Moisture / Flood Sensor

Introduction

A few years ago, the drain in the floor of the walk-up entrance to my basement door became blocked, and water started to enter into the house.  I did not discover this problem until much of the basement carpet was soaked (several hours later).  After the cleanup, I decided to install some sort of flooding/water intrusion detection.

Construction

The sensor is simply a standard $5 battery powered smoke detector that has a pair of wires soldered across the "test" button.  If the other end of the wire pair gets moist or wet, the smoke alarm will sound-off.  This home-brew or do-it-yourself sensor is inexpensive, yet effective, as it already has a very loud sound emitter.


Photo of the installed water intrusion alarm.  Note the pink colored wire pair wired
across the test button.  If the other end of the wire pair gets wet, the alarm will sound.
Note the edge of the blue note paper under the alarm with instructions if the alarm goes off.

Installation

I fastened the unit to a two-by-four stud in my mechanical room, and ran the wire pair to three locations: my basement walk-up entrance (near the floor), my sump pump (in case the unit dies), and near my water meter (in case the pipe from the street bursts).  I also attached a small piece of paper dating the work, and with instructions on what sites to check if the alarm sounds.  Over the years, numerous flooding incidents have been averted with this sensor.  When the alarm sounds (sounds very different than the smoke alarms that we have), we know to clean the drain in the walk-up entrance.  In addition, the unit gives us a backup smoke sensor in the mechanical room, where the furnace and water heater are located.

Long Term Update


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