| A home inspector sees an assortment of | | | | items are the biggest worry. They are |
| debris when he or she inspects crawl | | | | conducive debris and can lead to |
| spaces underneath homes. It seems that | | | | attracting wood destroying organisms. |
| the common philosophy is out of sight, | | | | Other things I have seen include wood |
| out of mind. Day after day, I see crawl | | | | planters that always seem to belong to |
| spaces that are packed with clutter. | | | | the homeowner or a previous homeowner. |
| While many homeowners actually cause the | | | | One unpleasant find is a crawl space |
| problem by poor management and adding | | | | that is a repository for old boards with |
| their own clutter, many homeowners do | | | | exposed nails or sharp metal and broken |
| not even know the crawl space is a mess | | | | concrete. These items can injure anyone |
| because contractors and other workers | | | | entering or working in the crawl space. |
| have left the debris behind, after | | | | In reality, crawl space maintenance and |
| completing a project. Such workers do | | | | cleanup is not complicated but it does |
| not call attention to having left a mess | | | | require hard work. The solution involves |
| behind and I am convinced that people do | | | | picking up all the garbage and removing |
| not go in their crawl spaces to look for | | | | any unessential wood or paper scraps, |
| themselves. | | | | including old form wood. If some scrap |
| In crawl spaces, commonly, I find | | | | is not part of the home, then remove it |
| beverage cans, candy wrappers, scraps of | | | | from the crawl space. A crawl space full |
| wood, paper, cardboard and fast food | | | | of wood debris, such as stored |
| boxes. The cellulose, wood and paper, | | | | shingles, can be a fire hazard as well. |