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Crawl space specialists · Knoxville, TN

Crawl Space Repair in East Tennessee

Steel supports on proper footings, sealed foundation vents and an access door that closes — the parts of a crawl space that fail first.

Call 865-503-5483Request an estimate

Crawl Space Repair

How the load gets carried

Before the individual services below, here is the support system in one drawing — a pier that has settled, what that does to the girder it carries, and the steel supports we set on proper footings underneath.

How the repair works

Taking the load off a settled pier

Not to scale · every support sized to the load
Taking the load off a settled pierCutaway along the main girder under a crawl space, with the floor deck and its joists above, bare ground below, and a foundation wall at each side. A dashed line marks the floor's original level; the framing sags away from it toward the right. Five numbered callouts. One, the problem: ground moisture rising year after year out of the bare earth. Two, the damage: a cracked masonry pier that has settled into soft ground on stacked shims. Three, the damage: the girder above it dropped with the pier, measurably below the level line. Four, the system: two adjustable steel support jacks on poured footings bearing on undisturbed ground, raised gradually to take the load off the failing pier. Five, the system: the ground below sealed with a liner and drained so the new supports stay on firm, dry ground.12345Level datumGradeUndisturbed bearing grade
  1. Callout 1. The problem: Years of ground moisture under the crawl space. Damp wood loses strength, and damp ground gives way under whatever is standing on it.
  2. Callout 2. The damage: The pier settles into ground that never dries, and someone stacks shims under it to buy a few more years.
  3. Callout 3. The damage: The girder drops with it, and the load the house was built to carry there is no longer where it should be.
  4. Callout 4. The system: Adjustable steel supports on poured footings take the load, brought up gradually to measured elevations. Forcing a floor cracks everything above it.
  5. Callout 5. The system: The ground gets sealed and drained at the same time, so the new supports sit on firm, dry ground and stay there.

Crawl Space Repair

Piers & Support Jacks

New support where the original has settled, rotted or was never enough.

Adjustable steel supports are set on proper footings and brought up to take load off a failing girder or an inadequate span. Because they adjust, the floor can be brought back gradually and re-checked over subsequent visits rather than forced.

Where an existing pier has failed, the question is why. A pier that has settled into ground that stays wet will settle again unless the water is dealt with, so we look at both.

Every support goes on a footing sized for the load and the soil. Setting a jack on the dirt is how you get a second call two years later.

Worth knowing: This is crawl space framing support, not foundation underpinning. If your problem is a settling foundation or a structural wall, that is a different trade and we will refer you rather than take it on.

Signs you need this

  • A block pier that is cracked, leaning or crumbling
  • Shims stacked up on top of a support
  • Visible sag along the line of a main girder

Crawl Space Repair

Foundation Vents

Closing off the openings that were letting the wet air in.

Crawl space vents were standard for decades on the theory that moving air dries a space out. In a humid southern summer the opposite happens: warm wet air comes in, hits cooler surfaces and leaves its water behind.

Where a crawl space is being sealed, the vents get closed and sealed properly as part of that. Where the space is staying vented, they at least need to work — covers intact, clear of the soil line, and screened.

Which of those is right for your house depends on the space and what else is being done, and it is a decision we make at the estimate rather than by rule.

Worth knowing: Sealing vents is right in a sealed, conditioned crawl space. Closing them off while the ground is still open and wet traps moisture in, so this does not happen on its own.

Signs you need this

  • Open vents on a house with a damp crawl space
  • Broken, rusted or missing vent covers
  • Vents at or below the level of the surrounding soil

Crawl Space Repair

Access Doors

A sealed, insulated way in that is not a gap in the envelope.

The access is a hole in the side of a sealed space, and on a lot of houses it is the weakest point — an untreated panel leaning against the opening, or a door that rotted out years ago.

We fit an insulated, gasketed door that seals against the frame and latches shut, sized to the opening. Where the access is below grade and taking water, we deal with that too rather than fitting a good door into a wet hole.

It is a small item on an estimate and it protects everything else that was done.

Worth knowing: On a below-grade access, the door alone will not stop water coming in — the grading or a well around the opening has to be sorted at the same time.

Signs you need this

  • A plywood panel or loose cover over the access
  • Daylight or draft around the opening
  • Water running in at the access after rain

What it costs

Crawl Space Repair price ranges

Guidance, not a quote. Where your job lands depends on the size of the crawl space and what is actually causing the problem — which is what the free estimate is for.

Financing available · 10% off your first service

Financing available through Hearth — check your options
  • Piers & support jacks$1,800 – $8,000

The rest of the crawl space

Most houses need more than one of these. If you are not sure which, the estimate will tell you — and it is free either way.

We cover 34 towns across 6 East Tennessee counties — see the full service area.

Get your crawl space repair estimate

A free on-site estimate takes about an hour, and you get a written price before anyone starts. Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm.

Call 865-503-5483Request an estimate

Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm · Free on-site estimates, no obligation