Retrofitting is making changes to an existing building to protect it from flooding or other hazards such as high winds and earthquakes. The six common methods of retrofitting are:

1. Elevation - raising your house so that the lowest floor is above the flood level (Copies of elevation certificates are also avaliable for most structures constructed in the SFHA after 1992.)
2. Wet Floodproofing - Making uninhabited portions of your house resistant to flood damage and allowing water to enter during flooding.
3. Relocation - Moving your house out of the floodplain to higher ground where it will not be exposed to flooding.
4. Dry Floodproofing - Sealing your house to prevent flood waters from entering.
5. Levees and Floodwalls - Building a floodwall or levee around your house to hold back flood water.
6. Demolition - Tearing down your damaged house and either rebuilding property on the same property or buying or building a house elsewhere.