The 1920s–1940s cottages and Tudors of the West Side are quietly due: many still ride on original piers that have never had a real adjustment.
Arlington Heights, Como, and the blocks off the Camp Bowie brick streets filled in between the wars — brick-veneer cottages, Tudors, and minimal-traditional homes on pier and beam foundations that are now 80 to 100 years old. Unlike Fairmount, where foundation work is a neighborhood tradition, many West Side homes have simply never been releveled. The symptoms arrive gradually: doors that need a shoulder in August, a hump in a hallway, windows painted shut because they stopped closing square.
Brick veneer adds a wrinkle worth knowing: the wood-framed house and its brick skin can move slightly differently, so stair-step cracks in the brick sometimes look scarier than what’s actually happening underneath. An elevation survey and a crawl space inspection separate cosmetic cracking from real settlement — and more than a few Arlington Heights inspections end with “monitor it, call us if it grows” instead of an invoice.
When adjustment is warranted, these homes are straightforward candidates: releveling with steel shims, occasional pier replacement, and drainage correction on lots that have settled into grade over the decades. Most jobs finish in a day or two.
House leveling, sill and joist replacement, crawl space drainage and moisture control, and inspections — including pre-purchase inspections during an option period. Every job starts with a free inspection and a written itemized estimate; see typical Fort Worth prices in the cost guide.
A pier and beam inspection takes about an hour and costs nothing. You’ll get a straight answer about what’s wrong — and what it should cost to fix — before anyone asks you for a dime.
(817) 989-9056