Quick Dam - QD1224-6 Water Activated Flood Bags 1ft x 2ft, 6-Pack

SO here's the short review, I bought these 'just in case'. The reviews were mixed, but my basement was going to flood after the snow melted from a WI winter. You can read my experience below. Well it did flood, I caught it at the beginning. I placed these bags down where it was coming up and they absorbed the water and also acted as a barrier to make the steady flow drop down to a very slow trickle that I was able to keep mopped up by placing a towel down in front of the bags. This helped immensely while I got to the source of the flooding. I bought more for next time. Not quite sure if I'll be able to reuse, and I wouldn't necessarily use these again to clean the mess, but if you know where the water is coming in at and place it there, I would use it for that as it does slow down or act as a barrier preventing further mess. The long review with other products: I knew it was inevitable this Spring, my basement was going to flood. No way around it. I hired a lemon of an excavation company last year to stop it, they did the worst job imagineable and made the problem worse. They basically created a basin that collects rain water up against my house and then just DUMPS it into my basement. Plastic sheeting on the outside helps keep the rainwater out, but after a WI winter with heavy snow & ice, I was concerned that I didn't quite make sure I placed enough sheeting down. So, after a day of chunking ice & vacuuming water on the outside so I remove old sheeting and place new down new before March rain... I placed these sensors down. I was pretty confident only a small amount would leak in the usual spot. I thought 3 sensors was more than enough and I'd place the other 2 in areas of mild concern. Well the usual spot didn't leak, my efforts of ice picking and vacuuming (and probably worrying the neighbors) has paid off. The water came from under the house! A sensor went off just as the water was trickling in. I ran to action... placing towels and quick damn bags down to keep the water from flowing in from the area in the floor. I only had maybe 1/4-1/2" of standing water in a low spot of the basement floor. I discovered my sump pump had actually burned out! And my drain tile was overflowing! Now, keep track of all the gadgets I mention in this post if you deal with flooding, because I believe my paranoia saved me this year... I still had messe, but I cleaned them up quickly and my life was only derailed for a few hours vs days like usual. I love my basement when it's dry, I have a little gym down there. Its my version of a she-shed... Not only did I purchase the quick dam bags, I purchased a portable pump in case s#!% hit the fan and the flooding got bad... so when I discovered my sump pump quit working, I was able to drain the basin and draintile in about 20 mins once I set up the portable pump and garden hose. So make sure you have this essential in your power toolkit also! Because when I discovered the pump was out, it was 630 at night in a rural area where every hardware store was closed and the closest Menards is 45 mins away. I would've had to drive there while my house continued to flood. I just kept up with the portable until I could get my sump replaced! You know what they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! So then the 2nd time the sensors went off, it was because I realized after all this mess with my sump pump, I had unplugged my water softener. I plugged it back in, not realizing the thing drains and the drain pipe was not pointed back into my drain basin where the sump pump is. (K, folks, I'm a single mom with NO mechanical ability AT ALL, everything I have learned in this area is because I'm in desperation to fix an issue and I don't have a man to call) So after I plug it in, and I'm all thankful that everything is finally fixed and I probably survived Spring flood season already, I sit down with a cup of coffee so glad that all the above steps were in place and things didn't turn out as bad as they could've, a sensor goes off 😞🤬 66 gallons of water from that f'n water softener. Imagine if I didn't have the sensor tho, and I just sat upstairs enjoying life thinking all was peaceful and calm while it just kept pouring water in! I caught it 10 mins in thanks to these and was able to stop the flooding and clean up the mess in an hour. So here's your flooding grocery list: GOVEE Water sensors (these are great, especially if you're away from home like I am!) Quick Dam flood bags (can absorb, act as a barrier to keep water from continuing to flow in) Wet vacuum Portable sump pump Dehumidifier Flashlight that you keep on a hook near the area of flooding because you should cut power to the house until you know its safe to enter without getting electrocuted Lots of extra towels to dry up the floor after you've removed the bulk of the water! Husband 🤣🤣🤣 jk

Works very well and gets into small areas as well for water

These work very well but don’t last more than a year…or 2 if you are lucky.

