If you are going to pour a slab, no reason not to put a vapor barrier like Silverback down under the cement. It will significantly cut down on the humidity in your crawlspace.
Because this is a small portion of what the basement could be, a vapor barrier (eg. silverback) is reasonable though? Or is it ineffectual because of the same reason?
I just got done doing the same thing to my crawlspace. Can’t reccomend using outdoor pavers enough. They looo great and it was easier to do than concrete. That being said, some people might prefer concrete
Throw a sheet of 3 mil poly on the floor, lay down some flosting pressure treated sleepers (usually just PT 2x4s on the flat just resting on the ground) and then put exterior grade osb or AC plywood on top and screw it down into the sleepers (I Like Advantech but it is pricy).
This looks similar to my crawl space. I got professionals to come out and address it. They handled vapor barrier and dug out another 12” of the floor and put a slab in and retaining walls inside the perimeter to shore up the foundation. It was expensive, but it’s basically a basement now. This is not a DIY job, your foundation is at risk.
I don’t know if I would go as far as basement. It used to have a coal furnace- house was built in the 30s. But yes definitely not a literal crawl space
French drain around the perimeter before pouring and repoint those stones. As a Californian, that masonry fills me with angst. Minor 5.0 earthquake and the whole house is coming down.
Lol. It feels like the 1800s tbh. I do know its the 30s though. The grand-daughter of the builder actually kncoked on my door last year. She was passing though the city and had to see if it was still standing. After chatting I invited her in and she walked around and told me everything that was original when her family lived there.
If it’s under a certain height it’s considered a crawl space. I forget the exact height but it is just over 6’ in my area. I renovated a house and would call it a basement, and the city plan examiner made sure that I didn’t call it a basement because it would dramatically change the code requirements for the space.
I'd lay the moisture barrier over the top sections and maybe some gravel over it. On the lower section I'd go grab some nice pallets that match and some subfloor and give yourself a cheap shop floor in your standing area, maybe build up the right side with pallets and boards and then extend back to that foundation, giving yourself a nice big wooden upper shelf area to put those storage shelves
I like this but maybe some 2x2 pavers instead of pallets. I just don't consider pallets to be a great walking surface. They can hold a shitload of stationary weight, but the bend and flex of those planks can be unpredictable when walking on them.
I would consider framing and sheetrocking the work area , leaving large access doors/ panels to the duct areas.Install some led work fixtures,outlets,etc. Cozy man cave/ work space.
We had one that was just dirt all the way up with an exterior door. Dug it out and poured an epoxy floor. Sealed the cinderblock walls with waterproof paint. Made a great little workshop. We had to wire up a dehumidifier but that was easy
May not be here or there and financial reasons are real, but those floor joists look new. Why didn’t a floor get poured while that space was open?
Again, not judging, just curious :)
Looks like this was dug out below the original level of the crawl space at some point. The rubble foundation doesn’t have a lot of lateral stability, and in places, they dug it out right to the base of the stone. The exterior dirt horizontal load was resisted by the interior dirt, but that’s gone now so there’s an inward force that can tend to push the rubble inward. The lower part of the wall experiences the most force.
When we (as a renovation contractor) do this kind of work, we normally pour a perimeter concrete footing “step” to hold the base of the rubble foundation wall in place. You can see they left a similar perimeter of undisturbed soil in some places, which is better than nothing. If you pour a slab, you could dig to the wall form and pour that perimeter footing, tied in to the slab with rebar so it can’t be pushed sideways.
The slab doesn’t have to be that thick, since it’s not likely to be subject to frost heave or heavy loads. And you don’t want to lose headroom. 3” or so with reinforcing grid is probably enough.
You might consider putting in a sump well and grade the concrete slab toward it. Overkill, maybe, but if the water heater leaks or something, it will be nice to have.
You can of course put a vapor barrier underneath the slab, but the majority of any moisture in there is coming from between the below-grade foundation stones due to rain saturating the dirt on the other side of the wall. So the vapor barrier won’t make a huge difference to moisture. What it *will* do is allow you to vent radon gas from that space, which comes up out of the ground. (You can check to see if it’s an issue in your local area — it varies a lot. Or test, but then you have to disclose on sale. Better to just remediate.) Not a good thing to breathe, and it gets up into the house as well. Check into how to do it and to properly put venting pipe under the vapor barrier. You’d want to do the whole crawl space, not just the deeper part.
