Crawl Space - Can't find it!?

Question

So...I've looked in all the obvious places. Around the exterior of the home, inside the home - even in closets. When I bought the house, two home inspectors couldn't find the darn thing!

Now, I've got problems with the leveling the floors and frozen pipes. It would be beneficial to have a crawl space - but a coworker told me that I might not even have one. Have you heard of a home w/o a crawl space? My home is about 100 years old. How will I go about fixing my house problems with no access to a crawl space or basement?

On the outside - there is the appearance of a crawl space because of the concrete blocks that are located at the base of the home. But we still haven't found an entrance if there is one. (No windows at the base of home.)

Answer 1

If the house is that old, it should have a crawl space or basement under it. The access was probably from inside the house and has been covered over during a remodeling job at one time or another. Just to make sure, I would recommend drilling a small hole (1/4" or so) through the floor in a closet. You can then check the height of the crawl space with a wire or dowell rod before cutting a hole in the floor. It would be very frustrating to cut an access hole only to find out that that there is not enough space under the floor to get into or work in.

Answer 2

it is entirely possible that your house was built without any access to the crawl space. if you must get under the house for repair, then you will need to cut your own access hatch. i would recommend going through the floor inside the house as opposed to trying to cut through the foundation outside. also, try to locate the access as close to the utilities as possible, without creating an eyesore.a bedroom closet might be out of the way, but if all of your plumbing is at the other end of the house, you'll have a tough time getting yourself and any tools and materials to the work site.

Answer 3

Your house should have a crawl space or a basement... if it is as old as you say, the original opening may have been boarded up or covered over... a friend's sister and hubby found their basement door had been boarded up and lathed over during a renovation of their kitchen... on the other hand, one of my neighbors as I was growing up had his house set completely on the ground, they had to tear it down the other day as the sills had all rotted off!
You may have to check your flooring closely and cut out a section between floor joists (in a room you can easily fix later) to see if you actually do a crawl space...) best of luck to you... you may end up doubling your living space if you do have a basement! Besides it is always fun to "explore" and you never know what you'll find!

Answer 4

Well we didn't either just vents but realized a bigger vent like as big as a 2x2 bathroom window which was covered with halfway with dirt . Tooked the dirt off and found we could pull it offand wala the crawl space and i do mean crawl! Do have any vents anywhere who built the house see the plans on it.

Answer 5

It is the underneath of the home,if it is not off the ground and on a slab then you don't have one.Most of the time it depends on what you need to fix.If you can not get under the home then you don't have a crawl space.

Answer 6

Piece of plywood and a few liquid nails could desire to do it for now. toughest section would be looking the thank you to hold it there until eventually ultimately the glues set up. warm glue ought to artwork extra suited. perhaps you may prop something against it for an afternoon or so. be sure you place some rat poison in there first to be sure you get em good.

Answer 7

under the house