Crawlspace Foundation

Recently, I have had the opportunity to inspect several homes in the Durban greater area, whose foundations, have been designed to create what we call a crawlspace. They consist of short foundation walls that stand on footings. Typically the walls may be very short—creating a space that you literally have to crawl through—or they can be in the range of 1 meter tall, providing room for storage or other equipment.

Typically, crawlspaces are unheated spaces and may be ventilated with small vents that penetrate the foundation walls to promote a small amount of airflow through the crawlspace. Moisture control and water leaks & seepage are other considerations with crawlspace foundations.

Crawlspace foundations are less expensive than full basements because they require less excavation and less foundation wall material and labour to build. Like full basement foundations, crawlspace walls typically are made with poured concrete or mortared concrete blocks.

Advantages: Less expensive than a slab-on-grade basement & access to below-floor services like pipes or wires

Disadvantages: Difficult to crawl through & normally unheated (depends on which province)

Trevor Davidson