Shortly after moving to Arkansas, I noticed a funny little door on the side of Ex-Boyfriend's house.
"What's that for?" I asked.
In response, he opened it. There before me was a huge dark, dank earthen hole underneath his house.
"It's the crawlspace," he said. "Very common here."
NOT WHERE I COME FROM.
It creeped me out then, and it creeped me years later when Hubs and I moved into our little house -- which also boasts a cave underneath.
Ugh.
The thought of living over a hole doesn't appeal. Oh, sure, there's a liner down there, but still -- the potential for mold, insects and animal nesting really skeeves me.
And the things the previous owners did down there ... The phone wiring is totally screwed up. And our dryer? It vents down there. Hello mold.
That's Hubs' next project -- redoing the vent, which we couldn't even find until the phone company guy crawled around down there in an effort to do something about the wiring.
"Yeah, whoever lived here before has lines running up over your vent," the repairman said.
I all but lunged at him.
"YOU FOUND THE DRYER VENT?! WHERE? WHERE IS IT?!"
Who knows what else is down there?
I was complaining about the crawlspace a few days ago -- I blame the wee crawlspace door that often blows open for the giant rodent that moved in -- when a co-worker overheard.
"Oh. Crawlspaces," she said with a roll of the eyes.
Apparently, she frequently loses cats to them -- not only hers, but also those belonging to her neighbors.
L. is a kind woman who has adopted several strays. When one disappears, all the neighbors head down to their respective crawlspaces armed with flashlights.
L. has ventured down into her own on several cat-rescuing missions. Very difficult to find a cat tucked away under your house, she says. Even more difficult is retrieving a feral cat.
My friend Cindy and her husband must contend with possums that take up residence in their crawlspace.
"He's still traumatized from the last time," she says, describing the discovery of a possum carcass.
Can you imagine? Crawling under your house with a flashlight and finding a dead, rotting creature? *shudder*
So.
While I find the old houses charming and quirky, I would happily fill in that blasted, creepy hole so that I could live on top of a slab.
Where I come from, little doors don't open to your home's nether regions.
Concrete. Give me blessed, rodent-resistant concrete.
9 comments:
LOL! Home's nether regions!
But where would the monsters live if not in the crawlspace?
We not only have a dark basement, but there is an underground stream running beneath our house.
That definitely has to be some bad feng shui!
Your dryer vents in the crawl space? That's odd.
We have a crawl space too, but it is only accessible from inside the house.
Crawl spaces are *weird*. We don't have them - must be a "warmer climates" thing...
Heidi
Oooh crawlspaces.
We had a root cellar in our basement in MA. I pretended it did not creep me out at all. We converted it to a wine cellar but that didn't help.
Nothing under our house now except swampland that's been filled in.
Julie
Using My Words
We had a crawl space under my parent's house growing up. I PLAYED under there. Yes I did.
I love reading your blog. It makes me homesick sometimes but I enjoy it.
We have a little door too! And ever time I see it, I think it is going to lead to Munchkinland or something!
Thankfully, no rodents or feral cats -- but the boys do like putting on their headlamps and going down there to "explore".
That's about all they're good for!
I like the tiny little doors - but that's all I like about a crawl space! Have a good Thanksgiving, Cathy. See you soon. Kellan
The two houses I've owned: both had crawlspaces. The way I've felt about those crawlspaces: Not good.
I feel ya sister.
crawl spaces are definitely freaky. you should look into Crawlspace Mold Remediation. That'll let you know if anything weird is growing down there.
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