Is a pier and beam just as good as slab?

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Looking at a house tomorrow with a pier and beam. Just wondering if it's something I should stay away from. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Texashiker]

I see nothing wrong with pier and beam houses. They were built for a long time before slabs became popular.

There are a few nice things about a raised house, you dont have to worry about the slab cracking, and its nice if you have a busted water line or sewer line.

House needs to be leveled? Just crawl under there with a jack and some shims.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

They also have a huge advantage over a traditional slab on lots that have major slopes or flooding problems.

 

[BoomerD]

Slab construction can be a PITA for water line problems. If the slab moves even a tiny bit, the pipes can crack...and a slab leak can be horrendously expensive to fix.
It's happened to a couple of my neighbors.

Then again, crawl spaces can have their own problems too...

 

[Dubb]

it's fine as long as everything is sized appropriately and there aren't any soil issues that were overlooked.

Around here we have clay soils and a historic tendency to undersize/overspan during boom times (20s, late 40s, early 50s).

 

[Kreon]

It depends on the location, and how far the piers go down.
If they go down to something stable (like glacial till), then you should be fine. If they're just sunk into clay or organics, you'll need to be careful about settlement (even then they may still be OK if its even).
But uneven settlement of the foundation is something to look for in every structure you look at.

 

[Greenman]

Looking at a house tomorrow with a pier and beam. Just wondering if it's something I should stay away from. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Perfectly acceptable construction method, as long as it's done right. The same applies to slab construction.