Crawspace -vs Basement -vs- Slab Foundations!!!` (houses, crawl space, to buy)

[REIRehabber]

I notice an abundance of crawspace homes in Nashville, as well as homes built on slabs. I would like to get feedback on which is the best for keeping out unwanted spiders-snakes-ants and critters.

What protection do you have against tornados if there are no basements?

What is everyone's preference out there in the Nashville area?

I would like to get feedback on this subject while out house hunting.


Thank you.

[alleycat]

Until fairly recently, slab foundations were only used on the cheapest houses in the Nashville area. Now some nicer homes are built on a slab. In areas where the terrain is sloped or hilly, crawls spaces and basements foundation are still the way the majority of houses are built.

As to your question, a lived in basement would probably be the best. Spiders and things love dark, unused basements and crawl spaces; although I'm not sure whether than would mean more of them would get into the house itself or not. A slab on grade doesn't provide a place for spiders and bugs, of course, but the floor level is almost always closer to the ground with a slab. So, for you, probably a finished basement would be the top choice, followed by a slab on grade.

[gbone]

REI, just 'Google' crawlspace versus slab and you will get links that will answer most any question on this. In general, a slab is the cheapest to build but there can be significant problems with them. A slab doesn't allow easy access to various environmental systems(i.e., plumbing, electrical, HVAC) and can be very costly if work is needed on one of these systems.

[DonCorleone]

I discussed this issue in-depth with my home inspector before we decided to buy a slab home. He basically said what gbone said, as long as there's not any plumbing/hvac issues, a slab is fine. His major concern with slab homes is when he saw them not properly graded...which means water/moisture can easily pool up under the home and cause all kinds of major problems from mold to foundation cracking. So as long as it's graded properly and the plumbing is done correctly intially, you should be in good shape.