Crawl Space (or lack thereof)

[cbcotton]

I just had an inspection done on a house I am trying to purchase and there is no crawl space access. The house is 97 yrs old, and I was wondering if this was normal?

Also, are there any regulations on how big a crawl space needs to be for an older home? If not, what would you recommend esp. in the event that a pipe breaks/leaks in the kitchen (here it is only 4" from joyce to ground and am considering excavation to alleviate this problem).

Thanks!

 

[glennjanie]

If a house is not 24" off the ground, I would run as fast as you can. Houses built too close to the ground have a multitude of problems; moisture, rot, termites, rodents, on and on and on.
Glenn

 

[cranbrook2]

If a house is not 24" off the ground, I would run as fast as you can. Houses built too close to the ground have a multitude of problems; moisture, rot, termites, rodents, on and on and on.
Glenn

In Canada the the crawl space has to be at least 24" and vented for heat or they will have problems with frozen pipes to say the least.