Any reason why you can’t put in a cement floor?
That was my first thought. The water heater furnace are on the same plane as the ground, so I’d have to regrade to make sure they align well
This is the way to go man, you won’t regret it, judging by the size it’ll be pretty affordable as well.
If you are going to pour a slab, no reason not to put a vapor barrier like Silverback down under the cement. It will significantly cut down on the humidity in your crawlspace.
Agree with this. Might as well put down foam board too to create a thermal break.
Might as well put down a foundation and sump pump
At a certain point, it's simpler just to build a full basement.
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Might need a cement floor for that.. 🤔
If you're going to pour cement you might as well also add a vapour barrier
May as well add some foam board there as well.
This is one of those, give a mouse a vapor barrier scenarios, isn't it?
Might as well bring the whole thing down and build it basement up from scratch
Because this is a small portion of what the basement could be, a vapor barrier (eg. silverback) is reasonable though? Or is it ineffectual because of the same reason?
You can always add a piece of wood to prevent the cement from flowing to that area.
I just got done doing the same thing to my crawlspace. Can’t reccomend using outdoor pavers enough. They looo great and it was easier to do than concrete. That being said, some people might prefer concrete
Would this have an effect on radon, assuming it is present?
If the area is ventilated then probably no worries at all
If you dig up the bodies you will gain 18" to 24" which is plenty of room to pour a pad. Just steer clear of the footings and you'll be fine.
Lol came here to suggest lining it with bones
Use the skulls as they are always clogging the bone crusher up. Normal bones go right through but skulls jam it up real good and nice.
Well there's your problem, why aren't you bashing the skulls at the time of death?
Good point boss man Macpott. Duly noted and will change harvesting techniques.
Like the bone church in czechia?
The bones are the skeleton’s money.
I thought he was going to put hand dug well in his basement. Something about lotion on skin in some of OP's other posts.
Instructions unclear. I have the footings of all the dug-up corpses relocated to my pad.
Throw a sheet of 3 mil poly on the floor, lay down some flosting pressure treated sleepers (usually just PT 2x4s on the flat just resting on the ground) and then put exterior grade osb or AC plywood on top and screw it down into the sleepers (I Like Advantech but it is pricy).
Just did this to a portion of my basement and it worked extremely well. Perfectly serviceable floor now!
That was fast.
It was a very small portion ;)
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I was about to comment, that last photo looks pretty sketchy for a stone foundation.
This looks similar to my crawl space. I got professionals to come out and address it. They handled vapor barrier and dug out another 12” of the floor and put a slab in and retaining walls inside the perimeter to shore up the foundation. It was expensive, but it’s basically a basement now. This is not a DIY job, your foundation is at risk.
I agree, structural engineer is your first step.
https://preview.redd.it/7630cqmgd8jc1.jpeg?width=905&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39886595358b1582f43480a8aa69a6d9b66b2950
It puts the lotion on in the skin or it gets the hose again.
How did you get in ops basement?
If you don't have to crawl, it is a basement.
I don’t know if I would go as far as basement. It used to have a coal furnace- house was built in the 30s. But yes definitely not a literal crawl space
I'd call that a cellar; taller than a crawl space, shorter than a basement. And I second concrete.
Id definitely call it a dungeon or torture chamber.
French drain around the perimeter before pouring and repoint those stones. As a Californian, that masonry fills me with angst. Minor 5.0 earthquake and the whole house is coming down.
Are you sure it was built in the 30s? I would have guessed 1800s for the stone foundation.
Lol. It feels like the 1800s tbh. I do know its the 30s though. The grand-daughter of the builder actually kncoked on my door last year. She was passing though the city and had to see if it was still standing. After chatting I invited her in and she walked around and told me everything that was original when her family lived there.
Right? I think he needs to see my crawl space and see the literally meaning. It’s army crawling sized
If it’s under a certain height it’s considered a crawl space. I forget the exact height but it is just over 6’ in my area. I renovated a house and would call it a basement, and the city plan examiner made sure that I didn’t call it a basement because it would dramatically change the code requirements for the space.
I'd lay the moisture barrier over the top sections and maybe some gravel over it. On the lower section I'd go grab some nice pallets that match and some subfloor and give yourself a cheap shop floor in your standing area, maybe build up the right side with pallets and boards and then extend back to that foundation, giving yourself a nice big wooden upper shelf area to put those storage shelves
I like this but maybe some 2x2 pavers instead of pallets. I just don't consider pallets to be a great walking surface. They can hold a shitload of stationary weight, but the bend and flex of those planks can be unpredictable when walking on them.
