The 15 Creepiest Crawl Space Finds
There are plenty of unsettling stories about creepy crawl space discoveries. While you may want to avoid thinking about the space under your home, it’s easy to imagine what might be lurking beneath.
If you thought Hoarders was shocking, wait until you hear about the bizarre things people have left behind, lost, and rediscovered in their crawl spaces. This page explores the 15 creepiest crawl space finds.
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15 Creepy Crawl Space Discoveries
Crawl spaces are dark areas not often explored. What lurks inside may be curious. Never venture into the crawl space area without a professional; they have the appropriate gear and tools to ensure safety.
Below is our list of the 15 creepiest crawl space finds.
1. Pest Infestations
Rodents and pests are undeniably creepy. They’re also surprisingly common to find in crawl spaces. They reproduce quickly, filling your crawl space with creepy crawlies.
One study found that 100 percent of houses surveyed in the Raleigh area had cobweb spiders, carpet beetles, gall midge flies, and ants. Additionally, 33 percent of people report having or knowing someone whose home was affected by termite damage, and 29 percent of Americans have had rodent problems.
Infestations damage your home and health. Just consider the statistics on cockroaches. They spread six types of parasitic worms, seven human pathogens, and 33 bacteria, including E. coli and salmonella. Cockroaches also trigger asthma and allergic reactions via their saliva, droppings, and decomposing bodies. Yikes!
2. Snakes or Snake Skin
Your worst nightmare might involve discovering snakes in your home’s crawl space. Unfortunately, snakes can fit in tight spaces, often leaving their shedding skin behind.
Home inspectors have many shocking stories of discovering dens of these slithering beasts!
3. Wild Animals
During nesting season, a crawl space can seem like the perfect home for raccoons, groundhogs, possums, or skunks. The problem worsens when these animals attract larger predators. They may burrow into ductwork, seeking warmth or food. No one wants to find a raccoon rummaging through leftovers in the kitchen.
Even if a raccoon in your crawl space reminds you of your favorite Guardians of the Galaxy character, remember they’re the top species for carrying rabies. Exposure could require four doses of a rabies vaccine; if infected, rabies is almost always fatal.
4. Bones
You might have an animal graveyard under your house. The remains could be decomposing wildlife or a pet that has crawled under the house to pass away. While the bones may not pose a direct health risk, having skeletons under the house resembles a real-life version of Halloween—no one wants that!
5. Mold
It may not be an animal, but it’s alive. Mold thrives in damp and dark places like crawl spaces. But unlike a cute patch of fuzz, mold can be dangerous. You may think everything is fine, but when the specialists arrive, they’ll wear hazmat suits. Toxic black mold is considered the most dangerous, and health effects include
chronic coughing, persistent headaches, sneezing, itchy eyes, and chronic fatigue.
About 3.6 million people in the U.S. are treated for allergic reactions to mold each year. The total economic cost is estimated at $2.6 billion, including sick days from work, children’s missing school days, medical expenses, and reduced productivity at work. Mold damage is expensive and dangerous and quickly spreads via airborne spores.
6. Invasive Plants
Aggressive vines like kudzu and wisteria take root next to foundations and work their way into the crawl space. While these invasive species may seem benign at first, their fast-growing habit can quickly overtake a house. A single kudzu vine can grow up to 60 feet per season. That means it could reach the top of a four-story building in just one year. A single Kudzu root crown can have up to 30 individual vines.
Eradication is not easy. To kill it with herbicides, it can take four to ten years of repeated treatments. Digging up is difficult because well-established root systems can weigh as much as 400 pounds. And if you try to mow it down, watch out because cut vines can re-root to form new plants.
There’s a good reason why invasive plants like kudzu have been called “the vine that ate the South.”
7. Mysterious Locked Cabinets
Your house has a history, and finding a mysteriously locked cabinet in your crawl space could reveal the unpleasant secrets of a truly terrifying past. The safe could be a steel cabinet added later, but some homeowners have found a cylinder floor safe set in cement.
If someone hid a locked cabinet in a crawl space, there may be a good reason they didn’t want it to be found.
8. Money
Finding cash hidden under your house may initially seem like you’ve won the lottery. However, it can get you in trouble with the wrong people.
