If you’re like most homeowners, you probably don’t think of your crawl space almost at all. Some homeowners aren’t even sure whether they have one. However, it’s extremely important to inspect your crawl space pretty regularly, whether on your own or through the use of a contractor. Otherwise, you could run into some of these problems.
Animal Issues
Animal problems are actually fairly common in crawl spaces. That’s because animals are very good at getting into small spaces, especially if you haven’t taken the time to encapsulate your crawl space. You could have any of these animal issues:
- Rodent and Bug Infestations
- Snakes
- Wild Animal Homes
- Bones
The biggest giveaway of animal issues will be the sounds coming from under your home. If you start to hear scratching or animal noises from underneath your home, it’s essential that you call a contractor as soon as possible to get rid of the problem.
Plant Issues
What about plants? Although you probably wouldn’t think that plants could be just as dangerous as animals, they actually can be. Plants can cause serious issues in your crawl space. An uninspected crawl space could be having any of these plant problems:
- Mold
- Invasive Plant Speciez
Mold can have serious health consequences, even if it’s not considered “toxic,” and invasive plant species can grow underneath your home and start to crack the foundation. Catching these problems early is key to avoiding a problem with your health or your foundation.
Crime
More eye-catching is the potential problem of criminal things popping up in your crawl space. From unknown stashes of weapons to an actual person living in your crawl space, these are some of the scariest criminal things that could be in your crawl space:
- Mysterious Locked Cabinet
- Mob Cash
- Guns
- Squatters and Fugitives
It’s true that these are exceedingly rare to find in a home, and generally only occur if you’re into some shady business as well. Still, the very thought that you might be harboring one or many of these things in your crawl space should be enough to contact a contractor to make sure.
Historical
This is mostly common in historical areas, like London or the New England coast. Experts estimate that a shocking amount of unexploded artillery and other war memorabilia could still be buried under many homes in these historical areas. You might have the displeasure of unearthing some of these things:
- Unexploded Artillery
- Disturbing Journals
Learning about history can be very interesting, but it’s much less interesting when you’re learning about something terrible that happened in the home you now live in. Anyone who lives in an old home in a historical area should definitely invest in a thorough crawl space inspection just to be safe.
Paranormal
Some people believe in the paranormal, leading them to believe that some paranormal activity may be happening in their crawl space. This crawl space paranormal activity can lead to some strange activity in the rest of the home as well, which could be coming from one of these spooky entities:
- Ghosts
- Large Ghouls
It’s up to you how you want to deal with potential ghosts in your home. However, it’s important to note that you should always check for structural problems before deciding that randomly swinging doors and creaking floors are a sign of a haunting.
Structural
Of all the creepy problems you might be facing, this could be the creepiest. That’s because it’s also the most common, happening in a frightening number of homes. Many people unfortunately ignore the signs of structural damage before it’s too late, resulting in serious home damage.
If you’re willing to commit to regular crawl space inspections, you can avoid the issue of a structural failure. Instead, you’ll get information about the current state of your crawl space and how you can make your problems better.
Conclusion
Overall, there are many problems a crawl space could be having. You might discover a creepy thing hiding in your crawl space, or you might find out that your crawl space was unevenly built. Either way, regular crawl space inspections can help you stay up to date on your crawl space’s health.
