Why A Pier And Beam Foundation Is Far Superior To A Slab Foundation

Okay, effectively, which may be overstating it only a bit. Or loads. I simply thought I’d begin my day by getting a few of you riled up. I’m feeling a bit feisty as we speak. 😀 So sure, it’s a little bit of an overstatement to say {that a} pier and beam basis is “far superior” to a slab basis. Actually, the kind of basis required (or allowed) for a home will largely rely on issues like (1) location and normal constructing practices for that space, (2) the local weather of a specific space, and (3) the kind of soil on which the home is being constructed. There are such a lot of elements that go into figuring out what’s greatest for what space, and people selections are greatest left to the engineers in that space.

However since I discussed the opposite day that I’d all the time favor to dwell in a pier and beam home, and at the least one individual was very shocked by that and questioned what my reasoning is for that call, I assumed I’d share my ideas and experiences in a put up reasonably than a remark.

I occur to dwell in an space that has each pier and beam homes and homes constructed on slab foundations. (Whereas basements aren’t normal on this space, there are some homes with basements, in order that’s a complete completely different class.) So we truly had a alternative. We may have purchased a home on a concrete slab basis, however I all the time knew that I wished a pier and beam home. And I might all the time select pier and beam 100% of the time. However earlier than I clarify why, let me make sure we’re all caught up on what, precisely, I’m speaking about.

What’s a pier and beam basis?

A pier and beam basis home is constructed in order that the ground is raised up off of the bottom with room sufficient underneath the ground of the home that an individual can get underneath there and crawl round (therefore the title “crawl house”).

The perimeter of the home may be concrete piers, or it may be a strong concrete footing throughout the perimeter of the home, which is what ours is. That is an outdated image that I discovered of our home, taken earlier than we had the brand new sidewalk poured, earlier than I constructed the brand new steps and hand rails, and earlier than we had new home windows put in. However you possibly can see the strong concrete footing across the perimeter that’s above floor stage.

However the ground of our home doesn’t begin on high of that footing. As a result of simply above that concrete footing, you’ll see vents. These vents are venting our crawl house underneath the ground of our home.

So the ground of our home is someplace above these vents. You’ll be able to see the place our entrance door is, and it opens stage with the ground in the home.

However not all pier and beam homes have that concrete footing across the perimeter. My grandmother’s home in east Texas (Henderson) didn’t have that, at the least not behind the home. Her crawl house was open to the skin. You may stand outdoors the home within the again and see underneath the home. My mother lastly blocked it with siding or one thing like that simply to maintain animals from getting underneath there, nevertheless it was open.

So with my grandmother’s home, as a result of the crawl house underneath her home was accessible from the skin, she didn’t want inside entry to her crawl house. However as a result of our home has the concrete footer round the entire perimeter, we’ve to have a scuttle gap inside our home to entry the crawl house. That gap is within the dwelling gymnasium ground within the closet space. This part of flooring within the nook of the closet space comes up if somebody must get underneath the home. And it’s a good squeeze to get underneath there!

So whereas the perimeter may be carried out in several methods, the center of a pier and beam home is fairly normal. There are concrete piers spaced in response to regardless of the constructing code requires (or required when the home was constructed). After which spanning throughout these concrete piers are large wooden beams. After which on high of the beams, perpendicular to the beams, are the ground joists. After which on high of the ground joists are the subfloor after which the flooring.

So right here’s a have a look at what was underneath our lavatory ground as soon as we took out the hardwood flooring and the subfloor. Pay no consideration to the cinder blocks. I do not know why these had been underneath there. They served no structural function in any respect, and we eliminated them, in order that they’re not underneath there. However from the bottom up, you see (1) concrete pier, (2) metallic shims (defined later), (3) wooden beams, (4) ground joists. After which on high of the ground joists could be (5) subfloor (i.e., plywood), and (6) flooring. You can even see one other vent under and to the proper of the door. It seems like a white rectangle, however that’s a vent with daylight coming via.

