Residential neighborhood homes are constructed around the country with one of three typical home foundations available. In other words, it is not often evident from the exterior of the house which foundation it might have been built upon, but what lies beneath will be composed of one of the three major constructions. Today we’re going to provide a brief summary of each kind of the 3 main residential house foundation types and whether or not they could possibly influence the amount of living space inside your home.
First up, we’ve got a regular basement foundation. This is a layout of a set of concrete walls that are intended to be rooms that you can live in, though they primarily act as supporting walls for the structure above. Additional walls can also be added inside the basement the same way they would be added inside of a living room, or any other main living area in your home. To reach the basement, you’ll need to take a flight of stairs from either the inside or the outside.
Then there is the usual crawl space foundation. A good way of describing this foundation is to liken it to a basement. The walls are usually not higher than waist high, however, which requires you to crouch down or “crawl” on your belly to navigate around. Essentially, the footing for a home is constructed, and small walls are built on top of it. The house is then mounted on a frame on the small walls.
The space is not suited for a regular living area; though it can be encapsulated and used as storage space, freeing up the room you would need to store all kinds of things. This storage space can free up the room you’re currently using in your living areas.
Lastly, there is the slab on grade foundation. This foundation is often formed to be in direct contact with the home above it. The footer is built for the home and often the foundation is poured over footings. Another way is to build the footer and create short stem walls on top, but there is then no accessible space between the home and the foundation.
Which foundation does your home have? Regardless of the foundation type, moisture in the surrounding soil is a huge enemy for the structure of your home. It can intrude and damage your housing materials, unless professional waterproofing systems are used to deter the moisture.
We hope you find this information useful, and remember, moisture CAN damage any of these three types of foundations! Give BARRIER Waterproofing Systems a call at (615) 257-1060 | (931) 536-1168 and ask for an evaluation of the condition of your foundation today.