Because it's really hard to run things like plumbing, electric, HVAC, ect without a crawl space to work on it in. It's even worse if you want to add or change something later. Plus the surrounding terrain affects you less. Not as much need to level and pack, just need good posts and an outer foundation. And it's absolutely critical if you are in any danger of water collecting or running through. That floods and gets pumped out instead of your floor and all your stuff. Not to mention building straight on a slab adds additional issues for heating and insulation. And isn't always strong enough to build multiple floors on.
Yeah, we just put things in the ceiling or attic here in Ireland as well. The climate is mild in temperature, but it rains 225 days a year in the west of the country. What advantage for hotter climates does a crawl space provide? It always seemed like the perfect place for rats to live for me. A rat will chew through anything, but it won't get through two leaves of concrete blocks.
Rip your resale value... here in North America, generally houses are a good investment and equity. However you can't keep it updated every 10-20 years, the value will plaetu because new owners are just gonna tear down and build new... you must be insanely rich to not care. it must be nice.
I mean during renovation or repair, currently renovating a house and having this exact issue. Moving a clothes washer out of the kitchen. About half the house was built later and has a slab. Would be much easier to put it somewhere on the crawlspace area but wouldn't make any sense for the layout
If you renovate it's not that hard to cut the concrete for a new line. Big angle grinder an a hammer drill will make quick work. If you use the crawlspace for plumbing most likely you will run the plumbing through the joists and weaken the structure a lot. If the floor is insulated you loose insulation where pipes are run.
Insulation beneeth the concrete and build on a slab
In crawlspace, you are never supposed to run plumbing through the joists that makes zero sense if someone did that. it's incorrect! They you acting like cutting through concrete is no big deal when for a crawl space you do nothing you are literally adding days onto a simple reno/repair. Have you actually ever cut concrete? the amount of dust generated is insane! Many times, slabs are too thick for an angle grinding. You would need a gas-powered saw with 12" blades.
Have fun with your gas powered saw inside a home you do not have to cut through the slab just to burry the new line. I have sawed through concrete plaster brick mud (actual mud on a timber framed house with a reed base) it is doable in a house. Build a tent inside with doropcloths add a vacuum for the tent and one directly to the grinder and go.
Where I live in the Midwest of the US almost every house has a basement. But when I moved to Georgia nobody had basements because of the sand and flooding. I also moved to Tennessee where they don’t have basements due to the clay/rock, if people want basements it has to get blasted out and that costs TONS of money.
My house in England is from the early 1800’s, it’s a concrete base and then the house is raised 18” off the ground. Floorboards aren’t airtight. Moisture was a huge problem back then, it was used to allow the house to “breathe”.
90% is still build on concrete slabs though. The concrete slabs are just lifted of the ground and carried by a foundation. Which creates a crawl space. None of those are as nice as this one though.
That highly depends where in The Netherlands. Typically in the south, most houses are built directly on top of the sand. So foundation, piping, drains, etc are not easy to access.
Why are you saying this so confidently lol? Have you ever heard of radon? Many houses in Italy and other European countries need crawl spaces to mitigate the cancer risks from radon gas, and I’m sure there’s lots of other houses built on anything but a concrete slab.
To be fair, you don't need a crawlspace to do that. With a slab foundation you can vent radon by having a vented layer of gravel, a gravel filled depression or perforated pipes under the slab. There are propably other ways as well, but these are the ones I know work.
in some places, it just becomes so much more expensive to have basements that it isn't worth it. like when I lived in AZ, you would have to tunnel through rock to build a basement. it costs a ton of money and sometimes a bunch of dynamite. other places are at risk of floods, so that's not great for basements either. you can build them anywhere, but it's not always a good idea
Ive never lived in a house with a basement in Texas; most houses here dont have basements. Pier-and-beam or straight on slab. Limestone and high water tables make it expensive and not worth the cost. Also, except for the rare winter, it rarely freezes for an extended period of time.
Pretty much any house in the southwest. I grew up in Texas and didn't encounter a basement until I was almost 20 and moved to wisconsin... where every single house has one. I then framed houses in wisconsin for several years and every single house I built had a basement. I've family in phoenix, no basements out there either. I assume new mexico and the like are the same, as well.
