Pier-and-beam leveling
Many older homes in both Texarkanas sit over a crawl space on piers and beams. They sag and bounce in their own ways, and the fixes are different from a slab's.
In a pier-and-beam house, the floor framing rests on wood beams, and the beams rest on interior piers set into the ground, with a perimeter foundation around the outside. When the clay under an interior pier dries and drops, or gets wet and lifts, that part of the floor goes with it. In a humid place like Texarkana, the bigger problem is often water in the crawl space softening the soil and rotting sill plates and beams.
What are the signs?
- Floors that dip toward the middle of a room or feel springy underfoot
- Interior doors sticking more than exterior ones
- Damp soil, standing water or a musty smell from the crawl space
- Shims that have slipped out, split or crushed on top of piers
- Beams that are cracked or sagging between supports, or sills soft from rot or termites
What does leveling involve?
- Shim adjustment. Steel or hardwood shims between piers and beams are reset to bring floors back toward level. Expect this to need checking again after very wet or very dry years.
- Adding or replacing piers. New piers where beam spans are too long, or replacements for piers that have leaned or sunk.
- Framing repair. Replacing rotted sills, and sistering or replacing damaged beams and joists.
- Perimeter support. If the outer foundation has dropped, it may need piers like a slab edge would.
- Moisture work. Drainage, ventilation or a vapor barrier so the soil and wood stay drier.
Why can this be the easier kind of repair?
Because there's room to work. A crew can reach the beams from the crawl space without cutting floors, and later adjustments are straightforward. That's also why the warranty matters: ask whether readjustments are included, for how long, and whether there's a charge for the visit.
Questions to ask before you sign
- How many piers will be added or reset, and where?
- What are the shims made of?
- Did you find rot or insect damage, and is that repair in this price?
- What will be done about water in the crawl space?
We don't quote prices. The contractor prices the repair after taking floor elevations and figuring out why the house is moving, and any number given over the phone before that is only a guess.
Where we connect you with help
Common questions
Is a crawl space house worse in clay soil than a slab?
Not necessarily. Neither is immune. Pier-and-beam houses are often easier to readjust because the crawl space gives access; slabs need piers from outside.
How often do shims need adjusting?
It depends on how much the soil moves from year to year. Ask whether your contractor's warranty covers readjustments and for how long.
Related services
More background: Texarkana foundation repair guide.
Brick cracking, doors dragging, or a floor that's started to tilt?
Call and a Texarkana-area foundation contractor will come take measurements and explain what's moving.