If I were to build a brand new home as the owner of a foundation repair company; would I go with a crawl space or slab foundation?? It's really an interesting question. In all reality it would come down to the land and region the home was being built on. Personally I like crawl space homes due to the ease of maintenance and wood floor structures are much easier to work on than concrete if anything were to ever go wrong. However raised floor structures are more prone to issues than a concrete slab so the trade offs can go either way. Crawl Space homes have a bad wrap simply because most of them are done improperly. They have a high moisture content and are full of spiders and unsettling critters. However when done properly a crawl space can look like a work of art! Well at least to someone who has seen the worst of the worst. So to answer the question; I would rather build a crawl space home and make sure it had proper ventilation and drainage around the home. If ventilation was not possible, an encapsulation would be the next option. This means completely sealing off the crawl space then lining the interior with a heavy millimeter barrier and air tight seals. Then a de-humidifier can be added to remove any remaining moisture. When this is done properly, the crawl space looks like a laboratory! The interior air quality will improve as the air underneath is just as clean as above. Slabs are great but when the break, they are just more and more of a problem. Since I live in Oklahoma with expansive soils; building new would be a crawl space for sure! See the below encapsulated crawl space. Your plumber and electrician will love you if you do this to your home! This service is offered by Level Home Foundation Repair, check out our company page at www.levelhomefoundationrepair.com or call 918-361-7787
