Pier-and-Beam Foundation Repair in San Antonio

What Is Pier-and-Beam Repair?

Pier-and-beam repair restores support beneath a home that sits above the ground rather than on a concrete slab. The structure rests on a grid of piers. Wood girders span between those piers, subfloor joists span between the girders, and the sill plate carries the wall framing. The space underneath is the crawlspace, and it is both the reason these foundations are repairable in a way slabs are not and the reason they need a different kind of attention.

These homes behave differently under the same soil conditions that drive foundation repair work throughout San Antonio, which is why the repair methods diverge from slab work.

The advantage is access. Every structural member is reachable. A rotted beam end can be replaced, a weakened joist can be sistered, a settled pier can be rebuilt. The disadvantage is that wood is a material that decays, and a crawlspace is a humid, dark, ground-contact environment. Over decades, that combination does work on the structure whether or not the soil beneath ever moves.

Which Homes Have This Foundation?

In the San Antonio area, pier-and-beam construction dominates housing built before roughly 1960. Alamo Heights, Monte Vista, the older parts of Universal City and Schertz, historic New Braunfels and Seguin, and scattered properties throughout the older central neighbourhoods are where you find it. Some homes have an original raised structure with a later slab-on-grade addition, which creates a junction between two foundation types that respond differently to the same conditions.

What the Crawlspace Evaluation Examines

The evaluation has two halves. Above the floor, we take interior beam elevation readings across the plan, check door and window operation, and note cracking at walls and ceilings. Below the floor, we go into the crawlspace and document what is actually there.

In the crawlspace we look at:

• Piers and footings. Pier settlement, cracked or crumbling masonry, undersized footings, and pier footing sizing relative to the load above.
• Girders and beams. Rotted or crushed bearing ends, splitting, sagging between supports, and whether a pad and block arrangement is still doing its job.
• Subfloor joists. Sagging, splitting, notching for plumbing runs, termite-damaged framing, and fungal decay near the perimeter.
• The sill plate. Its condition where it bears, since this is a common decay point.
• Ground conditions. Standing water, damp soil, absent or torn vapor barrier, evidence of drainage running under the house, and crawlspace clearance for the work.
• Structural support connections. Whether the framing is actually tied together where it should be.

Findings are recorded by location so the scope points to specific components rather than describing a general condition.

Repair Methods and What Each One Is For

Beam shimming

Where a girder sits low over a pier that is itself stable, shims restore contact and correct the local elevation. This is the lightest correction available and it works well when the support underneath has not moved. Shimming a beam that sits over a settled pier just postpones the real repair, which is why the findings distinguish between the two.

Sistering joists

A new joist fastened alongside a compromised one restores load-carrying capacity without removing the original member. It is the standard response to rot at a joist end, termite damage, splitting, or over-notching for plumbing. Sagging and uneven floors that trace to a specific bay usually resolve here.

Girder replacement

When damage runs through the section rather than sitting on the surface, the member is replaced. The load is taken by screw jacks and temporary cribbing, the old girder comes out, and new material, typically treated southern yellow pine sized for the span, goes in. It is more involved than shimming and the scope should say so plainly.

Pier and footing work

Where a pier has settled or its footing was never adequate, new support is built. That may be a concrete sonotube footer poured to depth with a new pier above it, or a rebuilt pad and block assembly. Pier footing sizing follows the load and the bearing conditions at that point, which is why one property can need different footing details in different places.

Crawlspace moisture management

A vapor barrier over exposed soil reduces moisture migration into the space. Correcting crawlspace drainage and any grading that channels water under the house addresses the source. Neither reverses existing wood rot, which is repaired separately, but together they stop the same damage recurring.

Re-Leveling: What It Can and Cannot Do

Re-leveling a pier-and-beam home means adjusting support until the floor profile improves toward the target elevation. Screw jacks take the load, adjustments are made in controlled increments, and the structure moves gradually.

What it achieves: a noticeably more level floor, doors that operate properly again, and support restored under members that were carrying load they were not sized for.

What it does not achieve: a perfectly flat floor matching new construction. Wood structures accumulate decades of adjustment, and the realistic objective is recovery toward level within practical limits. Expect some sheetrock or plaster relief cracking, some trim gaps, and some doors needing adjustment afterwards. These are normal consequences of moving a settled structure, and a proposal that does not mention them is not setting expectations honestly.

Access, Disruption, and Scheduling

Work happens underneath the house, which is unusual among home repairs in that it barely disturbs your living space. There is noise, there are crew members coming and going through the crawl access, and there may be brief periods where a section of floor is being actively jacked. Most households stay in place for the duration.

What we confirm before the crew date is set:

• Crawlspace clearance at the work locations and along the route to them.
• The access point and whether it needs enlarging.
• Where materials will be staged and where spoil, if any, will go.
• Whether plumbing or ductwork in the crawlspace needs temporary disconnection.
• Any pets or stored belongings that need relocating.

What Affects Scope and Cost

Pier-and-beam pricing tracks component counts and access rather than square footage:

Factor	Why it changes the cost
Pier and footing count	Each new footing means excavation, concrete, and cure time
Beams shimmed versus replaced	Replacement requires temporary support and new material
Joists sistered	Counted individually; material and access drive the figure
Girder length involved	Longer runs mean more material and more support points
Crawlspace clearance	Tight access slows every task and extends the schedule
Moisture work	Vapor barrier, ventilation changes, or drainage correction
Restoration	Stated in writing; cosmetic repairs are scope, not assumption

When We Recommend Something Else

If the elevation readings are flat and the crawlspace is sound, a floor that feels soft in one spot may be a subfloor sheathing issue rather than a structural one, and we will say that.

If the crawlspace is saturated and the framing is sound, the honest first step is drainage and moisture management rather than structural repair, because fixing wood that is about to get wet again is not a repair.

If a consequential structural conclusion is needed, particularly on a historic property or where a permit requires it, a Texas licensed professional engineer provides an assessment. That is a separate document from our proposal and we will not present ours as a substitute.