Examples of our work

Pier & beam foundation warranty is 6 years.

See our Warranty.

Pressure Treated Lumber

We use only pressure treated lumber in all of our work.

Although your older home probably was not built using treated lumber, we believe that most of our customers feel more confident having us use this longer lasting product.

Seasoned Lumber

Seasoning lumber reduces the moisture content of wood before its use.

We use well seasoned lumber to repair your home. Our lumber is purchased months in advance and allowed to dry before being installed.

Seasoned lumber will experience less shrinkage and twisting after installation. There will be much less chance that we will need to return to make adjustments to our repair work.

Heavy Duty Concrete Blocks and Pads

We use only heavy duty “Sand and Gravel” concrete blocks and pads in our pier and beam repair work.

These materials weigh much more and are much stronger than the light weight materials that are not strong enough to hold up to the loads that are typically placed upon them during leveling of your home.

Why we don’t use steel shims

The problem with steel shim material is that the cost is high and therefore the shims are cut too small. This causes there to be a smaller contact area between the beam, shim and block where two things happen.

1) The small shim presses into the soft, unseasoned wood that most companies use, causing the need for future adjustment.

2) The steel shim creates a pressure point in a small spot on top of the concrete block. This can easily crack the block.

Large Fiber-Cement shim material

Seasoned, treated

lumber

Galvanized Steel

Termite shield

Heavy

Cap block on top

of block

Heavy

“sand and gravel”

pad and block

Pier & Beam

Structure Repair

Pier & Beam Foundation Information

Will the structure be level?

It certainly will be more level and usually, much more level. Many factors can help or hinder the leveling job. Some factors are: How far down it is and for how long it has been in that down position. How the structure is constructed and out of which types of material. Additions and previous repair work can also be a factor. Remodeling work and general cosmetic repairs over the years my cause you to want to not level the structure completely because of the potential for cosmetic damage that can be expensive and time consuming to repair.

How many piers are you going to add?

The number of piers added is generally dependent upon the board length of sill (beam) needed to correct the problems. Each 12 ft. length of sill will have three or four piers installed under it. If your home has some original piers that are deteriorated, we will install one or two new piers next to those. In some cases, the old piers are replaced entirely.

What are the piers made of?

All piers will have a 4" thick, 16" square or 20" square concrete pad on the ground under them. We can use one of the following above that:

1) Solid concrete bell shaped piers. More expensive. Difficult to handle compared to those below. These are heavy! The bell shaped piers have a contact pad at their top that is less than 1/2 that of the below option.

2) Heavy duty "Sand and Gravel" concrete 8" x 8" x 16" blocks. We usually prefer these blocks instead of the above.

What about new beam size and rotten wood replacement?

When replacing rotten wood we will usually use the same size as was originally installed. When adding sills (beams), we usually use 6" x 6" pressure treated pine. We can use 4" x 6" beams in some cases unless the house is multiple story.