Michigan Insurance Group

A flooded basement in Michigan is never a fun thing to walk home to. Not only does a soaking basement feel and stink like filth, it is a great danger to your home’s value. If left unimpeded, basement wetness can wreck flooring and walls, promote mold, and even harm roofing. Some wet basements are easy to treat but if the situation comes from water flowing toward the residence from above, coming in from underground, or backing up via public storm drains—you must take more aggressive action. Here are nine methods to keep water out of your basement that will keep it from becoming flooded. 1. Add gutter extensions If you are directing water less than five feet away from your home, you can direct water farther out by adding synthetic or metal gutter extensions. But gutter extensions aren’t the neatest or most effective solution, primarily if you’re likely to trip over them or run over all of them with a lawn mower. Stable, underground drainage pipe is unseen and capabl

In June, 2011, my friend, Anthony (his name has been changed), and I were attending an opera with one of our professors at the University of Michigan. We were barely 15 minutes into the opening act when Anthony's phone exploded with calls and text messages imploring him to return to his apartment immediately. There had been a fire. Two bedrooms and part of the kitchen of his four-bedroom apartment were touched by the flames. The building, which had been constructed only two years before, had a fire suppression system. All of the rooms, even those untouched by the fire, were positively saturated with water. Laptops, flat screen TVs, furniture, textbooks, appliances, and a number of other valuable possessions were either charred, smoke damaged, soaked with water, or some combination of the three. None of the four college students who lived in the apartment unit had renter's insurance. Their unit was condemned and all four had to move out immediately. Anthony spent the next two