Since most people already consider crawl spaces to be “BIG BLACK HOLES,” it will probably surprise most of my readers (considering my reputation for loving the “adventure” of crawl spaces) that the thing that gets me the most “unglued” in there is: holes. Especially the big black bottomless type. For me, there is nothing more un-nerving than to be feeling my way across the plastic ground cover and feel “NOTHING” under the plastic. Water under the plastic----feeling like a giant waterbed-----is not uncommon and that is fairly simple to deal with. You either back up and leave----or you go around it. It is those holes you come upon that seem like “Black Holes” in your crawl-space-universe----until you peer over the edge with your flashlight and discover snarling vermin, the ground only inches away or water 20 feet down. The water-20-feet-down type holes----as in abandoned wells---CAN FREAK YOU OUT!!! Yup! Other types of holes are: abandoned septic tanks with collapsed covers; abandoned cisterns full of junk automobile parts, water, and rat carcasses; abandoned basements full of old water heaters and bug infested furniture; and, holes created where stumps have rotted away. I just love that feeling of adrenalin as I visualize being swallowed up by any one of these versions of holes. Another type of hole is where with every knee placement-----with every hand placement-----the ground underneath collapses 2-3 inches. This happens when the top layer of dirt is riddled with rat tunnels. These kinds of holes you get used to, but they can FREAK YOU OUT at first----but not as much as the ones you think might be “bottomless.” I am just grateful when the rat tunnels are covered with plastic to minimize the mold and asbestos-laden dust that would otherwise billow up around you. The following picture was from a crawl space at a recent inspection. Even when you can see them ahead of time, they can still be unnerving, because you still don’t know how deep they are and you don’t know if it is hollow under where you are laying----but just hasn’t collapsed yet! Fortunately this one was only good for a small adrenalin rush. I know that there really is no such thing as a bottomless pit, but it really doesn’t have to be very deep to represent a difficult scenario for the “Search and Rescue” crew------assuming of course you remembered to fall into the hole with your cell phone. I think my worse nightmare would be falling though the cover of an old hidden septic tank full of raw sewage, drowning my cell phone, if not myself. This IS the REAL reason they pay us the big bucks.
Charles Buell
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DeCroe, is my "etherial" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.
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Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.
You honestly could not pay me enough money to crawl under homes especially here in central florida. Too many bugs, snakes and spiders most all of which are poisonous.
Your post reminds my why I am not a home inspector! Great idea with the bottomless pit.
a bargain at twice the price
Heather, if I was an inspector from Florida, I suspect this post would have been written a little differently:)
Brent, amazing how we just "fall" into our jobs isn't it?
Alan, can I quote you on that?
It is nice to have firm ground under your feet.... I guess you can have some of the same issues walking on a roof that is not as you had thought
yes, my son, you can.
Charlie,
Seriously, there are times I take my cell phone in places as a backup. Your idea of making sure the ringer is on, not the vibrate mode, is helpful if you lose the darn thing.
Robert, you are right----roofs pose some of the same issues. I wish that we could walk in most crawls spaces:)
Alan, thanks----will do.
Steve, one time I lost my blue tooth in the crawl space----I peaked in there and waited for the crawl space to flash blue----and then knew right where it was:) I always take my cell with me---turned on for sure:)
Charles - Everyday, I become more amazed at what you do as inspectors. I remember the inspector at my home in Los Angeles had to crawl through half the house, then up and over a small wall into a tighter crawl space (the original house)...only to find that my piers holding the flooring steady were poorly constructed and waiting for termites. I hated that inspector (I was selling the house), but was amazed that the guy I had hired missed it. There is a big difference between a great inspector and an okay one. Hats off to you my friend for having the guts to do it everyday!
Well now I learned something new today. I had no idea they built the wells under the homes, nor did I know rats dug tunnels??? WOW, now that's interesting. I totally understand charging the big bucks, that must be why foundation repairs cost an arm and a leg!
~Chanda
Chandra, it is more likely that the house would be built over these things than the other way around:)---possible even that the builder didn't know they were there in some cases. As a side note---rats can do anything:)
Matt, it that is a story I hear way too often about my profession unfortunately.
Charles - I can't manage to get a decent signal, standing at the corner outside of my own home. What makes you think you'll get a decent signal 20 feet below the houses, in an abandoned well?
(or should I call it a descent signal?)
More power to you, I would not go under there if my life depended on it. Bless the people like you that do this work.
Thanks Charles, that reminds me, I need to raise my prices.
I have a recurring nightmare. I've fallen into that septic tank and standing next to me is the guy from Verizon yelling, "Can you hear me now!"
Gosh Charles, I was never afraid of crawlspaces before ... thanks for the bottomless pit idea that's now engraved in my minds eye. Just joking, great post and with that I'm going to do as Tad and Jack. I'm going to go raise my prices and switch to Verizon.
Charles, here in El Paso not many homes come with crawl space or basements. These crawl space experience are a rare occurrence for me.
~ Life is Good
Alan, it is the psychological aspect of simple "having" the phone with you that is important:)
Dee Dee----but it is so much fun:)
Tad----go for it
Jack, quite the nightmare-----could have been any service provider though.
Suesan----sounds like you haven't had that adrenalin rush yet:)
Roy it sounds like: ~ Life is Good
Charles,I have had to drag home inspectors out by the feet from under flooded crawl spaces. As Alan May said you are a bargain at twice the price!
Thanks Paul---I just tie a haul rope around my ankle----if I yank twice it means to tie it to the bumper and drag me out:)
Charles, I got scared just reading this post! As a child my mother warned me about dug wells.....don't fall in. Here you bring that nightmare back to life. Who'd ever build a house over a well? You must live in dangerous territory. Don't you love slab construction!!!!
Barbara, I hand dug two wells in upstate NY in the 70's the deepest was 26 feet----it is a pretty weird feeling lowering yourself into a hole to work that deep. Unfortunately I see very few slabs.
Charles, I have lost a cell phone to the septic tank monster, be careful. In Missouri one does need to check for cisterns, I have seen several on older In-Town homes. cheryl(cells phones and sewage don't mix)willis
Better you than me Sir Charles! be careful out there!!
Charles, I can't say that I have seen any 'black holes' in the crawl space universes here. I did see where one clever person excavated a meth lab under a house though. That was real interesting...
your building consultant in Nashville, TN
Cheryl, I have dropped mine in the kitchen sink a couple of times and once in the toilet---I am sure that if it ended up in the septic tank it would stay there:)
Jim would you like to do a crawl along with me?
Michael, meth labs I can do without----we can all do without.
I live in the "Meth Capital" of the USA, so unfortunately it is more than just conversation here, it is reality. I have never really had much experience in crawl spaces though, where there were any good size holes worth mentioning. You must have bigger rats or groundhogs out there.
Kevin----no ground hogs----just marmots and mountain beavers. Rats are dang big everywhere:) If yours are on meth maybe they have no interest in digging:)
Holey Cow! (sic)
Charles, that was a new one on me. Be careful & stay safe!
Margaret, I will do my best:)
Charlie - That's spooky stuff. They need to pay you bigger bucks for that job!
Carol--OK:)