5 Milwaukee Tools You'll Want If You're Dealing With A Flooded Basement

For the most part, it's great if your house has a basement — whether it's unfinished or a full additional, livable floor in your home. If it's the latter, it can be a great place for a rec room, additional bedrooms, and more, and even if it's unfinished, basements often offer a ton of extra storage space and are great places to keep your washing machine and dryer. However, owning a basement also means that there's a possibility you'll have to deal with flooding at some point — perhaps several times a year depending on geography and the weather.

Just as Milwaukee makes several useful tools to keep on hand during seasonal storms, the popular tool brand also sells equipment that's just as helpful for a basement filled with standing water. By equipping yourself with these items, you can be better prepared to get rid of that water and dry your basement. It's important to remember that when dealing with flooded basements you want to put safety first. Electrocution is a risk. If you even suspect a storm might bring imminent flooding, you should take precautions by shutting off the power (and water) while your basement is still dry. That way, when you're ready, you can deal with the situation as safely as possible.

Here are five Milwaukee tools you'll want around if you've got a flooded basement, based on the feedback of customers who've purchased and used them. More information on how these items were evaluated can be found at the end of this list.

One of your top priorities is going to be to pump the water out of your basement. It can take a long time to naturally drain your basement. If your home is prone to flooding even with moderate rainfall, you should consider investing in a permanent sump pump, perhaps installed by a professional. If this is only an occasional issue, however, Milwaukee makes a fairly inexpensive portable pump that can help move standing water — the M18 Transfer Pump.

Part of Milwaukee's M18 system of cordless equipment, the pump can run on the same batteries and use the same chargers as hundreds of other tools made by the brand. It's fairly lightweight, and you can easily move it to the best place for pumping. One Reddit user called it "just what [they] needed" after their basement flooded, and the tool has a solid 4.6 out of 5 overall user rating, based on over 220 Home Depot reviews. Plus, 91% of surveyed customers recommend the product.

The self-priming pump uses ¾-inch brass inlet and outlet connections and generates up to 18 feet of lift and 75 feet of head height. It can move up to 460 gallons per hour and up to 240 gallons on a single charge with an M18 XC5.0 battery. It will also automatically shut off when it's no longer transferring water to prevent dry pumping. If you're dealing with more serious flooding, you may want a heavier duty pump, but they can be a lot more expensive, whereas the smaller 18V pump is relatively affordable. Home Depot sells the Milwaukee M18 Transfer Pump for $229.

Pumps are great for clearing lots of water, but they tend to leave some residual moisture behind. If you don't want to wait for these last-puddles-standing to evaporate on their own, you can quickly remove them with Milwaukee's M18 6-gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum. Based on over 4,600 Home Depot reviews, the tool has a 4.5 out of 5 average customer score, with 82% of customers recommending it after purchase. Despite being cordless, it boasts better performance than corded 3.5-hp models, and can run continuously for over a half hour at max power mode on a single charge or up to 47 minutes at max runtime mode (with an M18 12 Ah battery). The vacuum generates up to 87 cfm and 60 inches of suction.

The tool is equipped with a crush- and twist-resistant hose that has a 1-⅞-inch diameter and can be used with a variety of interchangeable motor heads, tanks, and carts for a range of uses, many of which can be kept within the tool's integrated accessory storage. Unlike the Milwaukee M18 2.5-gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum, this 18V model (product code 0910-20) isn't compatible with the brand's Packout system of modular storage, which you might prefer for your equipment. If that's not particularly important to you, though, this is a great option, and comes with sturdy wheels with reinforced casters and treads to make it especially portable.

The Milwaukee M18 6-gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum is available from Home Depot for $249.

It's a good idea to dry your basement as soon as possible to prevent further damage, mold growth, and foul smells. A powerful fan, such as the Milwaukee M18 Brushless 18-inch Fan, can go a long way into speeding up the drying process. It's got a durable bottom so you can place it right onto the wet floor, and it's built with an integrated handle and stackable design for easy storage and transportation. Plus, it can adjust 360 degrees, so you can aim it wherever you need it most. The fan can generate up to 13.5 mph of air speed and has over a 50-foot reach. It's hybrid powered, but you'll likely want to avoid using the AC cord unless you're confident the basement is dry enough for that to be a safe option. With an M18 XC5.0 battery, it can run up to two hours on its high setting and up to nine hours on its low.

The M18 Brushless 18-inch Fan has a 4.4 out of 5 overall user rating, based on over 115 Home Depot reviews, with 65% of customers recommending the product. While these are reassuring metrics, another Milwaukee device — the M18 Jobsite Fan — has stronger user feedback from Home Depot customers. If you're comparing the two Milwaukee fans strictly by customer reviews, you may want to opt for the latter, though the larger size and more powerful airflow of the 18-inch fan means it's probably the better choice for drying basements.