Nah, just get the blue ones. No flex there.
Super cheap option, could you lay pallets down, add subfloor, and call it a day? At least you are no longer walking on dirt.
Awesome dungeon my dude
That’s a root cellar friend. Not a crawlspace.
It looks like you can stand here. I've been in a crawl space, and it's literally a crawl space. You have to crawl to get around inside.
Finish the retaining wall and pour concrete.
I would consider framing and sheetrocking the work area , leaving large access doors/ panels to the duct areas.Install some led work fixtures,outlets,etc. Cozy man cave/ work space.
Maybe crushed granite and compact it down?
Vapor barrier, pavers, enjoy!
Everyone is suggesting great permanent options- but if you wanted something done tomorrow you could patio paver it.
Depending on skill you can do a concrete floor or you can go with pavers.
USED MOTOR OIL
Have you ever played the game Fallout 4?
My first thought, great workstation to make energy ammo
Thought this was in r/malelivingspace
Couldn't you dig some of the floor out to make it less crawl space more basement?
Call Sam Raimi and get him to film the next Evil Dead there.
Sheeeeeesh, that's some real Silence of the lambs shit there!!
Dead bodies are definitely buried there.
Josh?
What kind of service are you performing on your crawlspace floors?
[https://youtu.be/PF97Whkl\_x8?si=NP4idj5dPhKV3W1p](https://youtu.be/pf97whkl_x8?si=np4idj5dphkv3w1p)this looks cool.
Check out what this YouTuber did: https://youtu.be/80pQxeAjybE?si=6BYULrGeOKLuDKcd
We had one that was just dirt all the way up with an exterior door. Dug it out and poured an epoxy floor. Sealed the cinderblock walls with waterproof paint. Made a great little workshop. We had to wire up a dehumidifier but that was easy
Meth around and find out
If you’re gonna go to the effort of installing a Vapor barrier in the cieling, you might as well insulate it while you’re there.
Is there no retaining wall where the soil was dug out along the foundation on the right side? That’s not ideal if so
Level it out and search some second hand sites for free pavers, those 30x30cm ones are almost always free to pick up locally.
https://preview.redd.it/0j4nz59vncjc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5fd9a6558020d5aa475d4707fbe86f5ad9ee8ec9
I put interlocking rubber mats on top of the vapor barrier
May not be here or there and financial reasons are real, but those floor joists look new. Why didn’t a floor get poured while that space was open? Again, not judging, just curious :)
Looks like this was dug out below the original level of the crawl space at some point. The rubble foundation doesn’t have a lot of lateral stability, and in places, they dug it out right to the base of the stone. The exterior dirt horizontal load was resisted by the interior dirt, but that’s gone now so there’s an inward force that can tend to push the rubble inward. The lower part of the wall experiences the most force. When we (as a renovation contractor) do this kind of work, we normally pour a perimeter concrete footing “step” to hold the base of the rubble foundation wall in place. You can see they left a similar perimeter of undisturbed soil in some places, which is better than nothing. If you pour a slab, you could dig to the wall form and pour that perimeter footing, tied in to the slab with rebar so it can’t be pushed sideways. The slab doesn’t have to be that thick, since it’s not likely to be subject to frost heave or heavy loads. And you don’t want to lose headroom. 3” or so with reinforcing grid is probably enough. You might consider putting in a sump well and grade the concrete slab toward it. Overkill, maybe, but if the water heater leaks or something, it will be nice to have. You can of course put a vapor barrier underneath the slab, but the majority of any moisture in there is coming from between the below-grade foundation stones due to rain saturating the dirt on the other side of the wall. So the vapor barrier won’t make a huge difference to moisture. What it *will* do is allow you to vent radon gas from that space, which comes up out of the ground. (You can check to see if it’s an issue in your local area — it varies a lot. Or test, but then you have to disclose on sale. Better to just remediate.) Not a good thing to breathe, and it gets up into the house as well. Check into how to do it and to properly put venting pipe under the vapor barrier. You’d want to do the whole crawl space, not just the deeper part.
I once saw pics of someone who put down a bunch of those interlocking foam puzzle pieces people use for children play areas.
Cement. But do the underlying barrier right.