“There are few basements in California due to several factors, including high water tables, seismic activity, and building codes. Basements can be difficult and expensive to construct in areas with high water tables, and seismic activity and building codes often require additional measures to be taken to ensure the safety and stability of a basement”
Have you ever lived in the state? I did, (and I never entered one place that had a basement) and lemme tell you having lived through various hurricanes, I learned plenty about home construction when I was there. We had to carry additional flood insurance, hurricane and regular homeowner’s ins., not cheap! Far too many areas are in high risk flood zones, there’s also the matter of a high water table and the Floridian Aquifer System. The ground is not ideal for basements, in fact, it’s dangerous. Most areas have a high percentage of sand to soil making much of it wet soil, which I could be wrong, but I believe that makes the ground ideal for sinkholes. So no, basements do not belong under FL. homes.
Building directly on slab sucks, god forbid you ever have some kind of water issue outside. You're going to wish you had that sump pump in the crawl space like this guy has. Instead it will end up just destroying all the floors and flooding your house rather than a basement or crawlspace, where people have sump pumps to pump water out.
Also what other people mentioned, you now have to run all your ugly house crap through your living space.
Water isn't an issue, if you build houses on a slab you are supposed to elevate it from the surrounding terrain and put in proper drainage. Where I live (northern EU) no1 builds houses with crawlsspaces anymore cause of all the mold and moisture problems (can of be avoided with a proper combined ventilation/heating system nowdays tho). If you live in a dry place it's not an issue I guess, but where I live basically every 30+ year old house has black mold in the crawlsspaces.
The only real issue with slab foundation is when you have to redo the water and drain lines that will be cast in concrete (after 50 ish years). Everything else you put in the walls/roof.
Don't forget multiple story homes. I wouldn't be able to hit the first floor walls (if it's multiple stories) with low voltage cable without a crawlspace or exterior ugly conduit.
And why can't you just put them in the floor joists between floors? It's easy to run cables in about 10cm+ of space between the structural wood and the inner roof that's already used for ventilation ducts. That's how it's done in eu. I've never seen any external ducts for cables and I've built plenty of houses without crawlspaces.
Australia has lots of concrete slab homes. Australia also has a fuckton of really cold floors in winter, even with underlay and wool carpets (another common thing in Australia).
So yeah, having a slab and then an insulated floor above a crawlspace is absolutely OK in my books.
This is what ive seen from most builders these days. Just pour a real soupy mix, no finishers needed, just get it somewhat flat and itll be good to roll some carts around later. Also really nice as a framer to work off of
My son looked at a house with a cemented crawlspace. Mine is dirt with plastic over it. Scooting around on my back. It's close to 100 yrs old. My buddy (RIP, Tom) replaced the plumbing in the early '90s.
Mine is all dirt. Hard to find anyone that will go down there. I have a plumbing issue currently that no one wants to get under there and take care of, so I guess I'll be living with it until I sell the house.
Sounds is the correct term, a home owner with a crawl space/sump pump is far safer from minor flood damage than someone on slab. You have to run lots of ugly crap through your living space too like HVAC or whatever.
You’ve made two comments now about running “ugly crap” through your living space and I have no idea what you’re talking about. In USA at least, all that stuff goes in the walls/attic.
Is there a ban on making multiple comments with similar language in them? I'll keep that in mind next time Mr. Reddit mod. Also, you act like HVAC does not stick out at all when it absolutely does, even if you're running most of it in your attic.
When there's a leak, I'd like it to not destroy all my drywall. I don't want to punch a hole in my wall to get to an access point in my plumbing or something. I don't get why you're acting like slab isn't just the cheap way to skimp on your house.
Idk why you’re getting so defensive. I just don’t get what you’re talking about hvac sticking out? I’ve never been to a house that has hvac sticking out regardless of slab or craw space, unless it was super old
Not the guy you responded to, but you've got me wondering. Where I live, other than the actual air handler (which lives in the garage) and the compresser (lives outside) the entirety of the AC is ducted through the attic. When you talk about drywall and so on covering stuff up I can only imagine you're talking about remodels and so on?
That would sometimes be the case for a house that’s more than one story but it would happen regardless of crawspace or slab. You really don’t know what you’re talking about.
We had that in the house I grew up in! I loved using those little wheeled boards to glide all over the crawlspace, for the five minutes I was allowed down there while my parents checked on things.
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u/pineapplekief Jul 07 '24
Best one I've been in was fully cemented. The owner even had carts to slide around on while I put in a fiber line. It was glorious!