Leesburg, VA Water Damage Restoration, Downtown to Lansdowne

Leesburg, area by area

Leesburg is an incorporated town and the county seat of Loudoun County, with its own town council and its own water and sewer utility. It sits about thirty-five miles northwest of Washington, D.C., where Route 7 crosses Route 15, and the Dulles Greenway ends at its southern edge. Its two ZIP codes, 20175 and 20176, reach well past the town limits.

The historic district

The old town grew up along King and Market Streets, and many of its buildings date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: brick and frame houses, rowhouses, and shops with living space above. Foundations are stone or brick, and many houses have a cellar or a partial basement rather than a full finished lower level. Plumbing, heating and wiring have been added and updated in stages, so each house is its own mix.

The in-town neighborhoods of the later 1900s

Ringing the old center are neighborhoods from the second half of the twentieth century: ramblers, split-levels and townhouses, most on town water and sewer, with basements or lower levels that owners have finished over the years.

The newer communities

From the 1990s on, larger communities filled in, some inside town such as Potomac Station, others to the east along Route 7, like Lansdowne and River Creek, outside the town limits but with Leesburg addresses. These homes are mostly single-family and townhouses with basements, on public water and sewer. Here the parts, not the house, are what's getting old.

Places around Leesburg

Leesburg is part of our Loudoun County service area. Neighboring pages cover Ashburn to the east, Waterford and Paeonian Springs to the west, Hamilton further along Route 7, and Aldie to the south.

• Ashburn
• Waterford
• Paeonian Springs
• Hamilton
• Aldie

In the newer neighborhoods: parts reaching the same age

A subdivision finished over four or five years leaves hundreds of homes with water heaters, sump pumps, supply lines and washer hoses of the same make and age. In the communities built around the turn of the century, many of those parts are now well into their second decade, and failures tend to cluster: one street sees several water heaters give out within a couple of winters.

The typical losses are quiet. A tank starts weeping at the bottom beside a finished basement bedroom. A sump pump that has cycled through twenty wet springs finally sticks. A plastic supply line under a bathroom sink cracks at the nut, and water runs down inside the vanity and through the ceiling below. PEX plumbing, common in these homes, is generally reliable; its weak points are the fittings and connections, not the pipe.

The fix is mostly prevention. Check the date on the water heater label, and plan a replacement before it fails. Test the sump pump each spring by filling the pit with a bucket. Fit a drain pan and leak sensor wherever the water heater or washer sits beside finished space.

In the old town: stone, brick and block foundations

The foundations in Leesburg's historic district were built long before poured concrete and waterproofing membranes. Stone foundations were laid in lime mortar, which softens over time and lets water through. Brick absorbs water and gives it back slowly. Later additions often sit on concrete block, whose hollow cores fill with water and release it for days.

A damp cellar in an old house isn't necessarily a problem; these walls have always moved some moisture. The trouble starts when a finished space is built against them, when a plumbing leak adds water the wall wasn't handling before, or when changes outside send more rain toward the house. Wet drywall or paneling against an old wall traps moisture on both sides.

Drying takes patience. Masonry holds water deep inside and gives it up slowly, so dehumidification can run longer than in a modern basement, and readings are taken into the wall, not just on its face. Sealing an old stone wall from the inside often traps water rather than stopping it. Lasting improvement usually comes from outside: gutters, downspouts, grading and, where needed, repointing with a compatible mortar. In the historic district, exterior changes need the town's approval before work starts, even like-for-like replacement, so check before replacing exterior materials.

Everywhere in town: gutters, downspouts and window wells

Old or new, a large share of Leesburg basement water starts on the roof. The old town's mature street trees, and the trees now grown up in the 1990s neighborhoods, fill gutters every fall. A clogged gutter overflows along its whole length and drops water right at the foundation. A downspout that empties onto a splash block beside the wall does the same thing on a smaller scale.

Window wells are the other weak point in homes with basements. Their drains clog with leaves and soil, and in a heavy storm the well fills like a bucket until water comes over the sill or through the window frame. Covers help, and so does clearing the drain each fall.

The checks are simple: clean gutters after the leaves drop and again in spring, make sure every downspout discharges several feet from the house onto ground sloping away, and walk the house during a hard rain to watch where water actually goes. In older houses, look at where downspouts tie into underground pipes; many of those old lines are blocked or broken, and send water back toward the foundation.

Leesburg service area

We connect property owners across 20175 and 20176: the historic district, the in-town neighborhoods, and the communities outside the town limits that share a Leesburg address, including Lansdowne and River Creek. Traffic on Route 7 and Route 15 can be heavy, so we'll give you an honest idea of timing when you call.

ZIP codes served: 20175 and 20176

Services that fit Leesburg homes

• Basement Water Damage
• Sump Pump Failure Cleanup
• Burst Pipe Water Damage
• Gutter & Drainage Water Intrusion
• Water Heater Leak Cleanup
• Structural Drying & Dehumidification

Leesburg water damage: common questions