What Makes a Crawlspace?

Do you know what your home's crawlspace is made of? 

Often, these spaces, which rest between your home and your home’s foundation, are overlooked or forgotten completely. No one is being judged for this, even a little bit.

The crawlspace is out of sight, hard to reach, and if we’re being honest here, it can get pretty gross in there. The reality is that the crawlspace is actually a fundamental space assisting or depleting your home’s health and safety, depending upon its upkeep and condition.

A good way to begin getting to know your home’s crawlspace is by determining what type of material the foundation and crawlspace wall is constructed from.

The most common type of crawlspace material in the southeast is concrete block. It is cheap and available as a building material. Unfortunately, concrete block’s convenience comes at the price of being an incredibly porous material, which is bad news for a crawlspace. This means a crawlspace is highly likely to develop moisture issues that can spread to the living quarters of the house.

Cinderblock, no longer produced, once served as a readily available and economical building material, being made from coal fire remains. It too, is quite porous.

Likewise, a stone foundation wall lets in water and air at an often-problematic rate.

Brick foundations exist, but are uncommon. While stronger than stone and cinder block, they are less economical in building and maintaining. And, because they are less common, repairing and waterproofing a brick foundation wall often proves to be a more high maintenance task.

Concrete foundation walls are the strongest and least likely to allow moisture into your home. The concrete is poured, rather than sealed with mortar, as other materials mentioned above are.

Once you become familiar with your crawlspace, you can begin determining its status, needs, and can call us at Master Services for a free estimate.