Tell me about your crawl space

[bunnymendelbaum]

We are debating doing a crawl space with linoleum finish floor instead of regrading the lot and doing slab on grade with concrete finish floor.

We both just don't want the water/spider/rodent issues that come with a crawl space, but are worried a slab will be more expensive & cold (radiant floors are too $$).

How tall is your crawl space? Have you had issues?

[sierramist03]

Our current rental has a rather large crawl space. It's almost 8 feet at one end and barely 3 at the other end. I'm not sure about issues we've only been here since June but I can tell there must be some mice problems because there is lots of fogging bottles and mice Poison down there. We also notice that the rooms where the space is largest is the coldest part of our house. The crawl space also houses our water heater and furnace which makes it really easy to get to. It also easier to run cable lines too.
ETA: ours is outside entrance only

[finally]

We have a full house footprint crawl space but it's only 4' high with one small area under the 2nd level stairs that is higher and we put shelves under it.   We can access it with stairs from inside.  While I would have preferred a full basement, we have a high water table in our neighborhood and clay soil so all our neighbors who have full basements end up with quite a bit of water in there when we have heavy rains. Ours has stayed dry and we have had no issues with critters since there's no exterior access and only has air vents.  I've seen cobwebs/spiders but nothing more than we had in our old house that had a full basement.  I love it for storage since it stays moderate temperature all year.  We have a full attic too but the temp extremes there are too much to store most things.

[ktzmoh]

We have a partial slab,, partial crawl space. The crawl space us about 5 ft high at one end, about 3' at the other. We have our water heater and furnace in there, plus plywood shelving for storage. I like the added storage. We've never had rodents or spiders, though we've only been here 2 yrs. I like that we can see under the floors to check stuff out, add insulation (someday) etc. I wish we had all crawl space instead of the slab section. I know it's dumb but I don't trust this old slab on grade.

<--- not an engineer

[sawyerthedestroyer]

We have a crawlspace. It's probably 3-4 feet, depending where you are. We haven't had any problems with rodents or spiders; pest guy comes four times a year to spray. It stays dry, too.

We use it to store our lawnmower and outdoor toys, which gives us more garage space. Having the space also made it really easy to run cables through the house so we could hardwire our computers and Xbox for internet access (no worries about a crappy wireless signal now).

[ssmjlm]

Crawlspaces are very popular here. We also have slabs, but many don't like them for the heat/cold and plumbing issues.

Our crawlspace is maybe 30". It's cinderblock with a brick exterior on the front and then a cement skim coat on the other 3 sides. It's got a huge tarp on the ground and the ductwork and some plumbing/electrical too. There's an access panel on the back side. We have vents on the front, side and back. One side doesn't have vents b/c the garage is adjacent. We also have a crawl space fan for moisture issues that's on a timer. Those are also very popular in this area.

The crawl space is dry and free of any rodent problems. We do have a termite inspection annually, but that is more b/c of our location than a crawl space.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Dec 28, 2013 22:28:23 GMT -5 @juno said:

We have half basement/half crawl. Our crawl is probably 4' at it's tallest and 2.5 ft. at it's lowest. You won't catch my claustrophobic rear in the short end, but I don't mind the 4' part too much. I've done some running of cable lines under there and it's been fine. We had a HORRIBLE rat problem down there when they tore down a derelict building near us, but I hired someone to come seal it up and we haven't had anymore problems. Our basement is a wet basement, so there is water, but I guess that isn't a big deal since it's been that way for a loooong time. It is easier to warm up than a slab.

What about doing a basement? LOVE having a basement for storage/workshop.

Basements here are so problematic. Our soil is clay, so it doesn't drain well. Everyone has basement water issues. With our lot, there isn't a way to have it be a walk out without having the house be high in the air which I HATE. I really want to be able to walk right off the patio to the backyard.

[TBM]

This is fascinating to me. I have never lived anywhere with a crawlspace. Both of my grandmother's had them, and as a kid I always thought their floors seemed so much noisier and felt weird/different...I just didn't know why.

The space under my deck is creepy enough...I can't wait for it to be gone and have someone else deal with whatever yuck is under there. One of our dogs keeps trying to get under the deck. I am not even that squeamish, but I can't imagine having space like that under my house....besides, DH is really not a fan of spiders, snakes or other vermin. lol

[bunnymendelbaum]

That's how I feel TBM.
If we do it, DH insists we do a rat slab which just sounds so disgusting.

(A rat slab is a2-4" fiber mesh reinforced concrete floor in your crawl space to keep rodents from tunneling in. Ew.)

[pitterwoo]

I would choose a crawl space over slab if it were me. I like the access ability. I grew up in a home with part basement and an addition with a crawl space, but can't speak to any issues.

[sjh722]

Dec 29, 2013 17:03:24 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

I would choose a crawl space over slab if it were me. I like the access ability.

Same. We have a basement now, but had a crawl at 2 different houses before this with no moisture, rodent, insect problems.

[jloww]

We have a basement with an adjoined 15'x15' crawl space.  It's all pretty much dirt I think, but I'm too scared to go in there.  I've only seen the electrician come out.  I think it's  about 3' tall.  We don't have any rodent or insect problems and it's dry.

[msmerymac]

We have one under the kitchen addition, which is like 70 years old. Ours is like 3-4 feet tall, which is actually great if you have to get under there are do work (much better than 2 feet). We HAVE had to get under there for a few things, and in the future we are going to have to run more plumbing under there. However, it was never vapor barrier-ed or insulated, so there was a burst pipe when we inspected it, which we had the sellers fix. Not having the vapor barrier can also lead to mold, but I know you know that! Anyway, the insulation and plastic isn't that much/bad/hard for us to do. Except there are slugs under there. Ugh.

We also had linoleum over it, but now we're putting in ceramic tile. I haven't noticed any temperature fluctuations. The rest of the house is over a full basement.

[mrs.jacinthe]

We have a 4' crawl (well, in most areas. Some bits are much shorter). At present, we have no mouse/rat problems. No spiders.

But honestly, I feel like it actually makes the tile floor COLDER. Our house in Ohio was on slab and the heating ductwork ran through the poured concrete. It was reasonably warm or at least tolerable. Here, it's like the tile floor is exactly the same temperature as it is outside because of the crawlspace. Sometimes it's like walking on ice cubes.

[downtoearth]

We have a crawlspace under one small back room (addition behind the garage. I've never been in it, but we also haven't had a critter or insect problem.

I know that part is colder than the rest of the house with the full basement, but I also know that our insulation in the attic above is very minimal compared to the rest and the exterior wall is not insulated, so I think that is more of a problem than the crawlspace.