Protect Your Home From Flooding With This Nifty Trash Bag Trick

To make sure that your home is safe from a flood, it is often recommended to have sandbags at the ready to keep the water at bay. Granted, it's not always possible to get access to them when emergencies arise. That's why you can take advantage of this nifty hack that uses common trash bags in place of typical sandbags. All you need to do is fill the bags with water or a mixture of sand and water and you'll be able to use them in the same way as sandbags when a flood threatens your home.

Although you may feel like you can use any type of weighted material to toss in the bag, you should be careful what you choose. For instance, you might notice that bags of mulch can have a bit of weight to them. Indeed, using them as is (in the unopened bags that they came in) or adding pea gravel to the mix can be a possible solution. However, if the mulch has large or sharp wood chips, then it might puncture a hole if you use a trash bag. Obviously, this isn't ideal when trying to protect your home from damage caused by a flood. Instead, try this simple trash bag hack.

When it comes to this super-easy trick, simply grab as many trash bags as you need — that is, the same amount as sandbags that you would require in the situation — and fill them up with as much water as they'll each hold. Then, tie up the top while making sure it's as secure as possible. If you have a bit of sand available, then you can use that first and fill the bags around halfway. Next, put water in the bag until it's between halfway and completely filled. In this case, both the sand and water provide weight while the water also helps to keep the sand steady. If you don't have enough trash bags, then you can also use grocery bags or any other kind of plastic sack. 

Keep in mind that there are a few fillers that you want to completely steer clear of if possible. That includes yard material or soil that might have considerable amounts of debris in it — especially if that debris is sharp or pointy like sticks or pine needles.

Although water is a reasonable alternative to using sand in bags to help keep floods away from your home, there are times when that's not an option. In that case, there are a few other things that you can consider putting to good use to protect your property. For instance, soil from your garden as well as pebbles or gravel might be just what you need. If possible, sandy soil or soil that has a relatively considerable amount of heft and weight to it are your best bets, however, both clay and silt will also do the trick if you're in a pinch. Just keep in mind that when it comes to the latter two, they're not as easy to manage and may take a little more effort when it comes to getting them into the bags and getting into place in your yard.

Basically, you need something that provides a bit of weight and will hopefully hold its shape to some degree. This will help it stand strong against flood waters. If you need to resort to pebbles, gravel, or even rocks, then you might want to use two bags together so that you don't risk one being punctured or ripped which could then spill out the contents and let flood water run through.