09/17/2026
🏡 Real Estate Insight
Heavy Rain + Your Basement: Is Your Home Ready?
Iowa has seen a LOT of rain lately, and I’ve heard from homeowners dealing with everything from sump pumps running nonstop to water finding its way into basements.
With the ground already saturated, this is a good time to give your home’s water-management systems a little attention.
A few things worth checking:
💧 Test your sump pump. Pour water into the pit and make sure the pump turns on, removes the water and shuts back off properly. Heavy rain isn’t the time you want to discover that it isn’t working.
🔋 Think about backup power. A sump pump can’t help much during a power outage unless you have a battery backup or another properly installed backup power source. FEMA specifically recommends secondary sump pumps/backup power as ways to reduce basement flooding risk.
🏠 Check where the water goes. Make sure your sump discharge is actually carrying water away from the foundation—not dumping it somewhere that allows it to flow right back toward the house.
🌧️ Clean your gutters and check your downspouts. Water coming off the roof should be directed away from your foundation. FEMA identifies gutters and downspouts that move water away from the home as one of the simpler ways to reduce basement water problems.
🌱 Look at the grading around your house. After a hard rain, walk around the property. If you see water pooling next to the foundation, that’s something worth addressing.
📱 Consider a water alarm. An inexpensive water sensor near the sump, water heater or other vulnerable basement areas can alert you before a small problem becomes a major one; FEMA also recommends basement water sensors as a mitigation measure.
And one thing I think homeowners sometimes forget:
A sump pump isn’t really a “set it and forget it” piece of equipment.
When we’re getting this much rain, a few minutes spent checking it now could save you a much bigger headache later.
Have you checked yours lately?
💛 More Than Just Real Estate
Kathy
Licensed Realtor with Realty ONE Group Impact in West Des Moines and licensed to sell real estate in Iowa.
