Home / Pier & Beam Repair
If your Boerne home sits up off the ground on piers with a crawl space underneath, the fix is very different from a slab repair. Most of the work happens under the floor, and much of it is about wood and moisture, not just piers.
Pier and beam (also called post and beam or a crawl space foundation) is common in older homes in and around downtown Boerne and in many rural homes in Kendall County. Some newer custom homes on steep or rocky lots use it too, because it handles a slope without a large cut and fill. The structure is simple: concrete or masonry piers support wood beams, the beams carry floor joists, and the joists carry the subfloor. Every one of those parts can be repaired or replaced on its own, which is the main advantage of this foundation type. Our pier and beam vs. slab guide compares the two in more detail.
Pier and beam repair usually combines several jobs. Settled piers are reset, rebuilt, or replaced with deeper piers. Gaps are re-shimmed with steel shims instead of wood so they do not crush or rot again. Sagging beams are jacked up slowly and either sistered (a new member bolted alongside) or replaced. Weak joists get sistered or new joists added, and extra piers can be placed to shorten long spans. Where a house needs deeper support, the pier options on our house leveling page apply here too. Re-leveling a pier and beam house is done in small increments, because raising a floor too fast can crack plaster, tile, and drywall. Some homes need two visits a few weeks apart to let the framing adjust.
Crawl space repair is the other half of the job, and it is what keeps the structural repair from failing again. A wet crawl space rots shims and sills, attracts termites, and lets the clay under the piers swing between soaked and dry. Crawl space restoration in Boerne usually means getting water out and keeping it out. That can include regrading or a drain so runoff stops flowing under the house, a vapor barrier over the soil, cleaning out old debris and damaged insulation, repairing or adding foundation vents, and replacing rotted sill plates. Full encapsulation with a sealed liner and dehumidifier is an option, but in many Hill Country crawl spaces, fixing the drainage and putting down a good vapor barrier solves the problem for less. See our drainage solutions page for the outside work.
We go under the house and look at every pier, shim, beam, and joist we can reach, probing wood for rot and checking for termite damage. Floor elevations are measured inside so low spots can be matched to what is causing them underneath. Moisture and drainage are checked from both inside and outside the crawl space. You get photos of what was found, a written plan, and a fixed price before any work starts.
There is no fixed schedule. A house with steel shims, piers on firm bearing, and a dry crawl space can stay level for many years. A house with wood shims and a wet crawl space may need adjustment every few years, which is why moisture control is part of the repair.
No. Crawl space repair covers the structure: piers, beams, joists, sills, and shims. Encapsulation is one moisture-control option that seals the crawl space with a liner. Some homes need both, many need only structural work plus drainage and a vapor barrier.
Usually yes. Most bounce comes from weak joists or long spans, and those are fixed from below by sistering joists or adding beams and piers. The flooring above is left in place unless the subfloor itself has rotted.
Pier and beam homes are very repairable, so an older one is not a reason to walk away. Get the crawl space inspected before closing so you know what you are buying. Our buyer's foundation check guide lists what to look for.
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