Can I create a water proof barrier to keep my garage & home from flooding?

Question

Every couple of years, the area where I live gets a huge storm. The result being that the flood of water that collects in the streets overpowers my driveway and runs down to my garage. I put in a large drain a few years back (6 inches) which for a moderate rainfall works fine. There are still those storms where the water is coming too fast and the drain cannot handle it and the water backs up against my closed garage door. This door is not a good barrier though as the water runs under the door and fills up my garage. Once the water gets to be about two inches deep in the garage, it starts to seep into our finished basement. In the 11 years we've been in this house, it has happened about 6 times.

I would like to find a better way to block the water from getting into my garage, and ultimately my home. Any ideas would be welcomed. I am looking into a new garage door, but I'm not sure any garage door will totally block the water and keep it out of the garage.

Answer 1

In addition to the other ideas suggested you may want to investigate installing a driveway drain that is a trough cut across the driveway and covered over with a grate. This way any water that comes to near the garage enters the trough and gets shunted to the side of the driveway. The shunted water can then pour into a large french drain or could be diverted to a downslope area.

Here is a picture of what that would look like.

Answer 2

Sorry, but essentially no garage door will be watertight. You need to divert the water before it ever gets there. So...

A bigger drain is a start. Regrade the land, to make the water NOT drain down your driveway. Install a sump pump in the garage, to catch any water that does get in, before it heads for the basement.

Answer 3

Another thing to try, as mentioned earlier is to divert the water, Option 1: - install a better rubber seal to prevent water from entering the garage

Garage Door Hump - Rubber

The other option (although quite rough in the example), is a cement hump that will divert the water away from the garage.

Although, in my opinion, I would rather place the hump outside the garage (to divert water), and then make sure that the area directly inside the garage slopes downward to ensure that any water near the garage entrance is sloping away. (ie, the slope where the garage door contacts the floor)

Answer 4

If you have a culvert rather than sewers, see if you can install a larger culvert pipe. I am going through the same thing. My city will install the pipe and trench the culvert. I am responsible for buying the pipe and finishing my driveway after installation. The pipe is 15" diameter and 20' long. It cost me $260.