There are pros and cons to having a home with a slab foundation. Today we’re going to explain what you should look out for if your home has a concrete slab!
Climate considerations
Luckily, North Carolina winters usually aren’t too cold. They usually don’t drop below 0° F outside the mountains. So, you should be fine having a slab foundation. If you lived further north, your concrete slab would be in danger of cracking — below zero is the danger zone for this.
Benefits of a slab foundation
But even if North Carolina is the right climate for a slab foundation, why exactly would you want one, vs. a crawlspace? Often, the reason a slab foundation is constructed is because they are less expensive to build, and don’t take long to build. Since they don’t have to build a basement or crawl space, all the builders have to do is prep the ground and pour the concrete, which can usually be done within a few days. This is especially helpful here in North Carolina, because our soil is really tough to dig into. That’s why not many people have basements around here!
But there’s one big advantage to a slab foundation beyond being easy and cheap for the builders: it also makes life easy and cheap for YOU! Without a crawlspace or basement, your energy bills (for both heating and cooling, year-round) are lower. Another big advantage is that crawlspaces can grow mold or mildew, or have a problem with mice, cockroaches, etc. … but with a slab foundation you don’t have that issue. There’s no space for any of these unwanted pests to proliferate!
Cons of a slab foundation
As you are probably already aware if you have a home with a slab foundation, plumbing repairs become more difficult. The plumbing is beneath the concrete slab. So if you have a leak, the slab has to be jackhammered to get to the pipes. This is both messy and expensive! Since it may be harder to detect plumbing issues in the first place with a slab foundation, Weather Master can help you out with a plumbing inspection.
The other con of a slab foundation is that the concrete will get cracks in it, because of climate and moisture issues. Unfortunately, because of how humid it is here in the Carolinas, you will get quite a bit of moisture, but of course that’s not a problem unique to slab foundations … If you had a crawlspace or a basement, you’d be getting mold and mildew issues. So you have to pick, do you want a moldy basement, or cracks in your slab foundation? We’ll leave that question up to you to decide. For our part here at Weather Master, we’ll just point out that we have a range of solutions to help, including dehumidifiers, and plumbing repairs!
No matter what type your home’s foundation is here in Raleigh, we want to provide a good foundation for your home comfort. Schedule service online anytime or call us at (919) 853-7910!