Leveling a pier and beam house? (Texas)

[Rob3100]

So I've had a couple of folks come out and look at the house (1902 pier and beam) and it seems to look pretty good on the bottom side, not a great deal of rotting and only one beam in need of repair according to one guy, the other guy wanted to replace everything with concrete (for a bajillion dollars).

How hard is it really? I have 3 1/2 - 4ft of crawl space and don't mind working under there. Is it reasonable to think I could get a couple/few 20 ton jacks, some jacking beams, few steel plates and a lot of patience and do it myself? From the looks of some of the guys on the crews of these leveling contractors it doesn't appear to be rocket science. Someone recommended paying an engineer to come out and look at it and he might have much more information than just about any leveling contractor.

Anyways, any experiences with leveling a old pier and beam?

[thestinker]

I have fixed low spots before using that method. If the whole house needed leveling, then I would seek a professional. But for a door sticking or whatever, I have done what you are talking about. Then only real problem is you need to add more spacers to your piers ever so often.

RS

[frumper64]

Just be thankful it's a pier and beam - foundation work on concrete slabs is really pricey - DAMHIK

[cgallery]

The current TOS (This Old House) is in Austin and they had to do some work on the foundation. The area they were working in was more cramped (less headroom) than what you have.

It didn't appear that complicated. I didn't see any nametags that said NASA on them.