I need to make an access to my crawlspace. How much foundation wall can I roto-hammer out w/o risking integrty

Question

Foundation wall is 19" High

Answer 1

none

Answer 2

There should already be one. (mine was buried) Look around and dig a little.

Answer 3

I agree...your house should already have an access panel to the crawl space. In some homes, these panels are located on the outside of the house (make sure and look under porches, behind wood piles, etc). In other homes, the access panel is located inside (generally in a closet). If carpet is installed, peel back the carpet in the closets. Finding an access panel is MUCH easier than cutting through the foundation wall and potentially messing your house up. Good luck!

Answer 4

as long as there are no girders or joist bearing at the area you can and  should make it 24 to 30 inches wide.  also you could head off the joist at the foundation with  beam to spam your crawlspace hole.

Answer 5

there is not enough room at 19" high without some kind of header or maybe you can build a trap door in the house from a closet or some other out of the way place.