# Worst crawlspaces thread



## tyb525 (Feb 26, 2013)

I think it would be interesting to share our crawlspace stories. Worst ones, most interesting ones, nastiests, smallest, etc.

I don't have anything great yet, except for the time I was cutting a Tee into a 3" main and the HO flushed the toilet. I barely got out of the way. Plus there was plastic on the ground so that water didn't just soak in...

Smallest crawlspace I was in required me to crawl in the joist bays on one end of the house, I couldn't get out of that one fast enough.

I don't have pictures, but you all know they are a great thing to have :thumbsup:


----------



## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

All my crawl space nightmares have been blocked out...I won't let myself re-live them...no I won't...you can't make me!!


----------



## Lester P. (Jun 19, 2009)

Manufactured homes. Earthquake preparedness to qualify for FHA loans, or something like that. 12" from slab to bottom of steel joists.

Program was to drill into steel joists, attach bolt, drill into slab, attach redhead. Run metal strapping from redhead to joist bolt. Every four feet. Every joist.

Crawling, belly crawling, dragging cords and lights to the far corner to start the day, knowing that it was a 75 foot crawl to the access to get back out, easy to get a case of the heebies.

To this day, the worst project I have ever been a part of.


----------



## steex (Feb 19, 2013)

This wasn't really the worst one I've ever been in, but I came across this picture recently while looking for something else. Since I was the skinny one, I used to be the guy that always got stuffed into small holes, so I have many crawlspace experiences that I would rather forget. I remember this one because I stuck my hand in a glue trap.


----------



## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

This thread is awesome.

I have two. Worst by far was a presale punchlist. The ho installed a bunch of insulation under the home upside down. It was december and the temp was about 35 degrees and raining. The crawlspace was exposed on beams. My job was to peel off all of the chicken wire holding up the insulation, turn the insulation around, and restaple the wire. freezing hands, numerous cuts and abrasions, rats nests, and a 200 square foot section where the clearance got down to ten inches. Imagine rubbing nasty rat, slug, spider filled insulation in your face for sixteen hours and youd about have it. Made 300$.

#2 drove an hour to look at a crwalspace that had been flooded twelve months prior and wasnt drying. Twelve month old standing water covered in mold and slime. Crawled through that crap to come up with a plan of attack. Customer refused my bid and refused to pay the forty bucks i wanted for my time to come out and bid. I think that was the last bid I ever did for a middle eastern person.


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

I'm from Colorado high country, where we don't have Brown Recluse spiders......;

I'm just wondering from others where the brown recluse is, what do you do to protect yourself when crawling a foundation, or an attic I guess.

Also, anyone know if there are brown recluse in San Francisco area.


----------



## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

Lester P. said:


> Manufactured homes. Earthquake preparedness to qualify for FHA loans, or something like that. 12" from slab to bottom of steel joists.
> 
> Program was to drill into steel joists, attach bolt, drill into slab, attach redhead. Run metal strapping from redhead to joist bolt. Every four feet. Every joist.
> 
> ...


Sir, my admiration is yours. I couldn't have done it.


----------



## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> I'm from Colorado high country, where we don't have Brown Recluse spiders......;
> 
> I'm just wondering from others where the brown recluse is, what do you do to protect yourself when crawling a foundation, or an attic I guess.
> 
> Also, anyone know if there are brown recluse in San Francisco area.


Can't answer directly but I'm quite sure I got bit 2 months ago by a hobo spider in a crawl space. Was replacing posts made of logs with precast concrete and pt posts with Simpson connections. 

The most notable symptom of the spider bite was a week long headache.


----------



## bddog (Jan 10, 2009)

Albany Oregon. A Historical Remodel . Replacing sill plate on an one hundred twenty year old home that never had any ventilation. The ground was saturated. It would just jack down into the earth , not up.
The worst part was the fungus. It was like one big mushroom.
We would come crawling out a half dark, half bright, Purple!
Soo slimy.


----------



## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

I think a sister thread should be started about attics!:laughing:

All electricians dread hot attic season too.

My worst crawl was about 50 feet from the access to the kitchen and all the gravel seemed to be razor sharp. This was within the last month and I still have scabs on my knees.

Nobody had obviously been down there in years. My first of 30 or so treks down there provided me with a covering that looked like a cobweb sweater. It was pretty thick.

