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During heavy rain the water from the drains outside my apartment overflow. The doors have an almost 1 inch gap at the bottom, and the water floods the apartment.

How can I seal that door gap temporarily during the rain to avoid flooding the apartment?

Currently I live in a small town in Argentina. So I do not have access to all materials and do not have any tools. I was thinking about pressing some sort of modeling material into the gap. Today I was using some towels but that holds the water only if I renew them every few minutes. And I don't know what to do when I leave the apartment for a few days and rain starts while I am absent.

Drain outside Gap

The pictures are from 1 of 2 doors.

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Can you post a picture? – Chris Cudmore Oct 1 '12 at 16:16
I added the pictures. – juergen d Oct 1 '12 at 16:24
What is the black tube that runs down the outside of the door and along the bottom of the wall on the right? Is that the drain in the center of the wall? – Niall C. Oct 1 '12 at 16:34
Water from the air conditioner comes down the black pipe. And yes, at the center of the wall is the drain. I have a bigger drain on the other side of my apartment at the other door. – juergen d Oct 1 '12 at 16:43
2  
Sand bags – Tester101♦ Oct 1 '12 at 17:17
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1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

EDIT: Comments above say that you have 1-2" of water. There is no solution for this other than fixing the drain. (Or going to marine style doors with a raised threshold.) What I've describe below can mitigate minor flooding, but won't help with the serious issue you seem to be having.

ORIGINAL ANSWER:

The proper long term answer is to fix the the drain. However, I appreciate that you are in need of a more short term solution.

In English, what you are looking for is a "Rubber Threshold Seal" like this: enter image description here

Or Like This (this is made for garage doors):

enter image description here

Installing these will require drilling through the tile and concrete, installing a plug and screwing it down. You will also need a liberal dose of caulk (silicone sealer) underneath.

If you're in a real bind, and need a quick and dirty fix until you can get better parts, get a piece of wood, about the width of the door and slightly smaller than the gap, and caulk it down. Paint it with yellow and black stripes so you don't kick it off. The sealant won't hold if you stub your toe against it.

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