San Diego Crawl Space Homes
While basements are less common in the near-perfect weather of Southern California, because of their advantages, crawl spaces are often the foundation of choice for many home builders. San Diego is no exception, and many homes from the mid 1900’s can be found built on crawl spaces. If you own or are interested in buying a crawl space home in San Diego, here is a basic introduction and need to know for crawl space foundations.
What is the purpose of a crawl space?
A crawl space home is essentially a shorter version of a basement home. They are often used in regions where slab foundations are inoperative, or a basement is either undesirable or too expensive. Usually they are necessary to keep the foundation below the “Frost” level, but in places such as Southern California, they can better handle the changes of shifting soil. The raised height of a crawl space home may also increases the aesthetic appeal and value of the property.
The main advantages of a crawl space home are an increase in air circulation between rooms and convenient access to utilities such as electrical and plumbing lines. Crawl spaces make repairs and new installations much easier in homes. While they may also be used for storage, residents should be careful not to accidentally introduce mildew, termites, or humidity when storing items. These can all lead to rot and damage to the foundation of crawl space homes.
Why do crawl spaces fail?
The most common reasons for a Crawl Space foundation failure include damage from humidity or rot. They can also fail because shifting soil works against unstable pier support, causing floor joists to sag or fail. Crawl space humidity has been a serious issue for many San Diego crawl space homeowners. Ventilation practices of the past required excessive ventilation to crawl spaces from the exterior. While the well-intentioned hope was to improve circulation and prevent the buildup of humidity, the opposite occurs. As humidity increases outside, the buildup of moisture increases in the crawl space, leading to weakened supports, increased rot and decay, and other causes of foundation failure.
As humidity or shifting soil damages joists, the floors of the crawl space home floors will begin to sag or warp. This can lead to cracks, foundation gaps, and other expensive breaks in the home. Some floors can even begin to cave in. Utility bills can also be affected by the increased humidity in crawl space homes by raising the costs of cooling the home.
Many older and historic homes are especially susceptible to these problems, both because of excess humidity and the effects of age. This can prevent the selling of a property and seriously damage the structural integrity of historic homes. Sure Safe is an expert at resolving these issues, especially in the San Diego area.
How can Sure Safe repair my Crawl Space foundation?
Sure Safe‘s VR-1 Footing System can restore structural integrity to crawl space homes at ⅓ the cost of normal foundation repair. The special geo-forming technology conforms to the ground and working with supports creates a strong foundation. Learn more about the Sure Safe method here.
