METHOD FOR PROTECTING HOUSES, BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES FROM FLOODWATERS USING SANDBAGS

Abstract

A method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters, including placing a sheet of heat-shrinkable material covering the floor in front of the entrance of a building and over the entrance of the building, arranging vertically arranged rows of sandbags on the sheet, then wrapping the rows of sandbags with the sheet, and applying heat to the sheet so that the sheet shrinks over the sandbags to form a compact unit, and then positioning the unit against the entrance of the building.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is referred to as a method for protecting houses and buildings form floodwaters. More particularly, it is referred to as a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Floods occur when there is an overflow of water from its natural or artificial boundaries resulting in inundation of the surrounding areas. There are various reasons why floods occur, including natural causes, human activities, and climate change.

Natural causes: Natural causes are among the most common reasons why floods occur. These natural causes include heavy rainfall, hurricanes, typhoons and snowmelt. When there is too much rainfall or melting snow, the water accumulates, and if the ground is already saturated, the water flows into rivers, lakes and other water bodies, causing them to overflow and flood into nearby homes.

Human Activities: Human activities can also contribute to the occurrence of floods. These activities include deforestation, urbanization, land use changes, and construction activities. Deforestation, for example, removes vegetation cover, which reduces the ability of the soil to absorb water, and this can lead to increased runoff and flooding.

Urbanization can also increases the number of impervious surfaces, such as concrete and asphalt, which reduce the soil's ability to absorb water, leading to increased runoff and flooding.

Climate Change: Climate change is another reason why floods occur. Climate change can cause an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall and hurricanes. Rising sea levels due to melting glaciers and ice caps can also cause flooding in coastal areas Climate change can also cause changes in precipitation patterns, leading to droughts followed by heavy rainfall, which can increase the risk of flooding. +

In conclusion, floods occur due to a combination of natural causes, human activities and climate change. Heavy rainfall, hurricanes, typhoons, and snowmelt are some of the natural causes of floods, while deforestation, urbanization, land use changes, and construction activities are some of the human activities that can contribute to flooding. Climate change can also cause can also cause an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, which can lead to flooding. It is important to understand the causes of floods and take appropriate measures to reduce their impact on people and the environment.

Every time floods occur they are among the most destructive natural disasters, and they can have a significant impact on all types of private property, especially houses. Floodwater can damage a house in several ways, including structural damage, water damage, and mold growth.

Floodwaters can cause significant structural damage to a house. The water pressure can cause walls to bow or collapse, and the foundation can shift or crack. The structural damage can make the house unsafe to live in and will require expensive repairs. In some cases, the damage may be severe enough to require demolition of the house.

Floodwaters can also cause water damage to a house. The water can seep into walls, floors, and ceilings causing damage to the installation, drywall, and electrical wiring. The water can also damage appliances, furniture, and personal belongings. Water damage can be extensive and may require extensive repair and/or replacement of damaged flooring, drywall, electrical wiring, clothing and housewares.

Mold growth is a significant concern after a flood. The moisture from the flood can create ideal conditions for mold to grow. Mold can grow quickly and cause health problems, such as respiratory issues and allergies. Mold growth can also cause structural damage to a house, as it can weaken the walls and floors.

Floodwaters can cause electrical damage to a house. Water and electricity are a dangerous combination, and floodwaters can damage electrical systems and appliances. Electrical damage can cause power outages and increase the risk of electrical fires. In some cases, the electrical damage may require rewiring the entire house.

Floodwaters can also lead to pest infestations. The water can displace pests, such as rodents and insects, and they may seek shelter in the house. Pest infestations can be challenging to control and may require costly professional pest control services.

The general impact of floodwaters on a house can be significant. The damage can be significant. The damage can be structural, such as causing walls to bow or collapse, or it can be water damage, mold growth, electrical damage, or pest infestation It is essential to take necessary precautions, such as elevating the house, installing flood barriers, waterproofing, and purchasing flood insurance, to protect a house from floodwaters. Homeowners should also take immediate action after a flood, such as removing standing water, drying the house, and disinfecting affected areas, to minimize the damage and prevent mold growth.

With the increasing frequency and intensity of floods in recent times, it is important to take necessary precautions and measures to protect homes from floodwaters. Some of the effective ways to protect a house from floodwaters are:

Elevate the house. One of the most effective ways to protect a house from floodwaters is to elevate the house. Elevating a house can be a significant investment, but it can save homeowners from the significant damage caused by floodwaters. Elevating the house to a height above the flood level is a long-term solution to protect the house from future floods.

