Quick Dam QD610-1 Water-Activated Flood Barrier-1 Pack, Black

Two of these stacked on top of a plastic film have kept the patio door safe. 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 doors would be impossible for me.Use: First use a few years ago I tried soaking them in bath tub for move to in-place. FAILURE on MY part. Horrible to move because of weight. Ever since I've always put in place on plastic sheet, hosed 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.

These worked so well that I'm sure I'll be buying a few more. Really absorbs and diverts the water to where I want it instead of everything being wet! Very easy to use and a great value!

I moved to this house two years ago after having a condo that the kitchen on the outer wall side had to be gutted because water seep into the wall from bad sloping issues outside. I've noticed since I've been here that water gets up against the wall outside my front door. Who knows how many years it's been doing this? I started getting a broom type squeegee and trying to pull all the water out away from the wall. That's where these just came in and I didn't need to hydrate it to start it because there's so much water under there. First I pulled the water away from the wall and then set these in place. I just placed it yesterday so time will tell. Not sure if it's good to keep these against the wall since they are moist? Anyhow if necessary I will put a sheet of plastic against the wall as well. If it keeps water from destroying the whole wall like what happened to my kitchen it's more than worth the price you pay for this!

Quality product!

I bought this to cover the bottom length of the sliding patio door which opens to my great room.I was fearful of the heavy rain forecast.Easy to ‘install’ and it kept out the water. I’ll buy another come the 2025 hurricane season plus the shorter length for the front door.

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!

I live in the desert and there are no rain gutters on my house. The few days per year that it rains, water tends to flood in front of my entry door. These work pretty well at keeping my doorway area dry. That being said, they leak gel--so they work, but make a mess. As far as being reuseable, they have to be laid out flat in the sun to dry, which takes days if not weeks. So yes, you can reuse them, but it's a big project to dry them out. Storage is a problem because of the leaking gel particles. Also, they have gone way up in price over the year.