No pics sorry.


----------



## Brian Peters (Feb 2, 2011)

Anyone read Patrick McManus? He had a good story about some plumbers finding a snake under his cabin...


----------



## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

The worst one that I dealt with was this Section 8 rental property. The owner vented the dryer under the house, it caused the joists to weaken, and then the sag in the floor pulled the drain away from the tub. 

So when I was called out there to fix the pipe and to jack up the house, I discovered that the tub drain had been running freely under the house for several weeks. I didn't know this ahead of time and I was a broke college kid who needed $50. So I had to swim through this cesspool of hair, soap scum, and other human entrails that find their way down the drain.

 Never again.


----------



## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

My worst one was my brother in laws house. talk about a black widow nest. It must have had thousands of these thing in it. They were all dug into the dirt walls and nothing we did would kill them so just had to work around them. 

the whole crawl space flooded to the floor joist twice and i thought this must have killed them as it was flooded for weeks. after it was drained we went down there the next day and sure enough they were all still alive! guess they dont need that much oxygen to survive in their little nests.


----------



## Brian Peters (Feb 2, 2011)

This is a good thread for this time of year with Halloween just around the corner!


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

BCConstruction said:


> My worst one was my brother in laws house. talk about a black widow nest. It must have had thousands of these thing in it. They were all dug into the dirt walls and nothing we did would kill them so just had to work around them.
> 
> the whole crawl space flooded to the floor joist twice and i thought this must have killed them as it was flooded for weeks. after it was drained we went down there the next day and sure enough they were all still alive! guess they dont need that much oxygen to survive in their little nests.


BC....... What did you do to "work around" them.... I don't think the black widow is as dangerous as the brown recluse.... but still dangerous.

Did you just stay away from the walls... is there any kind of repellent, do you tape your clothes tight, does light scare them or attract them....

Not just curious, but I may be helping someone in Vegas area, where I understand they have the brown recluse.

Maybe I should start a thread on it.

TIA

Peter


----------



## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

I was in one one time,nothing was that bad about the crawl space, but I was about 70' from the exit and we had a pretty good earth quake. I was crawling 100 mph out of that death trap.


----------



## Brian Peters (Feb 2, 2011)

Black widows scare me more than brown recluses, I don't know which is worse really.


----------



## ExtremePride (Oct 27, 2010)

We don't go under a house in this area until the exterminator has had his time in there. 3 days later and his pesticide is still dripping from the floor joist. We have both brown recluse and black widows here, as well as scorpions


----------



## wookie (Sep 28, 2009)

These stories bring up blocked out memories LOL. Pizzs me when previous remodelers use the crawl space as a dump! No fun crawling over broken tile, concrete and wire. 

I wear a heavy weight crawl suit, it has an attached hood when needed for spiders and such.High power LED headlamp makes a suck job tolerable.....barely.

wookie


----------



## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

Black widow bites are said to be some of the most excrutiating pain there is; but not fatal.

Brown recluse just causes massive tissue destruction and possible secondary infection.


----------



## Sar-Con (Jun 23, 2010)

Glad we don't have poisonous spiders up here, but we do have our share of vermin. In this photo that is not a teddy bear but a dead rabbit. Also found a cat carcus. Think an opposum is to blame...


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

Metro M & L said:


> Black widow bites are said to be some of the most excrutiating pain there is; but not fatal.
> 
> Brown recluse just causes massive tissue destruction and possible secondary infection.


Thanks.........Sorta


----------



## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Somehow, a mask, a tyvek suit, a sweatshirt with a hood, and a good pair of gloves makes me feel invincible under a house. 

Just let me go on with my fantasy, will ya?


----------



## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

bddog said:


> The ground was saturated. It would just jack down into the earth , not up.
> 
> Soo slimy.


Had a similar problem in my last investment house. Ended up taking the circular saw down there and building a few 3 inch thick platforms out of cross-hatched 2x10 's to support the jacks. Made them just bigger than the car jacks we were using to lift the house.


----------



## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> BC....... What did you do to "work around" them.... I don't think the black widow is as dangerous as the brown recluse.... but still dangerous.
> 
> Did you just stay away from the walls... is there any kind of repellent, do you tape your clothes tight, does light scare them or attract them....
> 
> ...


to be honest they do stay out your way. as soon as the light goes on they run off. yes i also stayed away from the dirt walls. We got the bug man over there to spray but black widows and brown recluse are hard to kill. I think they have to have direct contact with them for it to be effective as they can just walk straight over it once its down with zero affect.


