Pier-and-Beam Foundation Repair in Baton Rouge

Pre-1960s housing stock is often pier-and-beam. Most Baton Rouge-area housing is slab-on-grade. So while raised houses are the smaller share around Baton Rouge, they are more likely in older housing — and they have their own set of problems and their own repair path. If you can see a crawlspace, vents, or skirting around the base of your house, or you step up into it from the ground, this page is for you.

How a pier-and-beam foundation works

In a pier-and-beam house, the floor does not touch the ground. Piers — brick, block, concrete, or in older houses sometimes wood — rise from footings in the soil. Beams run across the tops of the piers, sills sit on the perimeter, and the floor joists rest on those. Shims fill the small gaps between pier and beam so the load is carried evenly.

That design has real advantages: plumbing and wiring under the floor are reachable, and the house can be releveled from below without breaking concrete. But every part of it can wear out. Footings settle, piers lean or crack, shims crush or slip, and wood exposed to damp air or standing water rots.

Signs a raised foundation needs attention

Inside the house

• Floors that bounce, sag, or feel soft in one area.
• A noticeable slope across a room, often toward an outside wall or the middle of the house.
• Doors that drag or will not latch, and windows that stick.
• Gaps between baseboards and the floor, or cracks in plaster and drywall.

In the crawlspace

• Piers that lean, have cracked, or have pulled away from the beam.
• Shims that have crushed, slipped out, or been stacked many times over.
• Sills or beams that are soft, stained dark, or crumbling.
• Standing water, wet soil, or a strong damp smell after rain.

You do not need to crawl under the house yourself — a specialist should do that as part of the evaluation. But if you have photos from a past inspection, a plumber, or a pest control visit, they are useful to share.

What causes pier-and-beam problems

• Moisture. Water under the house is the most common thread. It softens the soil under footings, and it rots sills and beams over time.
• Settling footings and piers. Piers built on shallow or undersized footings can sink unevenly as the soil changes.
• Failed shims. Wood shims can crush or rot, and stacked shims can slip, leaving the beam unsupported.
• Too few supports. Where beams span too far between piers, floors can sag in the middle of the span.
• Insect damage. Termites and other wood-boring insects can weaken sills and beams, especially where wood is damp.

How pier-and-beam repair is usually done

The repair path depends on what the crawlspace inspection finds, but it usually draws on:

• Re-shimming with solid shims where the pier is sound but a gap has opened.
• Resetting piers that have leaned or sunk, sometimes with new footings.
• Adding piers where beams span too far or where the original layout was too sparse.
• Sill and beam replacement where wood has rotted, so there is something solid to support.
• Crawlspace moisture correction — drainage, grading, ventilation, or vapor control — so the same damage does not return.

The house leveling page explains why “level” is a target agreed in advance, not perfection.

Moisture is half the job

A raised house can be shimmed level and still be in trouble a few years later if water keeps collecting underneath. That is why the evaluation should look at gutters, downspouts, grading, and where water goes during a heavy rain, as well as ventilation in the crawlspace itself. The drainage and moisture correction page covers what that work can include and why it belongs on the quote as its own line.

What the quote should itemize

A pier-and-beam quote should break the work into the same four separate lines as any foundation quote, so you can see what is structural, what addresses the cause, and what is cosmetic:

1. 1Evaluation findingsWhat was measured and found — elevation readings, crack locations, construction type, likely cause.
2. 2Drainage / moisture correctionGutters, grading, downspouts, or crawlspace moisture work that addresses why the soil is moving.
3. 3Structural repairPiers, shims, or sill and beam replacement — with counts, locations, and depths stated.
4. 4Finish / cosmeticDrywall, brick, trim, and door adjustments after the house moves — priced on its own line.

On the structural line, ask for specifics: how many piers will be reset or added and where, what type of shims will be used, and how many linear feet of sill or beam will be replaced. Wood replacement is often the part that grows once work starts, so it is fair to ask how hidden rot will be priced if it is found.

Cost, in published ranges

Published ranges from Louisiana foundation companies put house leveling at roughly $3,000 to $15,000 and drainage correction at roughly $1,500 to $6,000. Statewide, one company describes the full range as $2,000 to $75,000 or more, with the top end reserved for complete pier-and-beam overhauls. These are published figures, not quotes, and not prices we set. The foundation repair cost guide explains what moves a job within those ranges.

To get a real number, call (225) 535-8057 or send the form. Your request is routed to one licensed local foundation specialist, who arranges an in-person evaluation, including the crawlspace.