Install Flood Barriers: Flood barriers can be installed around the house to prevent floodwaters from entering the house. Flood barrier can be made of different materials such as sandbags, water-filled barriers, or inflatable barriers. These barriers are particularly useful in areas where flooding is common and can be set up quickly when a flood warning is issued.

Waterproofing: Waterproofing the basement and/or foundation walls can significantly reduce the amount of water that enters the house during a flood. There are several ways to waterproof a house, such as applying sealants, installing drainage systems, and using waterproof coatings. Homeowners should also ensure that the sump pump is working correctly and has a backup power source.

Landscaping: Proper landscaping can help to protect a house from floodwaters. Homeowners should consider planting trees and plants that are flood-resistant and absorbent. The plants and trees can help to slow down the flow of floodwaters, and the roots can help to stabilize the soil. Homeowners should also ensure that the ground around the house slopes away from the house, so that water does not collect around the foundation.

From all the alternatives mentioned above, flood barriers are essential to protect a house from floodwaters. There are different types of flood barriers available in the market, each with its unique features and advantages. In this description, we further discuss some of the most common types of flood barriers used to protect a house from floodwaters.

Sandbags: Sandbags are one of the most common types of flood barriers used to protect a house from floodwaters. Sandbags are relatively inexpensive and can be easily filled with sand or soil. Sandbags can be stacked around the house to form a barrier, preventing floodwaters from entering the house. However, sandbags require a considerable amount of labor to fill and stack, and they may not be effective against high floodwaters.

Using sandbags to protect a house from floodwaters can be an effective temporary measure, but it also has some potential drawbacks and limitations.

Labor-intensive: Filling sandbags and stacking them in place can be a time-consuming and physically demanding process, especially if a large area needs to be protected.

Limited effectiveness. Sandbags are only effective up to a certain height, and if the water levels rise about that point, they may not be able to provide sufficient protection.

Leakage: Sandbags are not completely impermeable and can allow some water to seep through, which may cause additional damage to the protected area.

Disposal: After the flood, the sandbags need to be disposed of which can be another logistical challenge.

Cost: The cost of purchasing sandbags and hiring labor to fill and stack them can be expensive, especially for homeowners who need to protect a large area.

Overall, while sandbags can be a useful short-term solution for protecting a house from floodwaters, they may not be the most effective or sustainable option in the long-term. There is need in the market to provide this simple solution but in a more effective and more affordable manner.

Water-Filled Barriers: Water-filled barriers are inflatable tubes or bags that can be filled with water to form a barrier around the house. They are lightweight and easy to install and can be stored in a compact form when not in use. Water-filled barriers are effective against low to moderate floodwaters and can be used in combination with sandbags for added protection.

Metal Flood Barriers: Metal flood barriers are made of aluminum or steel and can be permanently installed around the house. They are sturdy and durable and can provide excellent protection against floodwaters. Metal flood barriers can be manually or automatically activated and can be customized to it the specific requirements of the house.

Removable Flood Walls: Removable flood walls are modular systems that can be quickly installed and removed as needed. They are made of durable materials such as aluminum or stainless steel and can provide excellent protection against high floodwaters. Removable flood walls can be customized to fit the specific requirements of the house and can be stored in a compact form when not in use.

Retractable Flood Barriers: Retractable flood barriers are permanent systems that can easily be deployed during a flood. They are made of durable materials, such as aluminum or stainless steel, and can provide excellent protection against high floodwaters. Retractable flood barriers can be customized to fit the specific requirement of the house and can be easily retracted when not in use.

Flood barriers are essential in protecting a house from floodwaters. Sandbags, water-filled barriers, metal flood barriers, removable flood walls, and retractable flood barriers are some of the most common types of flood barriers used to protect a house from floodwaters. There is still a need in the market for a reliable, affordable flood barrier that can effectively stop floodwaters and protect homes from its devastating effects.

Walls, levees, berms, and barricades are an effective way to prevent flood damage. Also, by creating a “structural composite” system, the potential failure of walls, levees, berms and barricades can be minimized.

Prior to the present invention, the use of sandbags for protecting houses, buildings and structures was published in U.S. Patent Publication US 2021/0079613 to Makopoulous et al including a heat shrinkable material surrounding the sandbags to form a composite unit, and U.S Patent Publication US 2008/0250916 to Bailey including placing the composite unit at the entrance to a house or structure.