----------



## ScipioAfricanus (Sep 13, 2008)

Here in So. Cal. I was under a 19th century Victorian during the Northridge earthquake.

It was a dark, nasty, spider infested and moldy mess.

When the quake happened it shifted the old house off it's foundation and I was crushed to death.

Not a good day I tell you.

Andy.


----------



## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> Also, anyone know if there are brown recluse in San Francisco area.


Yes. A friend's career as a pianist was ended by a bite in the hand.


----------



## AustinDB (Sep 11, 2006)

Apartment complex calls me at 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday-there is a crap smell coming from one of the apartments and we need it fixed asap. 45 minutes later I'm under the unit patching a 4" main that broke supplying 6 units worth of crap that had flooded the crawlspace. Full suit wading through 2-5" of 'stuff'. The entire space was remediated (2200sqft) with about 1100 sqft of fallen/moist insulation hauled out and new installed w/ VB throughout. 

Nasty-nasty. Service like that gets you a name-also use that as an example why company's should hire me.


----------



## Ninjaframer (May 28, 2011)

So me and 2 of my buddies built a home from the ground up, we get it framed and it's time to insulate. We get to the job with a truck full of insulation. First order of business is to insulate the crawl space but what does one of my buddies do? He walks over to the access in the subfloor and pisses in it. This is the only way into the crawl space. So me and my other buddy tell him he is now the lone crawl space insulator since he's a dumbass and just pissed where we have to crawl. A little whining and threatining later he finaly gets down into the crawl space and we start throwing insulation down to him. Then me and my buddy both piss into the hole and slap the piece of subfloor in place and staple that baby down  it took him about a 15 min to kick his way through the ply- while he laid in the pee puddle  

There were many times he cought shiz (his tool bags may have been peed in once to) but the crawl space was a good one. (He filled my bags with wet concrete so he deserved his getting peed in right?)


----------



## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

ScipioAfricanus said:


> Here in So. Cal. I was under a 19th century Victorian during the Northridge earthquake.
> 
> It was a dark, nasty, spider infested and moldy mess.
> 
> ...



So you are reincarnated?


----------



## TimelessQuality (Sep 23, 2007)

I miss Andy:sad:


----------



## sbcontracting (Apr 22, 2010)

Not a crawlspace but an attic. 

Was a 40 foot wide duplex. I had to hook up the bathroom fan to the hood vent. The attic access was in the neighbour's flat. I had to access the attic on my back as there was only 12" of clearance. I then had to combat crawl to the outside of the neighbour's unit, along to the back, and then cross over to the outside of the unit I was working in.

Max clearance was 18" but 14" was more common where I needed to work. 

No spiders, thankfully.


----------



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

sbcontracting said:


> I had to access the attic on my back as there was only 12" of clearance. I then had to combat crawl to the outside of the neighbour's unit, along to the back, and then cross over to the outside of the unit I was working in.


That ain't so bad. Bad would be if it was 120° up there. :laughing:


----------



## ScipioAfricanus (Sep 13, 2008)

Morning Wood said:


> So you are reincarnated?


No, everyone knows re-incarnation is a crock of chit.

I am still dead.

Andy.


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

ScipioAfricanus said:


> Here in So. Cal. I was under a 19th century Victorian during the Northridge earthquake.
> 
> It was a dark, nasty, spider infested and moldy mess.
> 
> ...



So.... That explains that fine deck that you tried to jerk us with the other day. 

Maybe you really did build that "cattle pen" (quote Griz as I remember)

Peter


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

ScipioAfricanus said:


> No, everyone knows re-incarnation is a crock of chit.
> 
> I am still dead.
> 
> Andy.



So.... I'm sure you're not looking down on us, and we're pretty sure you must be looking up on us.

So how hot is it really down there?????


----------



## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

Pulled a mumified cat out. Then, there are the ones you need to bring a shovel just to get around. What really stinks is when by accident, you bring your phone and it falls out, and you have to go back in there.


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

CarpenterSFO said:


> Yes. A friend's career as a pianist was ended by a bite in the hand.