The Milwaukee M18 Brushless 18-inch Fan retails for $249 on Home Depot.

With its narrow design, the Milwaukee M12 Stick Transfer Pump is a great option for pumping water from catch basins, sump pump pits, and difficult-to-reach areas that may have filled up if you've got an uneven floor or unfinished basement. It can move up to nine gallons per minute and, despite running on a 12V battery, can pump up to 275 gallons on a single charge using an M12 XC4.0 battery. It's designed with a narrow 36-inch submersible aluminum barrel for easier inlet control and is equipped with a 15-foot max head height and compatibility with standard ¾-inch garden hoses, so you can move the water quickly and easily. An integrated 360-degree filter will also help keep debris that accumulated during the flooding from clogging up the works, while a threaded filter is included for easy removal.

Based on over 240 Home Depot reviews, the M12 Stick Transfer Pump has a 4.6 out of 5 average customer score, with 90% of customers recommending it. One drawback to the tool is that it doesn't run automatically like many other pumps — you'll need to be there to control it. However, it can be used one-handed and it certainly beats pumping water out manually. It weighs just a little over four pounds, which also makes it much less laborious to handle.

The Milwaukee M12 Stick Transfer Pump can be purchased from Home Depot for $199.

You're going to want to make sure the power is shut off in the basement while you're down there pumping it, because water and electricity are a dangerous mix. Depending on how serious the storm or event that caused the flood in the first place was, you may not even have any electricity. That's why it's a great idea to have a cordless lighting option on hand to better see what you're doing as you deal with a flooded basement. Milwaukee makes several lighting options to illuminate the worksite, and many of these options are battery-powered — including the M18 Rover Mounting Flood Light.

What makes this light particularly useful is that it can easily be mounted above the water level, rather than needing to be situated on the floor. You can hang the light from a rafter hook using its handle or use its integrated 2-inch spring-loaded clamp to mount it. Even better, it's built with two powerful magnets, so you can also just stick it right to most metal surfaces, such as a cabinet or pipe. The light can produce up to 1,500 lumens and last up to 20 hours on a single charge, making it one of several Milwaukee tools that are useful in a power outage.

It can't illuminate as much space as Milwaukee's M18 Triple-Panel Flood Light, but since that's a fairly new product, the jury's still out when it comes to customer feedback. The M18 Rover Mounting Flood Light, on the other hand, has a 4.6 out of 5 overall customer score on Home Depot, based on over 650 reviews, with 85% of customers recommending it.

Home Depot sells the Milwaukee M18 Rover Mounting Flood Light for $149.

In addition to power tools and equipment, Milwaukee makes other gear that will come in very useful if you're dealing with a flooded basement. This includes safety equipment, which you'll definitely want to have on hand — flooded basements aren't just inconvenient messes but can pose dangers both obvious and hidden. Besides the very serious complications that floods pose when electricity is involved, floodwater in your basement can carry harmful debris, whether it's from outside or from your basement itself. This includes things you might not easily see, such as shards of glass or sharp metal.

You won't want to expose any bare skin to floodwater while surveying and cleaning up the damage. Milwaukee Nitrile Level 1 Cut Resistant Dipped Work Gloves cost less than $5 a pair and can protect your hands from sharp debris. Plus, they provide more dexterity than thicker work gloves and even sport touchscreen-compatible fingertips. Unfortunately, they're not waterproof, but they are made of a moisture-wicking nylon/lycra blend that will dry quickly and make the gloves breathable and comfortable.

Face masks are also useful when dealing with a flooded basement, since mold and other harmful particles can arise. You can grab a ten-pack of Milwaukee N95 Professional Multi-Purpose Valved Respirator Masks for $22. The valve reduces heat by 10 degrees Fahrenheit for more comfortable use, in addition to the mask's flexible nose bridge and soft adjustable straps. You can likely find cheaper N95 masks by buying in bulk, but if you're already shopping for Milwaukee tools, you should pick up a pack so you have them available — after all, the best safety equipment is what you have on hand.

Along with pumps and vacuums for removing water from a flooded basement, other equipment was also considered when compiling this list, including safety gear and tools. We used Home Depot reviews. By relying on the feedback of people who've already tried out a particular item, you get a much stronger sense of whether or not it works as advertised. The tools and equipment recommended in this list all have an overall customer score of 4.4 out of 5 or higher on Home Depot's website, with a minimum of 65% of surveyed customers recommending any given item.

Home Depot reviews were selected as the retailer sells many Milwaukee products and has a large base of customers weighing in on each tool. The larger the pool of customers rating a product, the more reliable the average user score is.