Along with the construction, you’d even have issues like insulation and vapor barrier, in response to present constructing codes.

For instance, once I obtained prepared to transform our kitchen again in 2014, I knew I wished the kitchen organized in a very completely different format than the unique. Within the authentic kitchen, the sink was on the again wall that it shares with the sunroom.

And the gasoline line was on the aspect the place the peninsula now could be. (That room past the wall is now the breakfast room/sitting room, with that door resulting in my studio)…

I knew I wished issues utterly rearranged, so I had a plumber come out and put issues the place I wished them. He crawled underneath the home, and inside about two hours, he had the strains for the sink within the space the place the gasoline line was once within the picture above, and that space now seems like this…

And he moved the gasoline line to the opposite aspect in order that I may have my range on the alternative wall. He additionally ran a water line for the fridge whereas he was underneath there.

Once more, that work took him and his helper about two hours, and value us about $500. After which he left, and I used to be able to DIY my new kitchen with the plumbing and gasoline utterly rearranged and proper the place I wished them.

Now examine that to my mother’s lavatory transform. Her home is on a concrete slab basis. When she wished to transform and broaden her grasp lavatory and rearrange the location of the bathroom, the bathe, and the sinks, that required the contractor coming in with a jackhammer to bust up her slab basis. This was very arduous work. It was work that produced mud that discovered its approach into her whole home, no matter how a lot they tried to dam off the work space. It was LOUD work. Right here’s what that course of appeared like…

After which as soon as that they had the brand new pipes the place they wanted to be, they pushed the dust again into the trenches, lined it with a moisture barrier, added rebar…

After which lined the realm with new concrete.

That didn’t take two hours and value $500. 😀 I don’t keep in mind precisely how lengthy that took, nevertheless it was at the least a number of days. Perhaps per week. Perhaps longer. And paying for that labor price hundreds of {dollars}. There’s simply way more flexibility and ease with a pier and beam basis. And that’s true in terms of plumbing repairs as effectively.

It’s true that pier and beam foundations could have to be leveled every so often, however once more, that may rely on local weather and soil circumstances. However that’s usually not troublesome work. Fundamental home leveling work is a matter of climbing underneath the home with some jacks and a few small metallic shims (which you noticed and I identified within the picture above of the inspiration underneath our lavatory ground). When the employee inside the home finds a low spot (which he locates by merely utilizing a laser or bubble stage on the ground inside), the individual underneath the home makes use of the jack to raise that beam up a bit and slide a metallic shim or two between the pier and the beam, leading to a stage ground.

And slab foundations aren’t proof against changing into unlevel. They’ll additionally crack, which is a typical drawback in our space with our soil and our lengthy, dry summers. There are a lot of slab basis houses on this space of central Texas with cracked foundations. A few of them have massive cracks working clear from entrance to again down the center of the home, and fixing a cracked slab basis may be very pricey and time-consuming. It may be carried out, however so many owners discover it to be completely cost-prohibitive, particularly contemplating that there’s no assure that it received’t occur once more, that they only dwell with the cracked basis and hope that it doesn’t trigger severe structural injury down the street.

The underside line is that pier and beam foundations are costlier to construct, however the upkeep and suppleness with them can save hundreds and hundreds of {dollars} over the lifetime of the home. Slab foundations are cheaper to construct, however the prices of restore and transforming may be very pricey over the lifetime of the home.

However once more, there are professionals and cons to each. It’s actually only a matter of desire in case your space is one wherein you’ve gotten a alternative between the 2. And when you do have the selection, the choices have to be made with issues in thoughts which might be specific to your space, like the kind of soil, the local weather, and so on. What looks like a transparent winner to me based mostly on circumstances right here in central Texas could be the absolute flawed determination for somebody residing in very completely different circumstances.

Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I transform and embellish the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do the vast majority of the work on the home on my own. You can learn more about me here.