The prior art, however, did not recognize the need to reinforce the composite unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is referred to as a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags, comprising the steps of:

• • placing a first sheet of laminate heat-shrinkable material covering a floor in front of the entrance of a building that is to be protected from flood waters, and over the entrance to the building,
  • placing reinforcing strips on the first sheet;
  • placing a second sheet of laminate heat-shrinkable material covering a floor in front of the entrance of a building
  • arranging, in vertical rows, a series of sandbags on the second sheet;
  • wrapping the series of sandbags in the second sheet;
  • applying heat to the second sheet until the sheet shrinks over the sandbags to form a compact elongated unit;
  • securing each reinforcing strip around the elongated unit;
  • wrapping the first sheet around the reinforcing strips and the elongated unit; and
  • applying heat to the first sheet until the sheet shrinks over the reinforcing strips and the elongated unit.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags wrapped in heat shrinkable material where the heat shrinkable material may be one of polyolefin, a fluoropolymer such as FEP, PTFE or Kynar), PVC, neoprene, silicone elastomer, or Viton.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags wrapped in heat shrinkable material and reinforced at least with a reinforcing strip, wherein the reinforcing strip is preferably made of plastic and may be a heat shrinkable material may be one of polyolefin, a fluoropolymer such as FEP, PTFE or Kynar), PVC, neoprene, silicone elastomer, or Viton, and which may be secured by heat and/or by a fastening means such as, but not limited to, a hook and eye.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a sandbag structure formed according to the present method.

It is also an object of the prevent invention to provide a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags within heat shrinkable material, in which the heat applied to the heat shrinkable material may be a hot air blower.

It is also an object of the prevent invention to provide a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags wrapped in heat shrinkable material in which the heat shrinkable material extends at least two feet on each side of the entrance of the building to be protected from flood waters.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags which are capable of being placed in the front entrance of the building to be protected and in which the sandbags are wrapped within more than one sheet of laminate heat shrinkable material.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags which are capable of being placed in the front entrance of the building to be protected and in which the sandbags are wrapped within more than one sheet of laminate heat shrinkable material.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags which are capable of being placed in the front entrance of the building to be protected and in which the sandbags are wrapped within at least one sheet of laminate heat shrinkable material and either reinforcing strips, a second sheet of laminate heat shrinkable material, or both reinforcing strips and a second sheet of laminate heat shrinkable material.

The use of the product formed by the method of the present invention not only prevents the ingress of floodwaters into houses and buildings, but to help in deviating floodwaters, stabilizing slopes, redirecting stormwater, and providing temporary access to flooded areas.

Since floodwaters may also be contaminated, it is important to prevent raw sewage from entering the sandbags and contaminating the sand. The present invention minimizes exposure to contaminants which may include sewage, petroleum or other chemicals. If sandbags are contaminated with petroleum or other chemicals, they may need to be disposed of as hazardous waste and laboratory testing may also be required. The laminate used as the first and second heat shrinkable material isolates the sandbags from the dangerous chemicals that may be present in floodwaters, and the sandbags may thus be used again while minimizing any adverse environmental impact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of a portion of a house with an opening to be protected from flood waters, a laminate, heat shrinkable material laid on the floor in front of the entrance and over the entrance to be protected, and a pile of sandbags lined up in three rows on the laminate sheet.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to the view of FIG. 1 with heat shrinkable material and rows of sandbags in front of the entrance door of a building.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the heat shrinkable laminate material wrapped around a set of sandbags creating an elongated barrier in front of a door;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of applying hot air on the laminate material using a hot air blower;

FIG. 5 illustrates a second heat shrinkable laminate material with the barrier and reinforcing strips thereon positioned thereon;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of the elongated barrier as a unit with a series of reinforcing strips behind the elongated barrier;

FIG. 7 is an illustration of the elongated barrier with the reinforcing strips wrapped around the elongated barrier unit; and

FIG. 8 illustrates the elongated barrier as a unit with the second sheet of heat shrinkable material heat sealed around the barrier with the reinforcing strips between the first and second sheets of heat shrinkable material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a method for protecting houses, buildings and structures from floodwaters using sandbags, a method for forming a protective barrier, and the resulting protective barrier.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, a sheet 10 of laminate, heat-shrinkable material is illustrated covering the floor 12 in front of the entrance 15 to a building 14 that is to be protected from flood waters and over the entrance to the building. The sheet 10 covers not only the entrance 15 but also covers each side 17, 18 of the building entrance 15 to be protected from the floodwaters.