Even in the hit Netflix show Ozark, the inside of a house’s walls was used to hide $50 million worth of cartel money. Just consider the problems that could arise. You’d make a powerful enemy if you turned it over to the FBI. Collaborating with your local crime family is never a good idea. And as we learned in the show, the option to take the money and run usually doesn’t work out either.
Luckily, mobsters tend to keep track of their money and its hiding spots.
9. Firearms
A crawl space can seem like a perfect spot to hide guns and weapons. In one case, a Civil War-era sword was found in a crawl space in Virginia.
Both preppers and fugitives have been known to stash guns in crawl spaces. Hidden firearms don’t even need to be from a previous owner. A fugitive could have used the exterior access to your crawl space to hide their weapons.
10. People Living in Crawl Spaces
The creaks and noises you hear in a new home may not be your settling house. Instead, you could have an unwanted houseguest trying to evade authorities by living underneath your home.
For example, when a 73-year-old woman called a repairman about the heater, she was surprised. “Well, I’ve got good and bad news,’” said the repairman. “I’ve fixed your ducts, but somebody’s been living under your house.” The squatter left beer bottles as evidence. He even cut her furnace’s air ducts to redirect the heat into the crawl space rather than the women’s living area.
11. Unexploded Artillery
If your house has a military history, you could be in for an unwelcome surprise. War relics could lay dormant for years until one day they’re jostled. Then kaboom!
Smithsonian Magazine says there are still thousands of tons of unexploded bombs left from WWII, and in London, building contractors found one lodged in an underground crawl space. It was a yard long and weighed 500 pounds. The evacuation included 150 people within a 650-foot blast radius.
It’s not just in Europe. When a woman was cleaning out her late father’s home in Massachusetts, she found a 70-year-old unexploded U.S. military tank shell. The state’s bomb squad said, “It’s fairly typical of what we find.” Yikes!
12. Handwritten Journals
You may not want to know what’s happened in your house. Finding a journal could reveal stories of disturbed residents who went mad. Or a journal could reveal your home’s history as a part of the Underground Railroad.
Anne Frank may be the most well-known case of finding a hidden diary within the house. However, some hidden journals reveal a story on the wrong side of history.
13. Eerie “Ghosts”
Your crawl space could also be home to something paranormal, and haunting could mean eerie sounds, scratching noises, and the voices of Halloween.
One Illinois woman said, “Our crawl space door would start banging, jumping up, and slamming really loudly. The main ‘ghost’ was a tall, thin man in all black with a wide-brimmed hat. He was mean and had a gruff, deep voice.” She said that the problem started after a flood, and the cleaning stirred up the spirits. She called in the Paranormal Mom’s Society to help her deal with the problem.
14. Large “Monsters”
Monsters usually live in the closet. However, a tiny bedroom closet isn’t enough room for a large ghoul. These giant monsters might upgrade to luxurious crawl space living for more spacious accommodations.
15. Structural Problems
Bugs may be creepy, but the scariest thing in your crawl space could be foundation problems.
At JES Foundation Repair, we have 25 years of expertise in helping Virginia residents avoid the risks of foundation and crawl space problems.
The damage can be twofold. First, there’s the potential financial loss. Foundation problems can reduce your home’s resale value by 10 to 30 percent. That means for a $300,000 house, you could lose up to $100,000 in value.
There’s also the health risk. More than 50 percent of the air you breathe comes from below your home, and an unmaintained crawl space can have serious health consequences.
Contact JES Foundation Repair for a Crawl Space Inspection
Learn more about how JES Foundation Repair can help you maintain your home with crawl space repair, basement waterproofing, and foundation repair. Contact us for a free inspection today and rid your home of those creepy crawl space finds.
Crawl Space FAQs
Pests can spread diseases, damage wood, chew materials, and leave waste and odors, affecting your home’s structure and your family’s health. Contact JES Foundation Repair to schedule a free crawl space inspection and repair estimate.
The duration varies based on your crawl space’s condition and the solutions used. JES Foundation Repair’s efficient team typically completes projects within a few days, minimizing home disruption. Contact us for an accurate timeline during a free inspection.
The duration of the project varies based on the crawl space size, the extent of existing damage, and the specific solutions implemented. Most encapsulation projects take between one and three days to complete, including moisture control, insulation, and sealing. JES Foundation Repair teams work efficiently to ensure your crawl space is fully protected on schedule. Contact us for more information and to schedule a free inspection.
Shaye Glisson
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