Happening Today

[FedoraDave]

I do love a good crawl space. My house is half basement/garage, half crawl space. The house was built in stages, over decades. So the crawl space has windows and steps that don't go anywhere.

Yesterday I was in a crawl space reaching around a corner to grab a wire I was running and thought I grabbed the wire when in fact it was a mummified rat. FUN

Welcome to my world.

[Brewbirds]

I do love a good crawl space. My house is half basement/garage, half crawl space. The house was built in stages, over decades. So the crawl space has windows and steps that don't go anywhere.

Yesterday I was in a crawl space reaching around a corner to grab a wire I was running and thought I grabbed the wire when in fact it was a mummified rat. FUN

Welcome to my world.

Yes the guys on my job have been telling me all of their crawl space stories and I bet the two of you have experienced them all.

Hi Joe, I miss you.

[Whamolagan]

I would have to say the worst was when I got stuck under a house, I got loose and turned over to find a dried out pig head. I was nose to snout with it. scared the &^%&^ out of me and I hit my head so hard it made me dizzy. My boss didn't believe me. The next day we had to go out there for another issue and he got to stick his head under the house and got in the same situation. We still laugh about it.

[FedoraDave]

I once had to go into a crawlspace to inspect for termite activity. We all knew they had termites, but I went down to look for current activity. Anyway, the crawl went under the entire house, accessible by a trap door in a closet in the middle of the house. There was so much water (not moisture -- water) down there that they had a creeper, like auto mechanics use, for anyone like plumbers and electricians who had to go down there.

I had to wheel myself to the far side of the house, where the breezeway was. I looked all around, and there was a lot of damage, but no live activity. So I started to wheel myself back, and grabbed onto two sistered joists to break the inertia. The thing crumbled under my hands like it was made of Graham crackers. And this was holding up a load-bearing wall! I was scared Chiclets, and got out of there ASAP!

[Whamolagan]

They had concrete poured in their crawl space?

[FedoraDave]

I don't recall. I believe so, because there were actual puddles throughout, rather than the swamp that would have resulted from a dirt floor. Crawlspace slabs don't seem to be that unusual around here. My parents' house has a partial crawl, and it's a slab floor.

[Brewbirds]

This is SOOO not good.
Someone had posted a pic afew days ago on our Nextdoor forum asking what kind of snake was on her back porch and I thought OH! you poor lady.

And yesterday I look out of my kitchen window and here comes a 4 foot long black snake. Understand that our shower is a cordoned off section of the carport right now and this guy was about 2 feet away from it.

I went out the back door and grabbed a broom and the snake was cruising along the backyard wall of the house trying to get through one of those little crawl space vents and there is NO floor in the master bath right now.

The snake ignored me whacking the broom in its direction so I turned the hose on it and it scooted. Only thing is that the crawl space door is crap (on the list for the builder to fix) so I don't know if it went into the crawl space or around the corner of the house through the chain link fence.

I definitely prefer slabs.

[John Sand]

Quick thinking on the hose BB.
I don't think your snake is venomous, but I understand that you don't want it in the shower.
Among the many animals I removed or captured in suburban police work was a snake from a garage. When I was a kid, my brother and I strove to catch snakes. As a grown-up, not so much.

[mashani]

Never had a slab or a crawlspace, only basements.

My old house basement, we'd get big sewer rats. So big they terrified the cats, who would then refuse to go down there and use their litter box. So I'd have to try to trap them, or if all else failed become big game hunter Mashani with my high velocity target shooting pellet rifle.

[FedoraDave]

You might want to buy some large rat-sized glueboards, Birdie. Put them on top of the foundation wall, especially near the crawlspace doors and vents. It's not perfect, but it may catch some vermin that try to get in. It's more difficult when everything is open, but since you're having work done, you can rest a little easier knowing that, when it's finished, things will be sealed up a little better.

[Whamolagan]

The snake will take care of the rats

[FedoraDave]

That's like the people who tell me they don't mind all the spider webs around their houses. "They eat the other bugs."

Uh, yeah, but that's hardly effective pest control.

[Brewbirds]

It must be a seasonal thing with the black snakes. Both my contractor and the electrician were here today and had sightings. Fattening up for the winter I guess.

My dog is going to be bummed if Chipmunk Charlie becomes a snake appetizer.

@ The Hat my one of the builders' assistants wants extra work and is going to come over and critter proof the attic and crawl space for me. I just need to figure out how much to pay a person who makes nightmares go away.

@Mashani OOOOOOHHHHH

[FedoraDave]

He should probably charge by the linear foot. I can't tell you what a decent rate would be for your location, but it's a starting point for you.