Pier & Beam Foundation Repair in Waco
Sloping floors and a musty crawl space are fixable, and usually for less than you fear. McLennan Foundation Repair relevels and rebuilds pier & beam foundations under Waco's older homes: reshimming, replacing rotted sills and beams, adding piers under sagging spans, and drying out the crawl space that caused the rot. Simple releveling starts around $2,000. Call for a free crawl-space inspection with photos you keep.
Signs of Pier and Beam Foundation Problems
- Bouncy or springy floors in the middle of rooms
- Sagging or sloping floors toward one wall
- A musty smell rising from the crawl space
- Soft spots in wood floors, especially near bathrooms
- Doors that swing themselves open or closed
Every one of these is visible from under the house. The crawl-space inspection with photos is free.
Crawl-Space Answers, With Photos
Nobody wants to guess about the wood under their house. McLennan Foundation Repair crawls it, photographs every pier and sill, and quotes from what the camera saw, so you approve repairs you have seen.
- 1. Call or send the form
Reach a person today, not a call center.
- 2. Get the free elevation survey
Your floors mapped and explained on your kitchen counter.
- 3. Get it fixed and documented
Pier plan, firm price, depth logs, and warranty in writing.
Pier and Beam Foundation Repair Costs
| Work item | Typical range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Relevel and reshim existing piers | $800–$2,500 | Pier count, crawl-space clearance, degree of slope |
| Replace rotted sills / beams | $2,000–$8,000 | Linear feet of wood, load transfer complexity, access |
| Add new concrete pads and piers | $300–$700 each | Sagging span length; soil prep under new pads |
| Full releveling with wood repairs | $5,500–$15,000 | Whole-house scope; joist sistering; subfloor condition |
| Crawl-space moisture control (moisture barrier, vents, drainage) | $1,500–$4,000 | Square footage, standing-water correction, vent count |
Wood repairs quoted after a crawl-space inspection with photos, not from the driveway.
Prices shown are typical ranges for foundation work in Waco & McLennan County, not a quote. Every job is different: final pricing comes from the on-site elevation survey and estimate, and can change with scope, access, and site conditions.
Our Pier and Beam Repair Process
- Crawl-space inspection with photos (60–90 minutes, free)
Every pier, sill, and beam checked and photographed. You see what we saw, labeled on a plan of the house.
- Scope and firm price (Within 2 days)
Which piers get shimmed, which wood gets replaced, which spans get new piers. Itemized, in writing.
- Wood and pier work (1–3 days)
Beams jacked incrementally, rot cut out and replaced, new pads poured where spans sag.
- Releveling (Final day)
The floor system is brought to practical tolerance in passes, checking doors and plaster as it moves.
- Moisture correction and re-check (1 day, scheduled with the job)
Vapor barrier, vent, or drainage fixes so the new wood does not meet the old fate. Elevation re-check documented.
Pier and Beam Homes in Waco's Older Neighborhoods
Waco’s neighborhoods from before the 1960s, including the streets around Baylor, Sanger Heights, Brook Oaks, and the older blocks of Bellmead and Beverly Hills, largely stand on pier & beam foundations: wood floor systems carried on concrete or masonry piers over a crawl space. When these houses lean, the cause is almost always one of three things, and the crawl-space inspection tells us which:
- Compressed or missing shims on piers that have carried a century of seasons. That is the cheap fix.
- Rotted sills and beams, usually on the side with blocked vents or where a bathroom leaked quietly for years.
- Clay heave under the pier pads themselves, the same Houston Black movement that troubles slabs, corrected by resetting or deepening pads rather than pressing hydraulic piers.
A common Waco complication: many of these homes have had slab additions poured against them, a den from the ’70s or a garage conversion. The two foundation types move differently by design, and the crack at the joint between them is frequently misdiagnosed as structural failure. It usually calls for a flexible joint and drainage correction, not piers. Getting that diagnosis right can be the difference between an $800 repair and a $15,000 one, and it is the kind of call McLennan Foundation Repair makes with photos in hand instead of a pitch.
If your floors slope, your doors swing themselves, or the crawl space smells musty, send the form or call now. The inspection is free and the photos are yours either way.
Solid Floors, a Dry Crawl Space, and Documented Wood
When the work is done the bounce is gone, the doors swing true, and the crawl space is dry, ventilated, and photographed. You know which wood was replaced and why, and the moisture fix means the new sills never meet the old fate.
Sagging Floors and Crawl-Space Rot Spread Quietly
Bouncy floors and a musty crawl space read as annoyances until the rot reaches a beam splice or a bathroom floor goes soft underfoot. Wood damage compounds: one wet season of blocked vents can turn an $800 reshim into thousands of dollars of sill replacement. The inspection is free, and the earlier we crawl under the house, the shorter the invoice.
Get Your Free Elevation Survey
Call for a free elevation survey
Pier and Beam Repair FAQs
My floors bounce and slope. Is the house failing?
Usually not. Bounce means a span is undersupported, which is a $300 to $700 pier. Slope means shims have compressed or a beam has crushed at a contact point. Both are routine pier & beam repairs, not condemnations, and the free inspection tells you which one you have.
Why did the sills rot?
Ground moisture with nowhere to go. Blocked or painted-shut vents, a missing vapor barrier, and grade sloping into the crawl space keep humidity against untreated wood for decades. Replacing wood without fixing airflow buys the next owner the same repair, so McLennan Foundation Repair quotes moisture control with the wood.
Can a pier & beam house be leveled perfectly flat?
A 90-year-old floor system is brought to practical tolerance: flat enough that doors latch and marbles stop rolling, without cracking every plaster wall by forcing a century of movement out in one afternoon. We move it in passes and tell you where we stopped and why.
Do you work under houses with tight crawl spaces?
Down to roughly 18 inches of clearance, yes. Below that, access pits at the work points solve it, priced in the bid instead of discovered on day two.
Is pier & beam worse than a slab on Waco clay?
It is the more forgiving of the two. The house stands on adjustable points, so seasonal clay movement is corrected with shims instead of hydraulic piers. The trade is wood: it must be kept dry, which is why moisture control is half of every complete pier & beam quote.
What does it cost to convert pier & beam to slab?
Far more than repairing what you have, and it is rarely the right call. A repaired, ventilated pier & beam foundation with access to plumbing and wiring is an asset in a house of that era, not a defect.
Related Foundation Services in Waco
House leveling: the combined service when both foundation types are involved.
Drainage correction: keep the crawl space dry after the wood is replaced.
Slab foundation repair: for the additions poured beside older houses.