You’ve got a crawl space home, and down in that dark space are the supports holding the whole thing up. Trouble is, you’re not sure what kind you’ve got . . . or whether they’re any good.
Maybe a neighbor’s house sits on something different, and now you’re wondering if yours measures up.
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we’re never reluctant to share the methods we use and the reasons behind them. We’ve worked on 1,000+ crawl space and pier and beam homes across the Brazos Valley since 1985, and we feel we have an obligation to explain why we use what we use to bring the best stability to you and your home.
In this article, we’ll cut through the confusing terms, name the exact support we put under crawl space homes during our repairs, and give you the top five reasons it earns that spot, whether your home is being built or leveled back into shape.
What Do We Actually Put Under a Crawl Space Home?
So what goes under your crawl space home to hold it up when we’re the ones repairing the foundation? Let’s get loud about it.
When it’s time to efficiently and economically shim and support a pier and beam or block and base home, we use a stacked concrete base and block combo. Every time. The rest of this article is us explaining why.
Homeowners call anything under the house a “pier,” which is fine for everyday talk. BUT the exact terms matter here, so let’s line them up:
- Pier: a drilled, straight-shaft, bell-bottomed, rebar-reinforced column of poured concrete, sunk deep into the ground. Serious, permanent, and more common under slabs (though sometimes we use them when the beam on a pier and beam home needs maximum stability).
- Base and block combo: a 4x16x16 concrete base on the bottom, stacked blocks and pads of varying thickness above it, then a tapered cedar shim on top for the fine adjustment. This is what we put under crawl space homes.
- Support station: the catch-all for anything holding up your crawl space’s wooden structure, one of the above or something older and less standard.
One more term worth nailing down. Those blocks are CMUs (Concrete Masonry Units), and they are NOT “cinder blocks,” even though people swap the names constantly.
The difference is real. A cinder block was the old, lighter unit made with leftover coal cinders. A CMU is built from real concrete aggregate to meet building-code strength standards. The Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association spells it out if you want the details.
Same shape, very different backbone. When we say CMU, we mean the strong, standardized kind. Plus, our CMUs get their feelings hurt when you call them cinder blocks too, so let’s not make them cry . . .
Why We Repair With Stacked Concrete Blocks Under Crawl Space Homes
Now the heart of it. Why reach for stacked concrete blocks over everything else? Five reasons, and they build on each other.
1. They’re Lightweight and Easy to Maneuver
Concrete blocks are light enough for one person to carry and set by hand, which counts for a lot in the cramped crawl spaces we often find ourselves in.
Some crawl spaces leave only 8 to 10 inches of clearance, with no room to wrestle heavy gear or big poured columns into place. A stack of blocks goes almost anywhere a person can wiggle into . . . which is most of the tight, awkward areas under a home.
2. The Wide Base Spreads the Load
The combo starts with a broad 4x16x16 footing, and a wider footprint spreads the home’s weight over more surface area. The smaller blocks and pads on top of the base still have surface area to them, so the weight distribution continues from the ground up.
A narrow, pinpoint support does the opposite. It drives all the pressure onto one small spot and can push up into the wood over time, leaving little humps and bumps in your floor.
A wide base isn’t likely to create those pressure points, so it tends to hold a home more evenly and gently. (Which is a big reason we’re not fans of those single-point jack gadgets . . . more on that below.)
3. The Varying Sizes Allow Precise Shimming
Because the blocks and pads come in different thicknesses, we can dial in the exact height a home needs, one layer at a time.
We start thick on the bottom and step down to thinner pieces and shims as we near the top, until the structure sits right where it should. That fine-tuning is what brings a home back toward level instead of “close enough.”
4. They’re Time-Tested and Long-Lasting
Stacked concrete has held up homes for generations. It lasts because concrete is durable, low-maintenance, and doesn’t rot, warp, or feed termites the way wood can.
Concrete doesn’t easily break down over time. Industry references put its service life anywhere from 50 to 100 years or more, and Roman concrete structures are still standing after two thousand years. Your blocks won’t need that kind of encore, but a support that holds its shape for the life of the home is exactly what you want down there.
5. They’re Affordable, Available, and Not Proprietary
The one that secretly matters most.
Concrete blocks are inexpensive and readily available where contractors buy quality construction materials. Nothing about them is patented, branded, or locked to one company.
Compare a proprietary “permanent jack” system that some repair companies use, where only the outfit that installed it has the tools and know-how to adjust it. That ties you to them for the life of your home.
With standard blocks, any qualified crew can service your supports down the road, even if we weren’t around. Your home shouldn’t come with a subscription.
Great for Both New Builds and Foundation Repairs
Here’s something a lot of folks miss: stacked concrete blocks are a smart choice both when a home is first built AND when it needs foundation repair or house leveling years later. Very few methods can claim that, and it’s a big part of why we stand behind this one.
At Original Construction
Build a home on a wide, adjustable block system from the start, and it begins life with every advantage above.
Many “needs crawl space foundation repair” headaches can be traced back to the wrong original choice. Over the decades we’ve crawled under homes on supports that just didn’t age well:
- Timber posts that rotted out in the damp.
- Brick and stacked-stone piers whose mortar crumbled and left them leaning.
- One-piece poured pyramids and cylinders that tilted the moment the soil shifted.
Once those other piers fail, there’s rarely a gentle fix. You often have to bust the whole thing out and start over . . . which a stack of swappable blocks never forces on you.
They’re not real pretty, but CMU base-block combos set you up for easier repairs when your foundation inevitably shifts in our expansive clay soils down the road.
During Foundation Repair
This is our day-in, day-out work, and where the block system really shines. Whatever a home was built on, when it settles we rarely start from scratch. We’ve got options:
- Slide in new blocks where support is needed.
- Swap out a single failing support without disturbing the rest.
- Reset the home on fresh stacked concrete, working around old piers we can’t easily remove.
Because the pieces come apart and go back together so easily, we can return and re-shim as the years pass and the clay keeps doing its thing. It’s the same reason block and base is our answer for homes built on almost any other support.
So What Other Kinds of Piers Are Out There Anyway?
Now you’ve got the plain-English version. What we put under a crawl space home when repairs are in order is a stacked concrete base and block combo, built from real CMUs. You also now know the five reasons we trust it: lightweight, wide-based, precisely adjustable, long-lasting, and refreshingly non-proprietary.
After 40+ years under Brazos Valley homes, we’ve landed on this method because it keeps homes stable and keeps YOU in control of your own house. That’s the outcome we want for you: a level home supported by materials anyone can maintain, backed by a crew happy to explain every choice. If you’d rather we take a look, our house leveling team is a call away.
We’ve hinted at other types of piers and some of their drawbacks, but curious how our base/block combo *stacks* up against the timber, brick, stone, and poured piers still out there? Tour them all in Pier and Beam Foundation Homes: What Types of Piers Are There? and see exactly where your home’s support lands.