Pier and Beam vs Slab Foundation Repair
Houses around Beaumont are built one of two ways: on wood beams over piers with a crawlspace underneath, or on a concrete slab poured on the ground. Both move on the clay here, but they move differently and they are repaired differently. This guide explains how to tell which you have and what that means. Call (409) 247-2971 for a free on-site look.
How to tell which you have
If you can see a gap or a skirt between the ground and the bottom of the house, and there is a crawlspace you could get into, the house is pier and beam. Most Beaumont houses built before about 1960 are. If the floor sits directly on the ground with no gap and the front step goes straight onto the slab, it is slab-on-grade, which is how most houses here have been built since the 1960s. Some houses are both: an older pier and beam house with a later slab addition on the back, and the joint between the two is often where cracks show first.
How a pier and beam house moves
A pier and beam house rests on many small piers, each sitting on its own patch of clay. When the clay under one pier swells or shrinks more than the others, that pier rises or drops and the floor above it follows. So the signs are local: a floor that slopes toward one wall, a dip in the middle of a room, a bounce, a door that sticks on one side. The good news is that the repair is local too, done from the crawlspace by resetting piers, shimming beams and replacing any wood that has rotted or sagged. That work is on the pier and beam repair and floor leveling pages.
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How a slab house moves
A slab is one stiff plate, so when the clay under one side drops the whole slab tilts, and when the middle swells it humps. The signs show up in the walls: stair-step cracks in the brick from the corners of windows, gaps between brick and frames, drywall cracks from the corners of door openings, and doors rubbing at the top. There is no crawlspace to work in, so the repair goes in from outside: holes dug at the edge of the slab, concrete pressed pilings or steel piers driven below the moving clay, and the slab lifted back to level on them. That work is on the slab foundation repair page.
Which costs more to fix
Usually the slab, because every pier or piling under it is a unit of cost and a slab that dropped along one side needs a row of them. A pier and beam house is often fixed with shims, resets and some new wood, which is cheaper per house, though a full rebuild of piers and beams under a big old house can cost as much as a slab job. The cost page shows what recent jobs of each kind have run.
Which is better on Beaumont clay
Neither is immune, and neither is a reason to avoid a house. A pier and beam house is easier and cheaper to adjust when it moves, and a wet crawlspace is its main enemy. A slab is stiffer and has no crawlspace to keep dry, but when it moves it has to be lifted from outside. In both cases keeping water away from the foundation is the thing that keeps the repair from being needed again, which is why drainage correction is part of most jobs here. Our guide to foundation repair on Texas clay explains why the ground behaves this way.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my house is pier and beam or slab?
If there is a crawlspace under the house and a gap between the ground and the floor, it is pier and beam. If the floor sits straight on the ground with no gap, it is a slab.
Which one is cheaper to repair?
Usually pier and beam, because it is fixed from the crawlspace with shims, resets and some new wood. A slab needs piers or pilings around the edge, and each one is a unit of cost.
Can a pier and beam house be converted to a slab?
It is not something done as a repair. A moving pier and beam house is put right by fixing the piers and beams, which is far less work than replacing the foundation.
My house is pier and beam with a slab addition. Which page applies?
Both. The joint between the two is usually where the cracks show, and the quote covers the beam work under the original house and the piers under the addition.
Do both types need drainage work?
Very often, yes. Water is what makes the clay move unevenly under either type, so keeping it away from the foundation is part of most repairs around Beaumont.
How do I find out what my house needs?
Call (409) 247-2971. We come out, measure the floor levels, look under the house or around the slab, and you get a written quote after we see it. The visit is free.
Want someone to look at your house?
Free on-site look anywhere in Beaumont and the surrounding towns. Written quote after we see the house, no obligation. Call (409) 247-2971.