We had a crawlspace when I was young and I remember something about vents or covers that you have to put on or take off for winter. Might been different in other parts of the country.
WARNING- SCARY STORY ABOUT CRAWLSPACES- When I was in college, I had a plumber who was missing a few fingers and we were chatting one day and he told me that he was working under a house in the crawlspace and wasn't using enough light and crawled into a nest of rattlesnakes. He managed to crawl out and the homeowner came out and found him. He was in the middle of nowhere in West Texas, so it took 45 minutes to get to a hospital. They had to cut his arm open to relieve the swelling and he spent several weeks in the hospital and lost a few fingers.
I think what we refer to as a slab here and crawlspace are different.
Slabs are literally a slab of cement and the house is built on top. There is no space under the house. You are pretty much ground level.
Crawl spaces are where they've raised the house at least 2' with cinderblock (and then usually covered with brick in the front) and then the house is built on top of the cinderblocks with joists, etc. So it's open underneath.
If you're on a slab, you're right on top of cement, so you'll never be able to have real hardwoods b/c of the moisture. Also here they put the plumbing for the main floor within the cement. Then the hot water heater, furnace, etc is usually located in the garage.
We have a crawl space and my only complaint is that the laminate floors seem to be louder and echo more but not enough that I wouldn't but another house with a crawl space.
You may want to see if the heating and a/c ducts are under the space. Ours originally were and since the space sometimes gets water we paid to have our ducts rerouted to the ceiling and it was not MM.
Post by sillygoosegirl on Feb 1, 2013 11:58:54 GMT -5
We have a crawlspace. It is full of rats. Well, it was anyway, we think they might be all dead now (haven't heard them in a couple days). But it's still full of rat droppings, and they destroyed most of our insulation down there. This spring we're going to get it cleared out and then hopefully get it converted to a sealed and conditioned crawlspace. Even though it's being a pain and we haven't actually ventured down there yet, I'm glad we have access to the under side of our house. Rodents shouldn't really be a problem in the crawlspace if you keep the vents properly covered with appropriate grates in good repair, or so the exterminators say. All other things being equal, I would have rather had a basement. But our house is barely out of the 100-year flood zone, so a basement probably wouldn't have been smart in this location... and I love our view out over the wetlands and flood plain, so I'm not complaining.
All the houses in my neighborhood have crawlspaces. I know fi likes it because it is easy for him to do his home automation wiring. It was also very helpful when we had plumbing problems a few weeks back because the pipes were easy to access.
Post by hbomdiggity on Feb 1, 2013 12:18:24 GMT -5
I much prefer crawlspace. Slabs are so hard on your back and you can't have real hardwoods (without adding subfloor ing at least). But I refuse to go into the crawlspace for sure ;-) thats a job for DH or contractors.
Huh, I wonder why that is. We have hardwood, but I know nothing about how it's installed.
Not sure - maybe the lack of a subfloor?
I may not be following this right, but I thought bonsoirlune was saying she has slab foundation and Cloudbee has a crawlspace. Slab is the one that generally can't have hardwood floors and has to do tile or floating floors.
As for me, add me to the group that's creeped out by the crawlspace. I'd rather have a basement, but if that weren't an option then the crawlspace is preferable I just don't want to be the one going in there.
CloudBee - We couldn't put down traditional hardwood flooring. Our options were to use a floating floor, engineered hardwood, or laminate.
Huh, I wonder why that is. We have hardwood, but I know nothing about how it's installed.
Cloudbee - based on your post above you do not have a slab. A slab would mean there would be no crawl space at all, just cement like a basement floor. The pipes would have to be in the cement because there would be no other choice and you definitely couldn't put in regular wood.
We have all three in our house - most of it is a full basement, the family room addition has a crawl space, and the mudroom/laundry/powder room is on a slab. The floors over the slab are by far the coldest.
We have a slab throughout the entire house (one story). It was a pain for the renovation. Everything cost 5 times as much because the slab had to be jackhammered and re-poured in order to do any work. Our plumbing and HVAC ran through the slab. We discovered (almost too late) that the ventilation had disintegrated in spots, so forced air from the furnace was being blown through dirt cavities and into the house. It is not a good idea to run your ventilation through the slab! We had to buy new furnaces and re-duct the entire house.
We also have engineered floors instead of solid hardwood. You can't use solid hardwood on a slab because of the moisture. We have nice engineered floors, however. They have a very thick top layer and could be sanded and refinished in place probably about 6 times. They are by Lauzon (in case you go with a slab and want a recommendation).
I may not be following this right, but I thought bonsoirlune was saying she has slab foundation and Cloudbee has a crawlspace. Slab is the one that generally can't have hardwood floors and has to do tile or floating floors.
As for me, add me to the group that's creeped out by the crawlspace. I'd rather have a basement, but if that weren't an option then the crawlspace is preferable I just don't want to be the one going in there.
Sorry, didn't mean to be confusing - I intended for that to read that I think we can't do traditional hardwoods on a slab is due to the lack of a subfloor. Yes, we are on a slab and have engineered hardwood floors - they're not floating, but they're a similar type product.
Eh, actually from an energy standpoint, a crawl space is worse than a slab. A slab remains a constant 55-58 degrees, depending on what the ground temp is in your area. A crawl (unconditioned) is affected with the weather. Your ductwork isn't 100% energy efficient, so there's some gain/loss there. Your most efficient for energy is conditioned crawl first, then slab, then unconditioned crawl. You can convert an unconditioned to a conditioned but it'll cost you several thousand. Again, depending on where you are, but if you're in a warmer climate, you're subject to a lot more moisture getting stuck under the house, which often requires a dehumidifier if it starts becoming an issue in the house. So, slabs have environmental benefits too.
Slabs have the downside of the plumbing being more accessible, like some others said. Often you don't know about a leak in a slab until it's been there for quite some time.