Flex seal flood protection-- Really?

[Andrew Joiner]

Another commercial for gullible homeowners. Does flood water only come through doors and windows?

[Doug Garson]

Realistically, how long would it take to completely seal the entire perimeter of a house say 2 ft above grade vs sandbagging?

[roger wiegand]

I don't know the specific product referenced here, but I designed and built some flood barriers for the doors in the museum where I volunteer (since they couldn't afford the commercial product) -- We haven't had serious water intrusion into the building since installing them. In the past we'd get an inch or two of water once or twice a year, which was a serious PITA. They have withstood very short term exposure to 18-24" of water. So yes, there is absolutely a role for blocking windows and doors with temporary flood blocks. They work way better than the sandbags we used to use, at least in part because they are much easier to put in place, so they get installed proactively at the threat of storms.

[Bill Howatt]

The ad is impressive but I wonder about other areas of incursion you can't just stick some tape on - like the foundation/sill interface.

[Lee Schierer]

It is pretty obvious that the video is not real. If the house is made of brick, there are normally weeping holes near the bottom of the wall to let moisture out. They would also let water in if submerged. A frame house would leak like a sieve as the water raised over the foundation. All wall and floor penetrations would leak. Any kind of lap siding as shown in the video would leak if submerged.

[Alex Zeller]

Next thing you're going to tell me is people don't make rowboats out of screen.

[Andrew Joiner]

It is pretty obvious that the video is not real. If the house is made of brick, there are normally weeping holes near the bottom of the wall to let moisture out. They would also let water in if submerged. A frame house would leak like a sieve as the water raised over the foundation. All wall and floor penetrations would leak. Any kind of lap siding as shown in the video would leak if submerged.

Yes Lee your right.
The add/commercial implies that flood water will seek out doors and windows. The product will maybe temporarily seal those areas and can be peeled off easily. I'm sure any user of the product will be very disappointed after a flood.
It guess it might work on a concrete structure.