My first 7 years in Seattle I worked at Geise Architects and we did mostly remodeling work. The one part of my job I always dreaded was going into crawl spaces or attics to find out what the existing structure was. Mostly it was my fear of the spiders lurking in the corners, but typically they are not places one wants to be. One of the best extra $1000 we spent on the Karina was to pour a slab in the crawl space. The increased height (about 3'-6" to bottom of joists) also helps. This is the place we are keeping the screens for the summer, extra bathroom tiles for the future, and plenty of space for storing sporting gear. We have 2 access panels to get down there. One in the back room closet and one under the stairs behind the secret door.
