Pier and beam repair
in Houma, LA
Rotted piers, sagging beams or soft sills under an older home? Describe what you see and independent local contractors look underneath and quote the repair.
A free quote-request service. Local contractors do the work and quote you directly.
What gives out under an older house
Older homes around Houma often sit on piers or blocks. When one piece fails, the floor above shows it.
Piers and blocks
Piers hold the house up off the ground. In older homes they are often blocks or posts. When one settles, tilts, cracks or rots, the floor above it follows.
Beams
Beams run across the piers and carry the floor framing. Rot or sag in a beam usually shows up as a dip in the floor above it.
Sills
The sill is the timber that rests on the foundation and carries the framing above. When it rots, the walls and floor lose their support along that edge.
What the repair involves
Typically, a crew supports the floor temporarily, takes out the failed piece, sets a new pier, beam or sill, and brings the floor back to level. Each contractor's method differs. The written quote should say which pieces are replaced and how the floor is held meanwhile.
Repair, leveling or lifting?
Three jobs that overlap. The contractor who looks underneath decides which one yours is.
Leveling
If the supports are sound but the floor is off, the job is mostly adjustment. See house leveling.
Repair
If specific piers, beams or sills have failed, they are replaced. That is this page, and it can come up on the same visit as a leveling quote.
Lifting
If the failed parts can't be reached with the house in place, the house may need to be raised off them and set back. See house lifting.
Raising
If the floor sits below base flood elevation, this is the moment owners ask what raising the house would take. Pricing it next to the repair costs nothing, and we make no claim that it saves money.
What to have ready
None of this is needed to ask for a quote. Having it makes the first visit faster and the quotes easier to compare.
- Photos underneath the house, if you can safely reach it, and of the outside of the foundation
- How much room there is to crawl under the house, and where the access panel is
- Known termite or water damage, and any earlier repairs
- The age of the house
- Which rooms have sloping floors or sticking doors
- Anything under the house that is in the way: ducts, plumbing, an AC unit
- Your FEMA flood zone and elevation certificate, if you have them
- Driveway and yard access for a crew and materials
Permits, licensing and digging
Check each one with the office named.
Permit
Whether pier replacement needs a permit in your parish or city is something we can't answer. Ask the permit office, and ask the contractor who pulls it.
License and insurance
Ask for the contractor's Louisiana license number and look it up with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC). Ask for proof of liability insurance and workers' compensation.
Before digging
New piers mean digging. Ask the contractor to have buried lines marked through Louisiana 811 first.
Flood zone homes
A repair on a house below base flood elevation does not change the height of the floor. If a grant or the parish requires a certain height, ask them what applies. See elevation certificates.
Pier and beam repair questions
- What to send: photos underneath, access, house age
- Paperwork: ask the parish about a permit
- Cost to ask: nothing
How do I know if my piers are rotted?
You can't judge it from the floor. Soft or crumbling wood, tilted or cracked piers, and gaps where a pier no longer meets the beam are worth photographing. A contractor looking underneath can say which pieces are failing and which are sound.
Does replacing piers need a permit?
We can't say for Terrebonne or Lafourche. Ask the parish or city permit office, and ask each contractor whether the quote includes pulling any permit.
Can piers be replaced without lifting the house?
Some repairs support the floor temporarily rather than lifting the whole house. Whether yours can depends on what failed and where, so ask each contractor to say which they propose and why. If the house does need to come up, see house lifting.
Is this the time to raise the house?
If your house is in a flood zone and the floor sits below base flood elevation, it is worth asking each contractor to price a raise next to the repair. Whether it makes sense depends on your BFE, the permit and your budget. See house elevation.
What should a repair quote say?
Which piers, beams or sills are being replaced, the materials, whether the house will be lifted or only supported, who handles permits, and what happens if more rot turns up. Written down, so the quotes can be compared.
Other work on the house
- House elevationRaise the whole house on new piers.
- House lifting for repairsLift it, fix what's underneath, set it back down.
- House levelingSagging floors and doors that stick.
- Slab homes and elevated rebuildsWhen lifting isn't the route.
- Elevation certificatesLowest floor and BFE, surveyed.
- Service areasTerrebonne and Lafourche towns.
Quotes for pier and beam repair
Tell us about the house and contractors who repair foundations in Terrebonne and Lafourche quote you directly, or message us on WhatsApp.
Free to request, no obligation. We pass your request to independent, licensed and insured local contractors. We can't tell you whether you qualify for a grant; contractors can quote work built to your program's rules.
Prefer email? Email us
We pass your request to independent local contractors who quote you directly. Read our privacy note.