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Hurricane Sandy is starting to hit us, and we have come to realize our basement door is leaky, and it's starting to soak our basement. I found where the water is coming in, the bottom corner of the door is not snug against the doorframe, and I can see a little daylight coming through.

Now I'm a stereotypical suburbanite, I have no weatherstripping in the house, or much else. But my basement is leaking right now, at the start of the hurricane, and we're not supposed to leave our houses, so I need a quick fix.

Does anyone know quick fix using standard household items? Is there something I can cram in there that will at least slow down the leaking?

Thanks

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Is the water level rising above the sill or blowing rain against the door? – shirlock homes Oct 29 '12 at 22:35
@MikeMooney, how are you faring? Any damage? – GdD Oct 30 '12 at 9:45
Make out OK. It was just blowing rain against the door, not rising above the sill. The duct tape idea worked, a lot of water was coming in before, but now just a little seeping in. Definitely manageable. Thanks! – Mike Mooney Oct 30 '12 at 10:20

2 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

Take some duct tape and seal it around the seam between the frame/door from outside. Then get some proper weather stripping and adjust the door frame when it's not in the middle of a hurricane.

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This is one fix where having 250MPH Racer Tape handy for a temporary fix is "a really good idea(tm)" – Fiasco Labs Oct 29 '12 at 22:03
do you have any caulking around? put it on and clean it up later. – shirlock homes Oct 29 '12 at 22:32
gotta love duct tape. lol – shirlock homes Oct 29 '12 at 22:32
1  
Holy Mackerel, that actually seems to be working. It was a little tough keeping everything dry enough to apply it, but very little water so far – Mike Mooney Oct 30 '12 at 2:38
up vote 4 down vote

If you don't have any duct tape, try rolling up some plastic trash bags or the like and close them into the door, between the door and jam, effectively sealing it. You may have to adjust the amount to close into the door, but would work like weatherstripping

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