Basement and crawl space waterproofing in Germantown, Louisville, KY

Homes in Germantown

Brick foundations, shallow cellars and a neighborhood built before drainage existed

Germantown, Schnitzelburg and Paristown are some of Louisville's tightest old neighborhoods: shotgun and camelback houses on lots twenty-five feet wide, built on brick foundations with shallow cellars or crawl spaces, sitting on the low ground between Goss Avenue and the South Fork of Beargrass Creek. The sewers are combined, the alleys are narrow and the foundations are well over a century old.

Like the rest of Jefferson County, this part of town is built on clay over limestone. After a storm the clay stays wet against the foundation for days, and groundwater finds its own way through the rock underneath. The common problems are damp, moldy crawl spaces under shotguns that have been renovated above but never below, cellars that seep through the brick, and rot in the sills and joists that the moisture has been working on for decades. Encapsulation and reconditioning fix the crawl spaces; interior drainage and membranes fix the cellars; joist and sill repair puts the structure right. Access is tight, and we are used to it.