A series of sandbags 20 are arranged in rows on the sheet 10 of heat shrinkable material so that the entrance 15 of the building 14 is covered by the stacked sandbags. The sandbags are arranged and positioned generally side-by-side along the sheet 10 and stacked in vertical rows.

The sandbags 20 are wrapped in the heat shrinkable sheet 10, and then heat is applied to the sheet 10 shrinks over the sandbags 20 to form a compact elongated unit 30. The elongated unit or unitary structure 30 is placed against the entrance 15 of the building. As noted above, the heat shrinkable material may be one of polyolefin, a fluoropolymer such as FEP, PTFE or Kynar), PVC, neoprene, silicone elastomer, or Viton.

The step of applying heat to the laminate material 10 wrapped around the sandbags 20 may be accomplished using different devices. One example would be a hot air blower illustrated, in a non-limiting example, in FIG. 4 in which a user 40 may manually apply heated air using an air blower 45 by which hot air is applied from the blower 45 through a hot air nozzle 46 over the covered sandbags. Heat 48 from the air blower 45 shrinks the laminate material 10 around the sandbags 20 creating a single elongated flexible unit 30 that may be placed in front of the opening 15 to be protected from flood waters as shown in FIG. 4. The flexible unit 30 may be shaped, as necessary, to correspond to the configuration of the opening.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the elongated unit may protrude on each side of the entrance 15 of the building 14 such as, for example, by at least two feet on each side.

As indicated above, the elongated unit may require reinforcement for various reasons such as, for example, because of the intensity of wind, rainfall and/or the force of floodwaters.

Reference should now be had to FIGS. 5-8. Referring first to FIG. 5, the unit 30 (of FIG. 4) is placed on a sheet 11 which may be made of the same material as the sheet 10. In addition, a series of reinforcing strips 19 are illustrated as being around the circumference of the unit 30. There reinforcing strips may be of a heat sealable material, a hook and eye material, or other material that permits the reinforcing strips to be tightly bound around the unit 30. FIG. 5 also indicates with two arrows the fact that the sheet 11 will be wrapped around the unit 30. The heat shrinkable material 11 is heat sealed such as in the same manner as described above with respect to FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates the series of reinforcing strips 19 which are to be wrapped around unit 30 and sealed, the strips being wrapped in the direction as diagrammatically indicted by the arrow in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 illustrates the result of the reinforcing strips being wrapped around the unit 30 thus providing one embodiment of a reinforced unit.

Referring to FIG. 8, another embodiment of a reinforced unit is illustrated with the unit being heat sealed within the sheet 11 and with the reinforcing strips 19 being under the sheet 11 as illustrated by the dashed lines from reference numeral 19.

The foregoing is a complete description of various embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of protecting buildings from floodwaters comprising: placing a sheet of heat-shrinkable material over a floor adjacent to an entrance to a building, over the entrance to said building, and over each side of said entrance to said building;placing a sequence of sandbags arranged one next to the other and stacked in tiers forming an orderly progression on top of the portion of said sheet over said floor; wrapping said sequence of sandbags with the portion of the sheet over said floor;applying heat to the portion of said sheet wrapping said sequence of sandbags to conform said sheet to said sequence of sandbags to form a unitary structure; andreinforcing said unitary structure; andarranging the reinforced unitary structure against the entrance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of reinforcing comprises (a) or (b) and wherein: (a) wrapping and securing a series of reinforcing strips around said unitary structure;(b) wrapping and securing a series of reinforcing strips around said unitary structure and heat sealing a second sheet of heat-shrinkable material around said reinforcing strips and said unitary structure.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of reinforcing comprises (a).

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of reinforcing comprises (b).

5. A flood barrier comprising: a sheet of heat-shrinkable material, said sheet adapted to be placed on top of a floor adjacent to an entrance to a building, said sheet adapted to extend beyond the sides of said entrance;a sequence of sandbags arranged one next to the other and stacked in tiers forming an orderly progression on top of the portion of said sheet over said floor; wrapping said sequence of sandbags with the portion of the sheet over said floor;said sequence of sandbags being wrapped in said sheet and heated to conform to said sequence of sandbags to form a unitary structure; anda reinforcement surrounding said unitary structure.

6. The flood barrier according to claim 5, wherein said reinforcement is (a) or (b), wherein: (a) said reinforcement is a series of reinforcing strips around said unitary structure;(c) said reinforcement is a series of reinforcing strips around said unitary structure and a second sheet of heat-shrinkable material secured around said reinforcing strips and said unitary structure.

7. The flood barrier according to claim 6 wherein said reinforcement comprises (b).