Bob.... Do you have any tips, advice in protecting yourself.

My son's place in Dana Point is on a perimeter foundation.... my daughters in Marin is SOG.

At my daughters, am I likely to find brown recluse in a dry attic.

Actually I have been in both my son's foundation crawl and my daughters attic for a fair degree..... with no problem..... but I have another trip out coming up, with extensive work in those crawl spaces,and am a little worried/cautious.


(My Sis in Texas just had her husband bit by a brown recluse, and it was really serious. It's making me a little more cautious... no downright scared/chickenchit.)

Thanks for any additional advice.


Best

Peter


----------



## ScipioAfricanus (Sep 13, 2008)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> So.... That explains that fine deck that you tried to jerk us with the other day.
> 
> Maybe you really did build that "cattle pen" (quote Griz as I remember)
> 
> Peter


What...you saw something wrong with the deck?

I thought you guys were just pulling me leg.

Andy.


----------



## ScipioAfricanus (Sep 13, 2008)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> So.... I'm sure you're not looking down on us, and we're pretty sure you must be looking up on us.
> 
> So how hot is it really down there?????


Remember, it's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Andy.


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

TimelessQuality said:


> It's sheds... And an egg sack. Not sure what species, but I believe they are brown recluse.
> 
> Behind a stove in a floor job this week.


Timeless.... In a previous post thyat referenced an artical on Brown recluse, it identified they inhabited a N-S belt down the US....Kansas territory.

Are they known to exist around you.... do you run into them much.... I guess they don't necessarilly seek damp dark places, considering where you found them.


----------



## TimelessQuality (Sep 23, 2007)

Yeah, I believe there are a lot of them here.. My barn is full of many types of spiders. 

They really don't pose much of a threat, bites are pretty rare


----------



## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

Last week was the worst experience ever. Gal wanted to have the duct underneath the bathroom replaced. It was an old historic house. Probably a 1' clearance between ground and bottom of joist. 

Removed the duct to find a bunch of "droppings" coming out. Ok, think I am going to find a dead rodent of some type. None found, but there is a terrible smell. Re-strap the new duct to the boot. Due to clearances, there are some issues. Everything smells real bad in the bathroom above as well. Can't open a window, and can't identify the source, but it is familiar. I mention the smell to the client, and they acknowledge the smell, but say nothing.

The following day, while replacing the furnace, the plumber mentioned how somebody was literally decomposing in said bathroom. The mortgage company discovered the body after a spell.


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

flashheatingand said:


> Last week was the worst experience ever. Gal wanted to have the duct underneath the bathroom replaced. It was an old historic house. Probably a 1' clearance between ground and bottom of joist.
> 
> Removed the duct to find a bunch of "droppings" coming out. Ok, think I am going to find a dead rodent of some type. None found, but there is a terrible smell. Re-strap the new duct to the boot. Due to clearances, there are some issues. Everything smells real bad in the bathroom above as well. Can't open a window, and can't identify the source, but it is familiar. I mention the smell to the client, and they acknowledge the smell, but say nothing.
> 
> The following day, while replacing the furnace, the plumber mentioned how somebody was literally decomposing in said bathroom. The mortgage company discovered the body after a spell.



WHAT


----------



## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

Exactly.


----------



## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

So wait... they knew there was a decomposing body in their tub?


----------



## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

Client (neighbor) must have purchased the home after the fact. The sad thing is the deceased must have been so alone, that it took a mortgage company to discover him/her.

Lots of people die in the bathroom. Don't know if they died in the tub, or toilet...etc. I suspect it was on the toilet


----------



## Brian Peters (Feb 2, 2011)

I would sure hate to be the one who discovered that .


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

flashheatingand said:


> Client (neighbor) must have purchased the home after the fact. The sad thing is the deceased must have been so alone, that it took a mortgage company to discover him/her.
> 
> Lots of people die in the bathroom. Don't know if they died in the tub, or toilet...etc. I suspect it was on the toilet


Similar thing happened in a house in my home town. Home owner died and rotted there for quite some time. The mailbox was soon stuffed with mail and police went to investigate.

The bank sold the house and my father spoke to the new owners. He asked about the state of the previous owner and how clean was the house was upon closing. The owner replied 'clean? Nope the police only took the big chunks, most was melted into the carpet'


----------

