Many homes have crawl spaces. These spaces are convenient in certain ways that you might not have considered.
A crawl space allows workers to easily access pipes and vents. They can also help with ventilation.
Of course, you need to be able to access the crawl space. There will be some type of opening that allows you to crawl and enter the space under your home.
How big does the access area need to be? Is there a specific size that you need to shoot for?
Keep reading to learn about crawl space access sizes. This should help you to better understand what you’re supposed to do.
How Big is a Crawl Space Opening?
A crawl space opening through the floor should be at least 18 inches by 24 inches. This is considered the minimum acceptable size for a floor crawl space access.
Perimeter wall access points are a little bit different. The minimum size for this access point is supposed to be 16 inches by 24 inches.
Keep in mind that these measurements are the minimum acceptable measurements. You might want to make the entry points a bit bigger so you don’t feel like it’s too tight.
It might be beneficial to have a bigger access door. For example, if you’re a big person, it might be tough to squeeze into a small crawl space opening.
Measure things out and come up with a plan that makes things easy for you. Keep the minimum acceptable crawl space opening sizes in mind, but don’t be afraid to make the opening a bit bigger if it makes things more convenient for you.
What is the Minimum Height for a Crawl Space?
Many people have crawl spaces that aren’t very high at all. It’s common for crawl spaces to be very tight fits, but they do need to be a minimum of eighteen inches high.
A crawl space that doesn’t have a minimum clear height of eighteen inches would be very tough to utilize. It’d be hard for a person to fit in the crawl space.
Generally, when people are building houses, they’ll make sure that the crawl space is high enough. It’ll never be shorter than eighteen inches.
The eighteen inches measurement is the distance between the bottom of the floor joists to the ground. So long as this is kept in mind, it’ll be easy to make sure that the crawl space is tall enough.
How High Should a Crawl Space Be?
As mentioned above, the crawl space needs to be at least eighteen inches high. If your crawl space is shorter than that, it’d be very tough to use it properly.
One of the most important aspects of having a crawl space is to be able to access it when necessary. If the crawl space is too short, you might not be able to fit in or move around down there.
A crawl space that has a clearance height of eighteen inches should be sufficient. Some crawl spaces might be slightly taller than this.
It just depends on the design. Most crawl spaces are going to be fairly tight fits, but they do need to be at least eighteen inches high.
How Deep is a Crawl Space?
You already learned that the minimum acceptable height for a crawl space is eighteen inches. How deep is a crawl space supposed to be?
Well, a crawl space can be up to seventy inches deep. Many experts say that a crawl space can be anywhere from eighteen inches to seventy inches high.
If you go deeper than that, you’d be making a basement. It would no longer be a proper crawl space because it’d be a much larger area.
Having a crawl space that’s a bit higher than usual can be a lot easier in some ways. If the crawl space is tall enough, you won’t actually have to crawl on your hands and knees to access everything.
Final Thoughts
Getting things right with your crawl space is pretty important. If you don’t make sure that the crawl space access points are large enough, it’s going to be tough to use them.
You can’t expect workers to try to stuff themselves into access doors that are incredibly tiny. It’s also important to make sure that your crawl space is tall enough.
If the crawl space isn’t at least eighteen inches tall, it’ll be impractical. You’d have to pull your floors up to check things because no one would be able to comfortably fit in the crawl space.
A crawl space can’t be taller than seventy inches. If the crawl space is taller than that, it would actually be considered to be a basement.
Having a crawl space can be helpful, but so can having a basement. Whether you’ll want to have a basement or a crawl space will depend on the area where you live, your needs, and other factors.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
--
If you want more backyard tips including recipes, how-tos and more, make sure you subscribe to my youtube channel