Have you inspected your crawl space recently? If you haven’t, you might not know what’s under there. The thing is, whatever’s hiding under your crawl space could actually have a serious impact on you and your family. Here are just a few creepy reasons you should make sure someone inspects your crawl space regularly.

Rodent and Bug Infestations

This is an astonishingly common occurrence because it’s relatively easy for rodents and bugs to find a place in an unencapsulated crawl space. Rodents and bugs can easily find their way into an unencapsulated dirt crawl space, and with a single rodent able to reproduce 60 times in a year, that can quickly turn into a nightmare.

Snakes

Snakes benefit from the ability to squeeze into incredibly tight spaces, which makes it easy for them to find their way into many crawl spaces. If you have any entrance into your crawl space from outside, even a very small one, a snake can find its way in and make a nest. From there, it’s only a matter of time before you find one in your home.

Wild Animal Homes

Especially during nesting season, you want to be careful of wild animals making their way under your home. These animals can cause problems by chewing through insulation and leaving disease-infested droppings. They can also lure larger predators into the area, causing serious safety concerns for your whole family.

Mold

Mold is one of the biggest and least-obvious problems in a crawl space. Millions of people in the United States need treatment for mold-related allergic reactions every year, and in extremely serious situations, that reaction an even be fatal. Regular inspections are an effective way to make sure you’re not experiencing mold in your crawl space.

Mob Cash

This definitely isn’t a common problem, but it’s a scary one nonetheless. It’s possible for mobs and mafia leaders to stash money underneath someone’s home, in their crawl space. The good news for you is that if you’re not involved in these shady dealings, the possibility of it happening to you is minuscule. Still, you should take a look every so often just to be sure.

Guns and Other Weapons

Crawl space could be the perfect place for someone to hide a weapon. That can be anyone from a fugitive entering the crawl space from outside your home to a previous owner who wanted to stash their weapons in a supposedly “safe” location. If you’ve absolutely never been in your crawl space, there’s, unfortunately, no real way of knowing.

A Person

It might surprise you to find out, but people have hidden in crawl spaces before. There are many horror stories revolving around a contractor coming into a home for an inspection and uncovering a squatter’s den underneath a home. If you hear scratching noises and creaking underneath your home, schedule an inspection — it could be another person.

Ghosts and Ghouls

If you believe in the paranormal, you might believe there’s a ghost or a large ghoul underneath your home. Although those who believe in such things may be inclined to call a paranormal investigator to deal with the problem, you should definitely talk to a contractor first. If a contractor establishes that there are no structural issues, feel free to talk to someone who can handle your ghost problems.

Structural Problems

Of all the problems that may arise in your crawl space, this is one of the most significant. Structural problems often start in the crawl space, visible as sagging joints, water damage, and bowing walls. These structural problems can happen for a variety of reasons, but they all cause damage.

If you don’t handle structural problems in the early days of their appearance, they can develop into something truly scary. Anyone who’s starting to see signs of a structural problem should definitely talk to an expert. You can talk about your options and discuss a solution based on what’s going on.