When moisture gets to the wood, shims aren’t enough. We replace rotted sills, cracked joists, and sagging beams — the structural surgery that keeps Fort Worth’s century-old homes standing for the next century.
The sill plate is the wooden member that sits on your perimeter foundation and carries the ends of every floor joist. In a 1915 Fairmount four-square, that sill has been down there for over a hundred years — and if crawl space moisture, plumbing leaks, or termites ever reached it, sections of it are now soft, crushed, or gone.
A rotted sill or a cracked joist can’t be shimmed back to health. The fix is replacement: the affected section of the house is supported on temporary cribbing, the failed member is cut out, and new treated lumber goes in its place. Done correctly, the repair is stronger than the original.
Full-dimension rough-sawn lumber, balloon framing, bois d’arc piers — the homes of Fairmount, the Near Southside, and Ryan Place weren’t built like modern houses, and repairing them well means knowing the difference. Because this work happens under the house, it doesn’t alter the exterior and generally doesn’t trigger historic-district review.
Localized joist repairs often run $1,500–$4,000. Sill plate replacement is priced by the linear foot and scales with access and how much of the house needs temporary support — larger jobs on big historic homes can reach $8,000–$15,000+. See the cost guide for full ranges. A free inspection with crawl space photos tells you exactly where your house falls before you commit to anything.
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