The foundation type most common in older Coastal Bend homes — and the one we know best. We fix shifting piers, sagging beams, and everything in between.
Pier and beam foundations are elevated structures that sit on concrete or wooden piers with wooden beams spanning between them. Unlike slab foundations that sit directly on the ground, pier and beam homes have a crawl space underneath — which means access for inspection and repair, but also exposure to moisture, pests, and soil movement.
In South Texas, pier and beam homes face unique challenges. The expansive clay soils of the Coastal Bend swell during rainy seasons and shrink during droughts, constantly shifting the ground beneath your piers. Add coastal humidity, occasional flooding from hurricanes, and termite pressure, and it is no wonder so many homes in Corpus Christi, Rockport, Sinton, and surrounding areas need pier and beam attention.
The clay soils around Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend are classified as expansive soils — they expand when wet and contract when dry. This seasonal movement puts cyclical stress on pier and beam foundations that slab foundations do not experience in the same way. Over years of expansion and contraction, piers shift, beams sag, and the entire structure loses level.
Homes near the coast in Rockport, Aransas Pass, and Bayside face additional moisture exposure from salt air and storm surge. Homes further inland in Beeville, Alice, and Kingsville deal with deeper drought cycles and more dramatic soil contraction. Every location has its own pattern — and we have worked in all of them.