Homewood's 1926 Merger and Its Century-Old Foundations
Homewood became a city on October 29, 1926, when the communities of Edgewood, Rosedale, and Grove Park voted to merge under one name; Edgewood had already been running its own streetcar line into downtown Birmingham since 1911. Almost a century of settling has passed since those neighborhoods' foundations were poured, on the same clay-heavy ground found across the Birmingham District.
Why Older Homewood Basements Hold Water
A foundation built in the 1920s or 1930s was rarely built with today's exterior drainage or vapor barriers in mind, so water pressure that a modern build would shed often finds its way into a Homewood basement through an old wall joint or floor seam instead. Grading changes made by decades of landscaping and additions can matter as much as the original construction.
Project Paths
Planning a basement waterproofing Project in Homewood
Roof runoff, grading, hydrostatic pressure, wall cracks, floor joints, drainage, and interior humidity can create similar symptoms with very different solutions.