tsunami in the first 72 hours of your policy. Very limited exceptions apply. For full details refer to the PDS.

Actions or movements of the sea and storm surge are not covered (unless the storm surge damage occurs at the same time as damage caused by storm). Other exclusions apply.

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