Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Can anyone tell me the difference between the two foundations? And if one is superior to another, and why? Sorry, broad question. Inquiring minds want to know
A crawlspace (as the name suggests) is a type of basement in which one cannot stand up — the height may be as little as a foot, and the surface is often soil. While this cannot be used as living space, it can be used as storage, often for infrequently used items. These can be placed directly on the dirt, but it is more desirable to finish with either plastic or some sort of wood or concrete flooring. These are rarely included in houses as standard due to health and safety issues. However, they are frequently added on by home owners installing a small door into the foundations.
A slab is probably the easiest foundation to build. It is a flat concrete pad poured directly on the ground. It takes very little site preparation, very little formwork for the concrete and very little labor to create. It works well on level sites in warmer climates -- it has problems up north because the ground freezes in the winter and this freezing can shift the slab at worst and at least lead to cold floors in the winter.
A crawl space has several advantages over basements and slabs:
It gets the house up off the ground (especially important in damp or termite-prone areas). It is a lot less expensive than a basement and comparable in price to a slab. Duct work and plumbing can run in the crawl space, meaning that they are easy to service and move over the lifetime of the house.
In the triangle, taditionally, the majority of homes have crawl spaces, not slabs. This is changing, but not too quickly. Our house has a sealed crawl space, which is also a nice feature. It has a regular sized door for access, but you cannot walk on the spaces that are covered with carpet, etc. The sealed crawl is suppose to help with the insultation retainment in the home, keep the critter's out a little better, and we can use our crawl space to store things besides muddy dirty outdoor items.
I think the previous post gave an excellent explanation of the differences between crawl space and slab. You may also want to do a search of this forum and the Charlotte forum as this question has come up before with some good discussion. I think you will find a lot of homes under $200K here in Raleigh are built with slab foundations and even some more expensive homes with slabs as well. But you can also find plenty of homes with crawl spaces if that is what you desire.
One other thing to consider is whether or not you want to have hardwood floors installed one day. With a crawl space you have a wood sub floor which allows you to staple or nail down true hardwoods and engineered hardwoods. With a slab pretty much your only option is engineered hardwoods that is either installed as a floating floor or glued down. If there is any issues with the slab not being level this will cause headaches when installing the wood floors on a slab. I have a slab, had engineered hardwoods glued down, but it was a bit of an ordeal. Aside from that, I don't mind living on a slab at all!
I think the previous post gave an excellent explanation of the differences between crawl space and slab. You may also want to do a search of this forum and the Charlotte forum as this question has come up before with some good discussion. I think you will find a lot of homes under $200K here in Raleigh are built with slab foundations and even some more expensive homes with slabs as well. But you can also find plenty of homes with crawl spaces if that is what you desire.
One other thing to consider is whether or not you want to have hardwood floors installed one day. With a crawl space you have a wood sub floor which allows you to staple or nail down true hardwoods and engineered hardwoods. With a slab pretty much your only option is engineered hardwoods that is either installed as a floating floor or glued down. If there is any issues with the slab not being level this will cause headaches when installing the wood floors on a slab. I have a slab, had engineered hardwoods glued down, but it was a bit of an ordeal. Aside from that, I don't mind living on a slab at all!
Hey Raleigh Guy- you actulaay had REAL HARDWOODS GLUED DOWN?-THIS IS COOL?
Hey Raleigh Guy- you actulaay had REAL HARDWOODS GLUED DOWN?-THIS IS COOL?
I didn't have solid hardwoods, just engineered hardwoods. My understanding is that only engineered hardwoods should be used on slabs. I have heard some talk of using actual solid hardwoods, but I am very skeptical of that. Even so, I highly recommend you get a reputable installer experienced with glue down jobs if you decide to go that route. I think glue down jobs can be more problematic than traditional nail staple installs so you need somebody skilled to do it.
I didn't have solid hardwoods, just engineered hardwoods. My understanding is that only engineered hardwoods should be used on slabs. I have heard some talk of using actual solid hardwoods, but I am very skeptical of that. Even so, I highly recommend you get a reputable installer experienced with glue down jobs if you decide to go that route. I think glue down jobs can be more problematic than traditional nail staple installs so you need somebody skilled to do it.
HMM- so what is the difference between enginereed hw and actual hw.Are enginereed hw like laminate? My mon had floating hw on her slab, cost a fortune and really did move as you walked, not durable either,but this is in upstate ny.
Thank you all for your responses. I think everything up here in the north is on slab (we have basements). So many things to take into consideration. I can't wait to compare homes when we go down in March.
Why is the trend to go with slabs instead of crawlspace? Is slab cheaper?
Not an expert on this, but it has always been my impression that slab is cheaper. You just pour the concrete for a slab as opposed to digging out some ground, pouring the footings, then building up a crawl space foundation with cinderblocks. I may also have been under that impression b/c from my experience looking at homes, the more expensive homes have crawl spaces.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
