This fella nailed it! Thank you for taking the time to make a video this great, Jon!

Because you explained it so well and the way you did, I’ve decided to build Pier and Beam for my off grid house in San Luis Colorado. Since I’m doing everything by myself, it’s the best choice from all the videos that I’ve watched. You just explain it a little better to where I understand exactly what’s pro and what’s con. Thank you very much for filming this. 😊

In the process of building my homestead. Got a quote for a slab of $16k and some change. Just rented an auger and put in 24 piers for $1774.78 in materials and $434.88 for 3 days on a skid steer with an auger. I ended up doing peir and beam for several other reasons than price but was blown away at what they wanted to do a 30x60 slab

Pour a slab or sidewalks under the P&B home for easier mobility under there if you have to do work. Getting around on a creeper is easier than scooting in the dirt.

Can you use metal studs/ beams instead of wood for the pier and beams? So no mold or rot?

Good stuff Jon. Thanks for sharing!

Loved it, solid logic. Thank you. ❤

Another thought. Slabs are used in the north but with pex tubing coiled in the slab to run warm liquid through providing radiant heat. Same in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Well done Sir .

I’m in your area! I bought a couple of run down houses to renovate and they’re my first pier & beams. Gotta’ say, I miss my slab foundation, but I’m working with what I got and I’m learning as I go. I appreciate your insight regarding the benefits of p&b. The houses are ~70 years old and I’m preparing to spend some time underneath with very little clearance and a pretty high level of claustrophobia. Wish me luck!

I did both. Cmu block piers and a slab for my post and beam cottage. Insulated the piers and under slab. Find pier and beam raised off ground to be worse for bugs and rodents here in the north. I basically have a pavilion right now. Gonna finish walls this summer. Pier and beam cost more for radon mitigation. Code here masonry needs to be expose or breathable 18 inches above grade. To dry out. Better insulation factor with slab than pier and beam. All the wood causes thermal breaks. So same insulation thickness in pier floor means lower r value. Another con on pier and beam is frost heave. Which I see on a lot on pier and beam cottages up north. I have 70 psf snow loads and 6 foot frost depths. Another pro for pier and beam is use as a root cellar or cold room. Most sky scrapes have piers and slab.

I think I go whit pier and beam just the fact I don’t have to worry about plumbing to much

Very informative and interesting video. Thanks

I agree with you when it comes to pier and beam. You have access your utility

Yes i have crawl space.in arkansas the builders do not build up turf and gravel before they pour a slab..many houses in the delta of arkansas smell mildewie.bad even new.so much water in the delta.

What are your thoughts on open web floor trusses with post/pier to beam foundations?

What’s the best way to insulate? From the bottom? Seems like fastening plywood or something underneath and placing insulation from the top would be easier. How would you prevent mice and insects from getting in from underneath? Would you put plastic down under the floor and then cover with blue stone for moisture? Great video. Thanks for sharing.

Do you do consultations on pier & beam?

Wish you wrote a book!!

Thanks for the vid Jon! Question - you are using a 1 ply framing on top of 4x6 for your build. One of the pics there uses 3 ply right on top of concrete pier. What are your thoughts on pros and cons of each approach and why did you go the frame on beam route?

Wife and I are in our second p&b house. Both built in 50s. Would never live on slab. Ease of repair along is worth it all.

Thanks for the video. I bought land in the mountains with a grade. Do you still think a higher pier and beam foundation is cheaper vs a walkout basement foundation?

Pier and beam ftw!

I wanna build a p&b home in philly

Thinking doing a pier and beam,moving to Florida!!

In continental Europe it's mostly slabs. What I don't understand how plumbing can go just under the house in this crawl space and not freeze in winter? I mean it's basically street temperature there

What's your take if you do a concrete and steel beam for a pier and beam solution

Good video. 10 years in Houston in a 1200 sq. ft. slab home, meh. Bugs, yes. 20+ years in Dallas in a 1200 sq. ft. pier and beam. I'll take the pier and beam. Not many bugs and if I saw one, bug bomb in the crawl space. The house was 25 years old and the underneath was good, probably still is. The only problem was the attached slab garage and driveway. Cracks.

Can u use steel instead of wood?

How about using concrete colums

Pier and beam all the way. Another pro is not having to worry about tree roots from garden getting in slab.

they run plumbing under slab in Florida

👍

I dont understand the rot, mold thing.....get those piers up high enough to walk under neath it.....ok, look at homes on the sc/nc coast...they pour some concrete in a hole and drop treated 8x8s up 12x12' into the hole...its not even a concrete pier....thye build 3 stories code compliant...they park cars under the homes... They seal the bottom of the floor joists with plywood and simply paint them. Usillay the center of the home under the pier is a utility type room which contains hvac and pumbing compontes going to he ground.....no mold, no rot, no termites....its OFF THE GROUND, getting the home off he ground is key to not having mold, rot and termites!!!

Slab is good for a cabin in a forest used in summer for holidays. Real home needs a real base, come on

Slab is ridiculous. Piers, beams and stem walls is far superior. Slab also can't do any type of earthquake rollers, can't access any of the buried utilities, cement is cold on the legs and feet. Wouldn't even consider slab. One can also put piers in themselves. Less cement.