Garland, TX · Pier & Beam Foundation Repair
Pier and Beam Foundation Repair and House Leveling
Older Garland homes on pier and beam have a crawl space and a wood floor system resting on piers. When floors bounce, slope or squeak, the repair is usually in that crawl space: shimming, new supports, and replacing wood that has rotted or sagged.
01 — What this covers
The work itself
- Crawl space inspection: piers, pads, beams, sill plates and moisture
- House leveling by re-shimming existing piers with steel or composite shims
- Adding piers and beams where the floor sags between supports
- Replacing rotted or termite-damaged sill plates, beams and floor joists
- Repairing or replacing failed perimeter beams on older homes
- Improving crawl space ventilation and moisture barriers
- Access openings and skirting repair after the work
02 — Detail
How pier and beam houses are built
A pier and beam foundation lifts the house off the ground. Concrete piers or blocks sit on footings in the soil; wooden beams span between them; floor joists run across the beams and carry the subfloor. Around the edge, a perimeter beam or grade beam supports the outside walls. The space underneath — the crawl space — is what makes this kind of house so much easier to adjust than a slab.
In Garland you'll find pier and beam mainly in homes built before slabs took over, plus some custom and additions. They have their own failure modes: piers that settle or tilt in the clay, shims that crush or slip, wood that rots where the crawl space stays damp, and beams that were undersized to begin with.
03 — Detail
House leveling: what it means here
"House leveling" on a pier and beam home usually means jacking the floor system back up at the low points and re-shimming the gap between the pier and the beam with new shims — steel or composite rather than the cedar wedges many older houses started with. Done carefully, in stages, it brings floors much closer to level without cracking the walls above.
When the floor sags in the span between supports, shimming isn't enough: the fix is a new pier and a short beam underneath, effectively shortening the span. When a pier itself has settled or leaned, it may need to be reset or replaced with a new one on a proper footing.
04 — Detail
Wood, moisture and the crawl space
A lot of pier and beam problems are really wood problems. Sill plates and beams that sit close to damp soil rot, and termites like the same conditions. A crawl space inspection should include probing the wood, not just measuring the floor. Replacing a section of rotted sill or a failed beam is routine work, but it has to be found first.
Moisture control helps the repair last. Clearing vents that were blocked by landscaping, fixing drainage so water doesn't collect under the house, and laying a vapor barrier over bare soil all reduce the dampness that rots wood and lets the clay under the piers swell and shrink.
05 — Detail
Signs specific to pier and beam homes
Bouncy or springy floors, a slope you can feel walking across a room, squeaks that get worse, gaps under interior doors, and cracks in the corners of rooms are typical. From outside, look for a sagging roof line or a gap between the siding and the perimeter beam. None of these is an emergency in most cases, but they tend to get worse slowly, and the wood involved gets more expensive to fix the longer it stays damp.
06 — Detail
Questions worth asking before the work
Ask how many supports will be added or adjusted, what the shims are made of, whether any wood will be replaced and how much, and whether the price includes reopening and closing the crawl space access. Ask what the readings are now and what the target is — on an older house, "perfectly level" can mean stressing walls, doors and plumbing that have adapted to the current shape. A gradual adjustment is often the better result.
How we work
Step by step
- 01
Free inspection of the crawl space and a floor elevation survey.
- 02
Written plan: supports to add or reset, shim material, wood to replace, moisture fixes.
- 03
Leveling in stages — jacking and shimming a little at a time to protect the walls above.
- 04
Wood repairs and any new piers and beams, then a final set of elevation readings.
- 05
Closing up the access, notes on ventilation and drainage, and the warranty in writing.
What it costs
Re-shimming a pier and beam house is usually far less than piering a slab. Costs rise with the number of new supports, any beam or sill replacement, and how hard the crawl space is to get into.
Questions
Pier & Beam Foundation Repair — asked and answered
How often does a pier and beam house need re-leveling?
It varies with the soil and the shims used. In clay soil, some houses need a minor adjustment every several years; modern steel or composite shims tend to last much longer than old wood wedges.
Can a pier and beam floor be made perfectly level?
It can usually be brought much closer to level, but on older houses it's often better to adjust gradually rather than force it, so walls, doors and plumbing aren't stressed.
Is a low crawl space a problem?
It makes the work slower and sometimes more expensive, because crews may need to dig access or work in tight space. It doesn't usually prevent the repair.
Should I put a vapor barrier in my crawl space?
Covering bare soil with a vapor barrier reduces moisture under the house and helps protect the wood. Whether it's worth adding depends on how damp the crawl space is — the inspection is a good time to ask.
Also
Other services
Slab Foundation Repair
Most Garland homes sit on a concrete slab poured straight onto expansive clay. When part of that slab drops…
Structural Foundation Repair
When movement goes beyond cosmetic cracks — a wall bowing out, a beam cracked through, a slab that keeps…
Foundation Inspection
A foundation inspection turns "I think the house is moving" into numbers: elevation readings across the…
Drainage & French Drains
Water is the reason most foundations in Garland move. Getting rain away from the house — with gutters…