Local guide
Flood zones, storm drains and digging rules in Hoover
Some water problems begin beyond your property: a creek, a street drain, a sewer main. This page collects the official contacts for those, taken from the City of Hoover's and the State of Alabama's own pages, so you can reach the right office the first time.
Call (205) 555-0115Is your house in a flood zone?
The City of Hoover says its Inspection Services department can tell you whether a property lies in a special flood hazard area. The number it gives for flood zone information is 205-444-7566. Its local flood information page names the places where it has seen flooding: Patton Creek around the Green Valley Country Club neighborhood, and the Cahaba River by Riverchase, Chace Lake and Trace Crossings. It also mentions ground off Rocky Ridge Road near LochRidge and LochHaven.
You can look at the map yourself. FEMA's Flood Map Service Center is the official source, and the city points to the Alabama Office of Water Resources' map at alabamaflood.com.
Why it matters for waterproofing: a house in a mapped flood area can take in surface water that no liner or drain is meant to resist. Tell the company if you are in one. The city also notes that ordinary homeowners insurance does not cover flooding, which is insured separately.
Work in a floodplain needs the city's say-so
Hoover's page on development in a floodplain states that all development in the city needs a permit from Inspection Services, and that work in a floodplain must also meet the city's flood damage prevention rules. For questions about floodplain work it gives the Building Inspections Director's number, 205-444-7597.
If your house is in a flood area and a company proposes regrading, filling or building anything outside, ask it to confirm with the city first.
Storm drains and ditches in the street
The city describes its storm sewers as the gutters, ditches, drains, culverts and pipes that carry rain runoff. For problems with the ones in the public right-of-way, its stormwater page says to contact the Public Works Department at 205-444-7543 or use the My Hoover Connect service. It also asks people not to put grass clippings or leaves into the drains.
For drainage problems and anything being dumped into a drain, the Engineering Department runs a stormwater hotline, 205-739-6888, and an email address, stormwater.drainage@hooveralabama.gov, both given on its stormwater management page.
A blocked inlet in front of your house can send street water down your driveway. That is the city's to clear, and reporting it costs you nothing. Drainage on your own lot is yours to fix, which is where a waterproofing or drainage company comes in.
Sewage is a different call, and it depends where you live
Water rising from a floor drain or a basement toilet is a sewer problem. In Hoover the sewer is not run by one body. The city's septic and sewer page sets it out by area:
- Riverchase, Inverness and Southlake: the City of Hoover's own system. Its sanitary sewer page gives 205-444-7523.
- Trace Crossings and other parts of Hoover in Jefferson County: Jefferson County Environmental Services, 205-325-5138.
- Greystone, Meadowbrook and other parts of Hoover in Shelby County: Southwest Water, 205-444-3657.
The city also points out that the pipe from your house to the main is the owner's to clean and repair. A plumber deals with that stretch. Houses on septic tanks come under the health department of whichever county they are in.
Before anyone digs: Alabama 811
French drains, buried downspout lines, exterior excavation and sump discharge pipes all mean digging. Alabama 811 asks for a locate request at least two full working days before the start, not counting the day you ask, and no more than ten. Utility companies then mark their lines with paint or flags.
Requests go in online or by phone: 811 from inside Alabama, or 205-252-4444 in the Birmingham area. Within 18 inches either side of a mark, digging is by hand or other careful methods until the line can be seen. Alabama 811's instructions cover what to do if a mark is missing or a line is hit.
A company doing the work should place the request in its own name. If you are digging yourself, you place it.
Permits and contractor licensing
Building permits for any address in Hoover, in either county, are issued by the city's Inspection Services at 2020 Valleydale Road. The city requires contractors and subcontractors to hold a City of Hoover license in addition to their state licenses. How to check the state license is covered in choosing a waterproofing company.