Water Damage in Ault: What We Actually See Here

Ault sits at the crossroads of U.S. 85 and Highway 14, and its housing splits into two different problems. The original town grid — laid out after Alexander Ault set up his grain business along the Union Pacific line in 1893 — is full of homes from the 1910s through the 1950s, with shallow foundations, patched galvanized lines, and basements dug for coal rather than living space. When a line lets go there, water tracks along the footing into old lumber that soaks up moisture fast.

The other Ault is newer. The Conestoga subdivision — Pony Express Trail, Overland Trail, Cheyenne Trail — and the filings near Highland School are post-2000 homes with finished basements and upstairs laundry. Ault’s population jumped over 24 percent between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, to 1,887, mostly as new rooftops. The failure mode there is different: a washer hose runs for hours and the water ends up two floors down in carpeted basement bedrooms.

Ault also carries the regional soil problem. Expansive clays here can swell up to 20 percent by volume when wet and shrink hard in a dry summer — the cycle that opens cracks in foundation walls and shears sewer laterals. A slow leak beside a foundation does not just wet drywall; it feeds the soil holding your house up.

Old Town Ault’s Pre-1950 Basements and Buried Utilities

In the older houses near the school and the grain elevators, the sewer lateral out to the main is often clay tile or aging cast iron. Roots find the joints, the line backs up, and the first sign is water rising through the basement floor drain during a load of laundry. That water is contaminated, so affected drywall, insulation, and carpet pad come out. We extract, disinfect, dry, and document every step for your carrier.

Frozen Pipes on the Open Prairie North of Town

Ault bills itself as the gateway to the Pawnee National Grassland, and little stands between town and the Wyoming line to slow the wind. Homes on the edge of town take that wind on exposed north walls, crawl space vents, and hose bibs. The classic January call: a pipe in an exterior wall freezes, splits, then thaws while nobody is home. If you find a frozen pipe, shut off the main before thawing it.

How Fast We Can Reach Ault

We are based in Johnstown at 3787 Ronald Reagan Blvd, roughly 30 miles southwest of Ault by way of Greeley and U.S. 85. Crews are on call 24/7 and typically reach an Ault address in under an hour. If it is 3 a.m. and water is spreading, call.

Frequently Asked Questions About Water Damage in Ault

Do older homes in Ault’s original townsite need different drying than newer ones?

Yes. Pre-1950 homes on the old town grid have plaster, dimensional lumber, and often no vapor barrier under the slab, so moisture migrates further and holds longer. We use heavier dehumidification and track readings for several days instead of assuming a three-day dry. Newer Conestoga homes dry faster but hide water behind engineered flooring and finished basement walls.

Why does my Ault basement smell musty when I never had a flood?

Usually it is chronic low-level moisture rather than one event: a weeping foundation crack opened by shrink-swell clay, a failed sump, or condensation on cold walls. Weld County clay swells when wet and pulls back when dry, cracking walls slowly. We inspect free, find the source with meters and thermal imaging, and tell you honestly whether it needs remediation.

Should I call my insurance company before I call Revive?

Call us first. Once we are on site we photograph the source, take moisture readings, and map the affected areas before anything gets torn out or dried, so your claim is backed by documentation instead of memory. Then we file alongside you. We work with all carriers, and a properly documented Ault claim goes far more smoothly than one reported from a phone in a wet basement.

Is Ault in a floodplain?

No river runs through Ault, so river flooding is not the main risk — but Weld County has been included in multiple federally declared flood disasters, including the September 2013 storms. Here the damage comes from intense rainfall and sheet flow with nowhere to go on flat ground: window wells, driveways sloping to garages, low back doors. Grading and window well covers help.

Can you handle water damage on a farmstead outside Ault?

Yes, and we do it often. Homes on well and septic outside town limits need their own approach: we check whether the well head or pressure tank was involved, and we treat septic backups as contaminated water. Power can be limited on older farmsteads, so we bring generators when needed rather than waiting on a fix.

Revive Restoration is family operated and locally owned by Levi, born and raised in Northern Colorado, running this company since 2016. If water is moving where it should not be, call (720) 340-3499 any hour and we will tell you what to shut off before we arrive. Free inspection, all carriers. See our service areas, read more about our water damage restoration process, or check our nearby pages for Pierce, Eaton, and Severance.