Quick Dam QD610-1 Water Activated Flood Barrier 10 feet, 1-Pack

I went against my mama's advice and purchased a house that sits slightly below street level - so naturally every time Austin gets one of it's infamous gully-washers (in between droughts) my garage would flood out, at times the water coming close to entering the house proper, even with a grated drain in front of the garage door. These dams work VERY well - and it is such a relief to not have to anxiously monitor the situation constantly when the rains hit in the middle of the night, or worse, when I am away from home. Mine lasted about a year of brutal Texas heat and remarkable rainfall (even by Austin standards) before it was clearly going to start to lose its abilities - so it's not a permanent solution, but adequate for the reasonable cost. I am just grateful that I finally discovered this product last year - a high value for the added piece of mind it offers. **Update 3/18/2015: Second dam is functioning and holding up as well as the first **Update 8/1/2017: Still coming back for these -and they still seem to be the best solution for my particular issue - but I must add that some of them do last longer than others - some of them start leaking the interior absorbent stuff sooner than others do which is more of a manufacturing issue regarding weak seams. Some of them get desiccated within a few months, but this likely has to do with higher than usual levels of rain/severe heat/ rain/severe heat/rain. You get the picture. Even so, I haven't needed to replace more than 2-3 times a year. Still a good value from my point of view. Once these have swelled up with rainwater, don't expect to be able to roll these up and move them - they are heavy and SUPER gross to touch and just need to be left where they are until completely dry. I just leave mine in place all of the time myself - it's better that way here what with crazy Texas Hill Country weather!

Used during hurricane worked very well. Had problems getting them dried out, but who cares they helped keep water intrusion out of the house so they served the purpose. I just bought some more. Better than having to lug sand bags around IMO.

Works really well!

I've used Quick Dam products for two years now, and find that they are a quick and easy alternative to heavy sandbags for diverting and holding back low level water. For water over 3" however, you'll still want to consider other means to minimize flooding. What I like about the product: ➤ It's easy to store and deploy as needed. ➤ When dry, it's not heavy at all so no need for 'muscle'. ➤ You can place the flood barrier around crawl spaces, in doorways, around flowerbeds and even when wet there is some 'bend' that can occur. ➤ The 10' length is manageable to move with two people, or one strong one. ➤ The durability of the product will last one full season if you don't drive over it. ➤ The product swells when more water is absorbed, thus in a steady rain it will be to its full size before the standing water becomes a problem. ---------------------------------------------------------- What I wish was better about the product... ♠︎ You can't drive over it when it's completely saturated or it will rupture; the mesh enclosure is strong, but not that strong! ♠︎ I would love to be able to stack them and effectively keep out higher water, but I find that when they are fully saturated the long ones 5' and longer, roll off of one another instead of staying put. ♠︎ They say if you let them dry out you can reuse them, but I find that one season is about all you can get after using them for several months. ♠︎ If the barrier ruptures and it's wet conditions, you're left with a gooey mess that's tough to clean up and potentially toxic to pets. It dries white, so if you don't clean it up properly you may have discoloration when the rains subside. ♠︎ The barriers are relatively expensive. I've purchased several sizes and find that for my uses, the longer ones work best. ---------------------------------------------- The water absorbing gel beads inside the Quick Dam products are designed to absorb and hold water. In doing so, they expand and thus the flood barrier expands. Once fully saturated the Quick Dam flood barrier is heavy (water weight) and tough to move, which is really a good thing! They do keep low level water at bay (I use them to keep water from coming into my garage and to protect the crawlspace) and are easy to use. -----------------------------------------------------

We’ve had more basement floods than I care to admit — like, at this point, I think the water’s just messing with us. But Quick Dams have officially turned the tide. (Too soon for water puns? Sorry, it’s how I cope.) These things are magic sandbags. You toss them down, they soak up water and expand like they mean business, creating a low, sturdy barrier that actually keeps water from spreading into the rest of the house. It’s like drawing a line in the sand — except the sand is inside the bag, and the line works. We started with two. Then a flood. Then four more. We now own seven. These things are like Pokémon — gotta catch 'em all before the next downpour. Why they’re awesome: Reusable — let them dry out, store them, and pray you don’t need them again Easy to use — seriously, if you can lay a towel down, you can use these Contain water like tiny, silent heroes We lay them across doorways, around the basement perimeter, and anywhere else the water likes to sneak in uninvited. It doesn’t stop the flood from happening, but it absolutely keeps it from becoming a disaster. That’s a big deal.

Used these last year...good product, good price! Our crazy weather resulted in a snowmelt of 14" in 2 days, and our garage suffered the consequences! 6" of water on the floor. We used a sump pump to clear out the water, and these came to the rescue to stop a reprise until we can put in a drsin next summer. PROS: Stops water intrusion Simple to use Protects target CONS: Would like an option for a longer size

I purchased the Quick Dam QD610-1 Water-Activated Flood Barrier to protect my 10-foot-wide storage unit after noticing some water seepage from a previous storm. I laid it down under the rolling door, and after the next storm I came by to find the barrier had swollen up as intended while the inside of the unit stayed completely dry. Exactly what I was hoping for. I can’t speak to how well it would hold up in heavy outdoor flooding, but for my use case — a hallway where only a smaller amount of rain makes its way in — it worked fantastically. For $25, it’s a no-brainer to protect thousands of dollars worth of inventory. If you’re looking for peace of mind around a garage door, storage unit, or similar space, this is a great option to have on hand. Just keep in mind I can only vouch for lighter storm conditions like we see here in Arizona, not major flooding.

Let me start off by saying this is the third time I've purchased this particular brand of water dam, so so I can't knock it too much...but its not what it used to be. Our first Quick dam (17') lasted almost 2-1/2 years, and in those years there was a lot of cycling from dry to wet and back again, combined with dragging it back and forth on an asphalt driveway (we use it to stop rainwater from entering through our two-car garage door) and despite the advertising saying you can drive over it, we decided NOT to take a chance. Anyway, it finally wore out and wouldn't expand anymore, so we purchased another (17') Quick Dam hoping for another good run time-wise. Unfortunately, we immediately noticed a difference. While the product worked extremely well initially, it started losing a bit of the (cellulose?) filler through the bottom stitching/seams which help create the "foot" of the dam. We attributed this loss to the newer style sewing/stitchwork when compared to the original. This slow loss went on for the duration of the Spring/Summer/Fall seasons which left us with a minimally usable product at the end of the year. We chalked it up to maybe getting a "bad one" off the production line, and purchased three more (including these two) because its a cheap investment in protection against water damage (for us). We bought 2 -10' Dams and a 17', because we wanted to try simply moving 1 10' section instead of our usually having to move/flip-back 1/2 of a 17' dam in front of the garage door. The 17' is still in its pack, unused, because we are using the 2 10' dams to provide a wider coverage area. Bottom line, aside from the difference in widths of the Quick Dams is that there is still an issue of the product losing its filler. I've attached a photo showing the loss of fill (white material in seam of dam) after the dam's first use. There is NOT a substantial amount of fill lost, and while some loss may be expected, after just a half dozen dry/wet/dry cycles its already not as "full" and doesn't block the water as well as when new. I can only attribute this to the product having less absorbent material inside after each use. The product does work, and works pretty well, I was just hoping for a longer product life span. For the money its a good product against preventing water damage, its just not as good as it used to be...