Give me the pro's and con's of both. Having a 1200 sq/ft house built. I would like to use a package unit for a/c so everything's outside but wouldn't be able to with a slab.

Well you can build on a solid, practically troubled free foundation.
Or you can build on a damp, musty, dark bug nest.

tough to fix a plumbing leak under a slab house. Been there done that. Also can’t raise a slab house if it’s later determined to be in a special hazard flood zone. Nothing like stuck with the slab dream home.

The accessibility is nice with a crawlspace.

Great points but I chose a slab. I'm on the side of a hill, no chance of flooding. I have a bout 10 feet of underground pipe. The rest of the plumbing I put in the walls. I was a lot of work, but I did it myself.

IF I were to build with a crawl space, I'd do like a buddy of mine and have a crawl space on a slab, wired with lights and outlets. He can ventilation fans, heaters, dehumidifier, etc...whatever he needs, plus it stays clean. Gives him access to all water lines and such, extra storage and gets his house up off the ground in case of a 6" rain fall.

Most special hazard flood zones are arbitrarily determined by some incompetent FEMA moron, based solely on the proximity to a body of water.
A surveyor can easily prove them wrong.
It's just another scam to create FEMA jobs for idiots.

less flexability with a slab you can't add plumbing or a dishwasher later. but it is cheaper. I like crawl better, I just wish mine was a little taller.

FEMA creating jobs for college graduates. You aughta see how many third party engineers are needed to design and inspect stuff the original architect and engineer have designed on building construction.

Why can't you add plumbing or a dishwater later? The only problem I would see adding a dishwasher is if you wanted to add it to an island that didn't have a sink already. Otherwise, you simply plumb everything (water supply and drain) to the kitchen sink.

To add plumbing, simply go overhead, then down through the wall.

I've been seeing ads everywhere for crawl space encapsulation. Seems interesting.

I've never owned a house so I have no idea on the slab/crawl space thing.

Thats my take and all crawlspaces should be at least 36" tall with a package unit and its ducting and spray foamed under floor joists IMO.

My grandparents added on to their home years ago. original part was crawlspace, add on was slab to save cost. The slab side I can remember as a kid the floor staying super cold during the winter even with the padding and carpet. If I did a slabhouse id have to look into radiant floor heating.

hunterbuck, true on the dishwasher but Id like to see him add a toilet. blumsden, I don't know your age, but alot of older folks like slabs because theres no steps to get in the house.

I have owned both. Slab all the way. Crawlspaces are your worst nightmare when you go to sell. The mold paranoia/panic is very real and mold remediation is a very lucrative business. BTW every craw space in AL has mold somewhere

I've had both before..last one I built has crawl space

I have a house on a slab and the only thing I would have done differently would be to have built on a raised slab. Gives the same appearance as a house with a crawl space but I would not have to worry about old squeeky floors, fiberglass rat beds or damp moldy crawl spaces and with today’s plumbing I haven’t heard of a lot of leaky pipes with slab houses. I’m sure that’s a fear of a lot of people but my house I built new 22 yrs ago and not one issue with anything in the slab.

Crawl spaces are natural habitats for mold, rats, snakes, spiders. If you’ve never seen them under your house, you’ve not crawled in to deep .

Well, about 50/50 on the crawl space versus slab. I'll give more info. I already have a flat pad scraped off where the house is going. I'm 55 and my wife is 57, so yes we're wanting this house to be old friendly and don't want a bunch of steps. I can't see us ever making any changes to the house, we're real simple. 2bd/2bth house, it will already have a dishwasher. My thought, was install spare pex water lines where they come up into the house, so if there was a leak you could abandon that line. Doesn't concrete pads sweat? I've also heard of horror stories of people living in old slab houses that the walls sweated and they had mold issues inside the house. Does any of this info change any minds?

I built on a raised slab/stem wall. I (my wife) got the appearance of a raised floor. I wanted a slab since I have never been in a 2-story crawl space house that didn't have cracks in the drywall around doors and windows.

So far so good.

I like a slab for the sole reason that when I walk past the China cabinet, the dishes don't vibrate.