The 3 Most Common Home Foundation Types

The Canyons homeowners should always know what type of foundation their home uses. Likewise, buyers need to know what type of foundation every prospective home they look at has. The type of foundation a home uses will affect how it’s repaired if it is damaged and how well it can affect the home. All foundations do two main tasks: support the home and keep groundwater and dirt out of the home. There are multiple different ways to build a home’s foundation, but three types are more common than the rest. Here are the three most common home foundation types and how they differ from each other.

Slab Foundations

Slab foundations are easily one of the most popular foundation types due to how affordable they are. Their installation is also a lot more simple in comparison to other foundations, which is another factor adding to their popularity. 

Out of these three foundation types, slab foundations require the least amount of maintenance. However, slab foundations are not without their disadvantages. The home’s plumbing systems are also buried in the dirt below the foundation. If something breaks, this makes repairs much more costly than they would be with another foundation. 

Because slab foundations are effectively just a slab of flat concrete, they don’t offer very much protection from storms. If the home is in an area prone to flooding, the homeowner will definitely need flood insurance. When building a home with a slab foundation, builders will help reduce any chance of flooding by creating proper drainage leading away from the home.

Crawlspace Foundations

Of the three most common foundation types, crawlspace foundations are the least popular. A crawlspace foundation is the midpoint between slabs and basements. They cost more than a slab foundation but less than a basement.

Crawlspace foundations resolve one of the issues slab foundations raise. Because there is an empty space below the home, they provide much easier access to the home’s plumbing and utilities than slab foundations. Having a crawlspace foundation also means the home will have warmer floors, which may be desirable if the home is in a colder climate. This occurs because the home isn’t built directly on a cold slab of cement and the crawlspace is usually conditioned.

While crawlspace foundations fix one of the problems of slab foundations, they also have a couple problems of their own. The biggest one of which is how they’re prone to moisture, which can lead to mold and mildew growing in the crawlspace.

Basement Foundations

The final foundation type is the basement foundation. Like crawlspace foundations, basements provide easy access to plumbing and utilities, but they also have extra advantages. First, they create an extra living or storage space in the home. Homeowners can choose to finish their basements or leave them as-is, and both give the home added square feet. Second, basements provide excellent protection from extreme weather conditions like tornados. Neither of the other foundation types can claim this advantage.

Because basements require the most work to build, they also have the highest price, so they aren’t accessible for everyone. It’s also impossible to have homes with basements in some locations. For instance, flood-prone areas will almost never have basements. Still on the topic of flooding, basements need to have a sump pump in case a flood happens to ensure the water can drain properly.

Knowing the type of foundation a home has is important for knowing how to best take care of it. All three of these foundation types provide advantages and disadvantages, and each of them can support a great home.