|
| Author |
Message |
rockies
Member
|
# Posted: 22 Sep 2018 06:58pm
Reply
Many cabin builders have their cabin up on piers and then after a while decide to enclose the base, effectively creating a "vented crawlspace" (air vents are provided to the exterior).
This article explains the dangers.
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/new-vented-crawl-spaces-should-be-illega l
|
|
toyota_mdt_tech
Member
|
# Posted: 22 Sep 2018 08:51pm
Reply
Dont overlook radon in drinking water from a well either. They have radon separators for water supply.
|
|
Borrego
Member
|
# Posted: 23 Sep 2018 11:50am
Reply
I wish I had a dollar for every crawl space I've been in over the years! Out here in SoCal, the majority of the older houses (pre 1960) are on a raised foundation, and when I did Home Inspections (sideline for a while), I went under a bunch....horrible working conditions for sure! Definitely impacts plumbing and electrical workers, as well as doing foundation repairs....
Personal experience: I had an old 1918 Craftsman house that had a crawlspace and had serious problems with mold because the drainage was poor. Made me really sick....
Having said all that, I think a raised foundation - done right - can be a perfectly appropriate or even superior building practice...obviously in possible flood areas. My desert cabin is in an area with washes so I built with a pole-house construction style. The key is to build with a taller space underneath with good ventilation, that's all....
Slabs are usually a better idea, when possible, but I would bring the utilities up out of the slab and put them in the walls. Then as long as your slab is sealed with a proper vapor barrier, and has well designed steel reinforcement, it should be fine.
I don't agree with making crawlspaces illegal, none of the goobermints business, minor health issues aside, just warn people about the consequences and let them deal with it....or not......
|
|
Malamute
Member
|
# Posted: 25 Sep 2018 06:14pm - Edited by: Malamute
Reply
I dont buy into his argument as an across the board problem. Perhaps they are in some geographic areas, but certainly not all. I like crawl spaces for a number of reasons, many of which were mentioned in the comments. Very easy to run electric and plumbing, and retro or repair either, and I really like the storage they represent. I havent had any of the problems hes tried to say are nearly universal. A slab would be my last choice other than being cheap in some areas.
I'm not sure why a house has to be raised up to be on a crawl, Ive built them about the same height of slabs off grade. Location may be a part of it. Flooding isnt a normal issue where ive been, other than runoff from rain and snow.
Most generally I hate working on houses on slabs when anything goes wrong or needs replaced with wiring or plumbing. I hate cutting concrete also. Ive done it, dont like it.
|
|
rockies
Member
|
# Posted: 25 Sep 2018 06:27pm - Edited by: rockies
Reply
I think the problem only applies to "vented" crawlspaces. Unvented crawlspaces are sealed to the outside and heated by the air circulated from the interior of the home.
The wonderful thing about the people at Green Building Advisor is that not only do they send out building scientists to study construction throughout the US (all climates and zones) but they also build mock-ups and study how different systems work in a lab.
If an unvented crawlspace works and a vented one causes problems I'd like to know that and build accordingly.
|
|
Borrego
Member
|
# Posted: 25 Sep 2018 09:55pm
Reply
rockies:
A vented crawlspace can not only work just fine but in many ways be superior to slab-on-grade construction.....
|
|
ICC
Member
|
# Posted: 25 Sep 2018 10:07pm
Reply
Many things like crawl spaces and where to place a vapor barrier, or whether or not a vapor barrier should be used varies with climate. Not everything is needed to be done the same way everywhere and some things should not be done in some climate zones.
|
|
Borrego
Member
|
# Posted: 27 Sep 2018 09:10pm
Reply
^^^^
What he said....
|
|
|
rockies
Member
|
# Posted: 27 Sep 2018 09:38pm
Reply
AAAAH! But how many people take the time to research HOW a vented crawl space is to be properly built (and detailed correctly for their climate)?
The Green Builder Advisor Site offers free articles on how to do it correctly, from a dry desert environment to a wet coastal environment to a freezing mountain environment.
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/?s=vented+crawlspaces
|
|
ICC
Member
|
# Posted: 27 Sep 2018 10:59pm - Edited by: ICC
Reply
Quoting: rockies But how many people take the time to research HOW
But you can say the same thing about a long list of things that are legal, just stupid in some situations. Or stupid anywhere, anytime. Someone once said you can't legislate against stupidity or something like that. I agree.
|
|
tichalet
Member
|
# Posted: 1 Oct 2018 10:14am
Reply
Well, I’m a bit mystified why this entreaty to outlaw vented crawlspaces was published for a national audience. Who is he trying to convince? If it’s a local code change the author is after, maybe he should have written this for the newsletter for the Asheville Homebuilders’ Association instead?
Otherwise, it’s silly & GBA readers justifiably give the author a piece of their minds in the replies section. Even he seems to begin to concede in the ensuing discussion that perhaps calling for one-size-fits-all government regulations designed to mitigate problems in the moldy radon-plagued Appalachian range across an entire continent may be as irresponsible as the people who build without any regard for the geology & climate conditions of the particular locality they're constructing in.
Just because you're an expert on safe building practices in your area (and he may very well be one in Asheville NC) doesn't make you an expert on safe building practices in the Mojave Desert or South Texas or the Olympic Peninsula and it was gratifying to see readers try to convince the author to at least start to consider that imposing national standards to address the specific conditions of Asheville (humid subtropical climate with predicted average indoor radon screening levels greater than 4 pCi/L) on everybody else, including folks in dry climates &/or places not impacted by radon, could very well be an invitation to disaster, not to mention starkly antithetical to the website's purported mission of building "green".
|
|
Borrego
Member
|
# Posted: 1 Oct 2018 07:12pm
Reply
Well said, tichalet....
I wasn't gonna say it (biting my tongue) but my first thought was 'here's another Green idiot' 
|
|
|
