Basement waterproofing in Old Louisville, KY

Homes in Old Louisville

Deep stone basements, a spring water table and a century of seepage

Old Louisville is one of the largest Victorian neighborhoods in the country: brick and stone mansions, townhouses and carriage houses around Central Park and along Third and Fourth Streets, most with full-height rubble-stone basements that were built as service floors. The ground is low and flat, and the water table under the district rises in wet springs.

Clay over limestone is the rule across Jefferson County. The clay holds water against basement walls and crawl space foundations well after a storm passes, and the limestone moves groundwater along channels you cannot see. These basements seep through the stone, flood at the floor in wet years, and hold humidity that damages everything stored in them and everything living above them. Sealing old stone is not realistic; managing the water is. We install perimeter drainage, wall membranes that let the stone breathe while keeping the room dry, and sealed sumps with backup pumps. Many of these buildings are apartments now, and a dry basement is a mechanical room that stops failing.