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

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. In reality, the kind of basis required (or allowed) for a home will largely rely on issues like (1) location and customary 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 finest for what space, and people choices are finest 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 publish somewhat 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 customary on this space, there are some homes with basements, in order that’s a complete totally different class.) So we really had a alternative. We may have purchased a home on a concrete slab basis, however I all the time knew that I needed 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 certain 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 below the ground of the home that an individual can get below there and crawl round (therefore the title “crawl house”).

The perimeter of the home may be concrete piers, or it may be a stable 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 That is an outdated image that I discovered of our home, taken earlier than we had the brand new sidewalk poured, earlier than I constructed the brand new steps and hand rails,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 stable concrete footing across the perimeter that’s above floor degree.

However the flooring 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 below the ground of our home.

So the ground of our home is someplace above these vents. You may see the place our entrance door is, and it opens degree 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 can stand exterior the home within the again and see below the home. My mother lastly blocked it with siding or one thing like that simply to maintain animals from getting below there, but it surely was open.

So with my grandmother’s home, as a result of the crawl house below 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 got to have a scuttle gap inside our home to entry the crawl house. That gap is within the residence fitness center flooring within the closet space. This part of flooring within the nook of the closet space comes up if somebody must get below the home. And it’s a decent squeeze to get below there!

So whereas the perimeter may be carried out in numerous methods, the center of a pier and beam home is fairly customary. There are concrete piers spaced based on 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 below our toilet flooring 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 have been below there. They served no structural objective in any respect, and we eliminated them, so that they’re now not below there. However from the bottom up, you see (1) concrete pier, (2) metallic shims (defined later), (3) wooden beams, (4) flooring joists. After which on high of the ground joists could be (5) subfloor (i.e., plywood), and (6) flooring. You may as well see one other vent beneath and to the correct of the door. It appears 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, based on present constructing codes.

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

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

I knew I needed issues fully rearranged, so I had a plumber come out and put issues the place I needed them. He crawled below the home, and inside about two hours, he had the traces for the sink within the space the place the fuel line was once within the picture above, and that space now appears like this…

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

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

Now examine that to my mother’s toilet transform. Her home is on a concrete slab basis. When she needed to transform and broaden her grasp toilet and rearrange the position 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 onerous work. It was work that produced mud that discovered its manner into her complete 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 seemed like…

After which as soon as that they had the brand new pipes the place they wanted to be, they pushed the grime 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 price $500. 😀 I don’t keep in mind precisely how lengthy that took, but it surely was at the least just a few days. Possibly every week. Possibly longer. And paying for that labor price 1000’s of {dollars}. There’s simply much more flexibility and ease with a pier and beam basis. And that’s true with regards to plumbing repairs as effectively.

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

And slab foundations aren’t proof against turning into unlevel. They’ll additionally crack, which is a standard downside 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 giant cracks working clear from entrance to again down the center of the home, and fixing a cracked slab basis could be very expensive 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 critical 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 1000’s and 1000’s of {dollars} over the lifetime of the home. Slab foundations are cheaper to construct, however the prices of restore and transforming may be very expensive over the lifetime of the home.

However once more, there are professionals and cons to each. It’s actually only a matter of choice in case your space is one through which you could have a alternative between the 2. And in the event you do have the selection, the selections must be made with issues in thoughts which might be explicit to your space, like the kind of soil, the local weather, and so forth. What looks like a transparent winner to me based mostly on situations right here in central Texas stands out as the absolute unsuitable determination for somebody dwelling in very totally different situations.

Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I transform and beautify 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 nearly all of the work on the home on my own. You may study extra about me right here.