
Pier and Beam Repair
Beams, blocks and shims reworked from inside the crawl space, where the problem can actually be seen.
Pier and Beam RepairAlamo Heights was built out mostly between the 1920s and the 1950s, which means a lot of original pier and beam floors, some early slabs, and live oaks that have had eighty years to spread their roots toward the house. San Antonio Foundation Fix inspects both systems and explains what is moving.

Beams, blocks and shims reworked from inside the crawl space, where the problem can actually be seen.
Pier and Beam Repair
Elevation readings, a crack survey and a plain answer about whether repair is warranted yet.
Foundation Inspection
Getting water away from the wall and keeping large tree roots from drying the clay out under the slab.
Drainage and Root BarriersOlder 78209 houses are rarely one thing. A 1930s pier and beam home with a 1990s slab kitchen addition is a common combination here, and the joint between the two is usually where the cracking shows up, because the two halves respond to weather at different rates.
Access matters more in this part of town than it does in the newer suburbs. Narrow side yards, mature landscaping, stone walls and detached structures all affect how equipment reaches the perimeter. Tell us what is between the street and the foundation when you book.
The big live oaks that give these streets their character also draw a lot of moisture out of the ground in summer. That is not a reason to remove a tree, but it is a reason to look at where the roots are heading relative to the foundation.
If you know whether the house is on piers and beams, on a slab, or part of each, say so when booking. If you do not know, that is one of the first things the inspection establishes.
Gates, stone walls, mature beds and tight side yards change how work is carried out. A photo of the side of the house is genuinely useful.
Many houses here have been worked on before. Old paperwork, or even the knowledge that something was done in the past, helps interpret the readings.
A crack in an eighty-year-old plaster wall is not automatically a structural problem. Plenty of these houses have moved a little, settled, and been stable for decades. What matters is whether the movement is still going on now, which is what the elevation readings are for.
If you are buying or selling in 78209, an independent structural engineer engaged directly by you gives an evaluation with no stake in the repair. That is worth doing when the sums are large. Read which cracks matter beforehand so the report makes sense.
Compare pressed concrete and steel piers if underpinning comes up, and see foundation repair in Castle Hills for a neighboring area with similar mid-century housing. The full list is on the service areas page.
There is no set price, because it follows what the survey finds: how far the house has moved, whether it is on piers and beams or a slab, and how easy the perimeter is to reach. San Antonio Foundation Fix measures first and quotes in writing. Start with an inspection.
San Antonio Foundation Fix covers Alamo Heights and the surrounding 78209 streets, for both pier and beam and slab homes. Give us the address and a description of what you are seeing through the service request page.
Usually, depending on the schedule that week. Foundation inspections are booked appointments rather than emergency calls, so tell us what suits you and we will confirm the nearest slot.
No. Lifting any part of a house without knowing where the loads run can crack walls, break lines under the floor and make the repair more expensive. Leave it to a crew that has measured the house — see pier and beam repair.
It depends entirely on whether it is still moving. Old, stable cracking in a house that has settled is very different from cracking that widened this summer. Our guide on repairing now or waiting goes through the difference.
They can contribute, by drawing moisture out of the clay near the house through a dry summer. Removing a mature oak is rarely the answer. A root barrier plus consistent watering is the usual approach here.
Tell us what the house is doing and we will plan the visit around your address.