Sandbag wall
Climate change is causing increasingly heavy rainfall. These heavy rains also increase the risk of flooding. This may require measures to better protect your home against flooding. Placing sandbags in front of a passageway, such as a door, prevents flooding.
What is a sandbag wall?
A sandbag wall is a temporary flood barrier made of sandbags. A sandbag wall or sandbag dike is constructed from bags filled with sand. It is a quick and effective solution to flooding. Regular sandbags, such as those made of jute, are single-use. Sandbags made of synthetic materials such as polypropylene and polyacrylic can be used multiple times. You can buy them pre-filled or fill them yourself. A sandbag is filled to two-thirds capacity and weighs approximately 16 kilograms. You can build a sandbag wall yourself, but it does require knowledge and skill to build a good wall.
Costs
Polypropylene sandbags cost approximately €0.80 each. Jute sandbags cost approximately €1 each. Polyacrylic sandbags cost approximately €5 each. There is a high probability of additional costs for disposing of the used bags and the sand contaminated by sewage.
Use of space
This measure is useful if water enters your home through the front or back door, the skylight, a door or other opening on the ground floor, the basement, the walls, or the garage under the house.
Difficulty
A lot of manpower is needed to build and dismantle the wall. In addition, knowledge is needed to build a wall that will not shift and will not develop cracks.
What do you need?
You need a lot of material to build a sandbag wall. You need 30 sandbags and 500 kilograms of sand for a wall that is 1 metre and 40 centimeters high.
Tips
Ensure that the surface is clean and smooth (using plastic), free of stones and branches. The sandbags must fit snugly against the surface and the other bags. Important: place the closure of the sandbags facing the dry side in the bottom layer! Place the remaining sandbags on top in an overlapping pattern, ensuring that they overlap each other. Filling the sandbags two-thirds full will help them to overlap more effectively.
