Crawl spaces are underneath the subfloor but above the ground. People with slab or basement construction will not have a crawl space. There are positives and negatives associated with crawl spaces. The positive is that everything including structure, plumbing, wiring and ductwork is more accessible. The negative is that by the nature of the design crawl spaces are cultures for mold, mildew and termites. In this article I want to give you an appetizer of things we find in a typical crawl space inspection.
On a typical home inspection, most home inspectors are going to have a routine or process. Whether is starts left to right or right to left, it really doesn't matter as long as they have a routine that covers everything. I go to the right and work in a basic circle. I am checking everything in the order in witch it comes to me.
We look at the ductwork. Look to see if they are all connected and well supported. Lots of times the supports will come lose. Make sure they are not mashed or in some sort of bind. Another thing with the ductwork is to look for asbestos tape if they have that old metal ductwork. If you see white tape at the joints of the metal ducts, chances are it is probably asbestos. Asbestos is Okay as long as it does not become airborne or friable. The most economical way to deal with asbestos is to encapsulate it. Encapsulate is a fancy way of saying tape up or over to seal it off. Another thing to check for if it's a metal duct. If it also carries air-conditioned air then it has to be insulated. A lot of the houses built back prior to AC (early 60's) and before were heat only. When the AC was retrofitted, no insulation (required on cold air) was ever added. If there is metal ductwork you also want to check for an electrical charge.
We also check moisture levels throughout the crawl via a moisture meter. We want all wood members of the flooring system to be under 20%. If the wood is over 20% it is conducive to mold, mildew and termites. If you have high moisture in your crawl space you have to figure out where it's coming from. Is it coming from poor drainage or from the atmosphere and poor ventilation? Once you figure out where the moisture is coming from you can take action to control it. It could be as simple as rerouting a downspout to as difficult as sealing of the crawl space all together. One thing for sure is that high moisture in the crawl over a long period of time it will cause wood rot.
Another thing we want to check while we are in the crawl is the wiring. We check for loose wires as well as open junction boxes. All wiring junctions must be in a closed junction box. We also want to make sure all the wiring is supported and not laying on the floor of the crawl.
We want to check for termites. Termites will show up as mud tubes on foundation walls or piers. Another hot spot for termites is adjacent to any dirt filled porch or the wood adjacent to the garage. The important thing to remember about termites is that they come from the ground and have to return to the ground for moisture.
We want to check the wood structure members and support for the span and the load. You also want to check around tubs, toilets and showers for moisture damage. The wood around the toilet pipe is prone to have moisture damage because the wax seal at the toilets go bad. Another hotspot is shower pans especially if they are tiled. Shower pans go out after a few years and start to leak. Two other areas that are prone to get moisture damaged but are often forgotten are the area under a refrigerator with an icemaker and the area under the laundry. The icemaker hoses are very prone to leak and cause damage to the subfloor below. The hose or drain at the washing machine can develop a leak and the owner may not know it for years. Unfortunately I have seen this many times.
I usually end my crawl inspection when I make it back to the crawl entrance. I may have to zigzag down the middle as well. There are many more things we look for and find in the crawl and again these are just some of the top things found. For more information on crawl spaces or home inspections, go to http://www.homeinspectioncarolina.com
Or my blog at http://www.askthecharlotteinspector.com
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