The Benefits of Pier and Beam Foundations

 Are you lucky enough to live on a pier and beam foundation? If you do, you know you have less foundation problems than the typical house in Dallas. Because the ground shifts so much, many homes in Texas have foundation issues. Having pier & beam is great because if you do need an adjustment, it’s often much cheaper to fix than traditional concrete slab foundations. 

Pier and Beam foundations on DFW real estate incorporate a crawl space beneath the home and footings filled with concrete to support the slab. The crawl space allows access to heating and plumbing utilities without having to break through the concrete slab. Traditional slab foundations are cheaper and easier to construct however don’t last very long before foundation work is necessary.

If you do live in one of the many Tarrant County homes on pier and beam foundation you notice a lot of benefits including the ease on your joints. Wood has so much more give than concrete. Also your plumbing is so easily accessible. The only downside to having your plumbing is so accessible; you often get a sewer odor that just won’t go away.  Before you lose hope, I learned the coolest trick to get rid of that smell and it’s much cheaper than calling a plumber!

First, purchase several bottles of bleach. Any kind will do. Pour the entire bottle of bleach down each drain where you have the sewer odor. Generally you will pour bleach down the kitchen drain, tub/shower drain, and toilets. For the toilets, first, remove the lid from the tank; flush the toilet and while the water starts filling, pour as much bleach as you can into the tank. Do this for every toilet. Then, throughout the course of the year, every time you flush, you are sanitizing your sewage water and eliminate that nasty odor that you had to experience.

This is a one time a year maintenance plan. The other alternative is to call a plumber and they can pour bleach or another substance that does the same thing and charge you for it. When it comes to resell value of your house you may find yourself selling to one of those We Buy Houses companies if you don’t maintain the foundation, plumbing and all of your other homes systems. 

~ Jennifer Clark with VIP Realty Platinum