Hurricane Season Plumbing Checklist for Friendswood Homes
If you have lived in Friendswood for more than a couple of years, you already know that hurricane season is not just about wind and rain — it is about what happens to the water system on your side of the meter. Sewer surcharges push sewage backward into first-floor tubs. Gas water heaters get submerged and can never be certified safe again. Trees fall on gas services. After 22 years of running plumbing crews across Friendswood, Pearland, and Alvin — Allison, Ike, Harvey, Beta, and Beryl — these are the plumbing steps we walk our own customers through every May.
1. Verify Every Family Member Knows Where the Main Shutoffs Are
It sounds obvious. It is not. In an emergency, only one adult typically knows where the water main and the gas meter are — and if that person is not home when the tree hits, precious minutes are lost. Walk every family member to the water main (usually near the front hose bib) and the gas meter. Tag both valves with a bright zip-tie. Take a photo of each on every family member phone.
2. Install a Backwater Valve on Your Sewer Lateral
If your Friendswood home has ever experienced a rain-driven sewer backup, this is the single highest-impact plumbing upgrade you can make before hurricane season. Clear Creek and Cowart Creek both surcharge Friendswood combined sewer system during heavy rain. A backwater valve, installed on the lateral at $850 to $1,650, mechanically closes when flow reverses.
3. Elevate or Strap Down Water Heaters in Flood-Vulnerable Areas
Older Friendswood homes south of FM 518 and in the Sunmeadow area sit at ground elevations that saw water during Harvey. Any gas water heater whose gas valve or thermocouple gets submerged must be replaced — FEMA and manufacturer policy. Where possible, elevate the heater on a code-compliant platform.
4. Test Your Sump Pump
Most Friendswood homes do not have sumps, but the ones that do — usually 1970s-80s ranches in low-lying pockets — count on them during heavy storms. Test yours by lifting the float manually. If it does not kick on, replace before June 1.
5. Get a Backflow Preventer Check
Under Texas plumbing code, any home with irrigation, a pool, or a boiler needs an annual backflow test. Storm-driven pressure fluctuations can compromise old backflow devices.
6. Trim Trees Overhanging the Gas Service
A wind-thrown branch on the outdoor gas service or on the meter itself is a Category 1 emergency, and CenterPoint will not restore gas until a licensed plumber certifies the repair.
7. Photograph Your Plumbing System Before the Storm
For insurance purposes, take a walk-around video of every fixture, every water heater, every gas appliance, and every visible plumbing component. Time-stamp it.
Which Friendswood Neighborhoods Face the Biggest Plumbing Risk?
Not every part of Friendswood carries the same risk profile going into hurricane season. Homes along the older sections of West Boulevard, in Sunmeadow, in the low-lying pockets of Forest Bend, and in the Wilderness Trails section built between 1968 and 1985 have historically seen the most sewer-surcharge and slab-related plumbing damage after named storms. The newer builds in West Ranch, Autumn Creek, and Eagle Lakes generally sit at higher elevations with modern lateral materials, but their builder-grade fittings and undersized gas lines still deserve a pre-season inspection.
The One Upgrade That Pays Back Faster Than Any Other
If you can only afford one hurricane-prep plumbing investment before June 1, it is a backwater valve on your sewer lateral — typically $850 to $1,650 installed at an existing outdoor cleanout. When Clear Creek runs high and the municipal sewer surcharges, the mechanical flapper closes and sewage cannot push backward toward your first-floor tub or floor drain. A single Category 3 sewer backup event in a Friendswood home routinely costs $8,000 to $25,000 in carpet, drywall, sanitization, and restoration. The math is not close.
Talk to a Friendswood Plumber Before the Season Starts
The team at Friendswood Plumbing Co. has been prepping local homes for Gulf hurricane season for 22 years — through Allison, Ike, Harvey, Beta, and Beryl. Our seasonal readiness package handles backwater valve installation, water heater elevation, shut-off labeling, generator gas hookups, and a written pre-season inspection report. Call (831) 290-4327 before June 1 and you go on our priority-dispatch list for any named storm response.
What Renters and Landlords Should Coordinate Before Every Season
For Friendswood rental properties, the pre-hurricane plumbing conversation between landlord and tenant matters as much as the physical prep. Landlords should communicate — in writing — where the main water shutoff is, where the gas meter shutoff is, whether the property has a backwater valve, and what tenants are expected to do (drip faucets, unplug appliances, secure the water heater) if a named storm approaches. Tenants should photograph the plumbing condition of every room before the storm so any post-event insurance dispute has a clean baseline. This ten-minute conversation prevents hours of ambiguity when a storm actually arrives.