These absolutely work. Easy to place where needed and kept all the water out of my garage that typically floods. Love that they are reusable and easy to store. No mess and saved us from water damage!

These saved my patio from being flooded in a flash flood we recently had. Houses in my area are built right on in the ground, so there's no porch. I have a flat patio at the front door, and the patio roof drips a lot in the rain. The water literally made it up to my front door! But not inside--thanks to these flexible flood barriers. With no advance notice, I saw big puddles on my street that popped up quickly, after just a few minutes of rain. I ran to get these barriers, which had just arrived day before. I got drenched while putting them in place to absorb water running of the patio roof, and I continued laying them all the way to the front door. All the barriers got wet, absorbed water, and kept my living room floor intact! 100% recommend. You can stack them to create a wall if you have high flood level or just lay them out, slightly overlapped like I did, to absorb water and prevent water flowing into the house. Fire stations in flood zones should give these out, because regular sand bags are too heavy to use for smaller people. I am drying these out right now, (it took 2 days of sun) and they're supposed to be reusable. I'll update this to include how they work when reused. Darn, app won't let me upload photos!

Two of these stacked on top of a plastic film are good for doorways. Now that I know (Company answered the question) they have a shelf life of 10 years or more, I am comfortable keeping several of different sizes in a tote for storm season to come around. Experimenting now for the first time on reuse -- 3 weeks and they are still drying out. Not optimistic but don't really care -- will happily trash them and use new ones next round as before if necessary. At my age I cannot handle sandbags and this product is fantastic. Even one layer of those across my doorways or garage door would be impossible for me. Use: I put in place, hose down to partially expand (enough that wind wouldn't take away), and let the rising water expand them the rest of the way. Outstanding product. Cost is reasonable, storage for future emergency use takes little space and shelf life is long, lightweight for movement, easy to expand, and most importantly, they stop water intrusion.

For homeowners who don't have easy access to sand and sand bags, these things are a Godsend! This bag of 6 is enough to effectively block a doorway entrance or divert water around a crawlspace. The bags can be stacked and the gel beads inside the bags expand quickly when water hits them (either by a hose or by getting rained on). The bags don't dry out quickly either, which means that during wet weather conditions you really don't have to do much other than check they've not moved. In dry weather they do dry out, but it takes a long time, especially if humidity is present. You can keep and reuse these bags or throw them away at the end of a wet season. The bags do get heavy when saturated with water, but that assists them from not being dislodged by the weight of the water pressing against it. The design is such that it seats well and provides a strong base on which to build if the water continues to rise. Just as good as traditional sand bags in my book, and so much easier to setup! I'd encourage you take a look around your home and see what areas require protection - prior to wet weather if possible. Quick Dam makes several sizes of this product and they all work equally as well. Definitely adds to my peace of mind during the wet winter months and a product I'm sharing with friends and family. Recommending that they keep some on hand - just in case.

These are not as advertised. If the water is more than a couple of inches they will float away ! The theory of them stopping water is ok if you have a small amount under 1 inch and no pressure or water flow. They just float away if the water is deeper and will not work as they company says they will. Don't think of these to replace sand bags, they will not work for a significant amount of water such as a flood. Obviously, they don't work as noted in website info. (see below) Followed directions completely and they were good for about 1 hour then just floated away. Don't waste your money ! Copy of website info....Quick Dam Flood Bags Water Activated Flood Bags absorb, control, & divert flood water Protect your home or property in times of flooding with Quick Dam sandless sandbags. They are ready to use. Just lie in place and let the water do the rest. Quick Dams expand and activate on contact with water. Growing in size to absorb, contain and divert problem water. Light weight and easy to use. Place in the path of problem water and prevent the water from entering your property. Stack multiple bags to increase wall height. Keep on hand for emergency situations.