Pier and Beam Houses… Part 1

There are two types of houses in Dallas, those that have just had foundation work completed and those that will soon require foundation work.

Did you know that most houses in Texas don’t have basements? My experience is limited to Dallas, and I can assure you that it is the case: no basements. That’s because the houses are on stilts. The foundation goes around the house and cement piers are driven into the bedrock to support the beams upon which the rest of the house is built.

Normally, there is a small square in the home into the crawlspace between the beams and the dirt underneath. It’s usually the hall closet or bedroom closet. Open it up and there is the end of civilization.

My crawl space has only been invaded by a family of electricians and an unlucky plumber. Until yesterday. Any dirty jokes here and they are on your conscious. I decided to explorer my own crawlspace and see what was holding the water in the wife’s tub longer than she wished it would stay.

Being under the house is intense because I’m not really fond of spiders. There’s spiders under the house. Snakes, roaches, other beings with more or less legs than me, I’m ok with, but I didn’t see any thing but spiders.

As it turns out, there was another reason for me to be there. I had to check out a newly discovered leak caused by condensation and an AC unit. I’m pretty sure the leak is what caused ALL of the dirt to turn into quickmud. Think of quicksand and just go with quickmud.

Good, I’ve set the mood and the environment…

Oh, I had a headlamp on as my primary light source. Dark, quickmud, sticky, spiders, 18 inch crawlspace… Now I’ve set the mood. In part 2 I might actually get to my story. For now, I have to get some sleep.