Arnett Benson Foundation Repair & House Leveling
Arnett Benson in north Lubbock holds a large stock of homes from the 1940s and 1950s — the tail end of the pier and beam era. Which side of that line your house falls on decides what kind of foundation it has, and this is the one neighborhood in the city where the answer genuinely goes both ways.
A neighborhood built across the slab transition
Most homes in Arnett Benson are modest single-story ranch builds from the 1940s and 1950s, with a further share of the neighborhood built between 1970 and 1999. The area was settled substantially by families who came to work the Santa Fe Railroad, and it is home to Buddy Holly Park and the Rawlings Community Center.
That timing puts the neighborhood right on top of the change in how Texas houses were built. Pier and beam was the standard before the 1950s; slab-on-grade took over through the 1950s and 1960s and was effectively universal afterward. So Arnett Benson is genuinely mixed in a way that Tech Terrace or South Overton are not. The older core has real pier and beam housing. The later blocks are slab, and nothing on this page applies to them.
How to tell which one you have
You can usually settle this yourself in a few minutes, before anyone comes out.
- Look for a crawlspace access hatch. A small door or removable panel along the exterior wall, often near a back corner, means there is a space under the floor. Slabs have nothing to access.
- Look for foundation vents. Small screened or louvered openings spaced around the base of the exterior walls exist to ventilate a crawlspace. They are one of the clearest indicators from the street.
- Notice how the floor feels. A suspended wood floor has some give to it and may sound hollow underfoot. A slab feels solid and dead everywhere.
- Notice how high the house sits. Pier and beam houses generally sit further above grade, with a step or two up to the front door. Slab houses tend to sit low and close to the ground.
If the hatch and the vents are there, this page applies to your house. If they are not, it is almost certainly a slab.
What tends to show up in the pier and beam houses here
- Supports at the end of a normal service life. A house built in 1948 has had seventy-odd years of soil movement working on its piers. Settlement here is usually gradual and uneven rather than sudden.
- Carports and garages added later. Attached structures added after the original build frequently sit on their own shallow supports and move independently of the house.
- Additions built across the foundation types. A pier and beam original with a slab addition poured onto the back is a real pattern in neighborhoods built during this period, and the two sections behave completely differently. The joint between them is where the movement shows.
- Moisture and drainage at the perimeter. Grade that slopes toward the house, downspouts discharging next to the foundation, and blocked vents all keep the crawlspace damp enough to damage framing over time.
- Plumbing repaired in sections. Original lines replaced piecemeal over decades, with slow leaks that ran under the floor before anyone noticed.
Repairs available in Arnett Benson
- House leveling and support replacement — for rooms that slope or supports that have failed
- Joist, beam, and sill plate repair — for framing that has rotted, split, or lost capacity
- Sagging floor and soft spot repair — for localized damage and bouncy floors
- Crawl space repair — for moisture, drainage, rot, and access problems
- Cost guidance — what these repairs typically run in Lubbock
Arnett Benson is inside the primary Lubbock service area, so scheduling is usually straightforward. Call (806) 472-8367 or send the form.
Repairs we handle
Talk to someone now
Describe what you are seeing and we will tell you whether it sounds like a support issue or a framing issue.
Call (806) 472-8367Pier & beam questions in Arnett Benson
What homeowners in this area ask before booking an inspection.
Are Arnett Benson homes pier and beam?
Some are and some are not, which makes this neighborhood different from most of the older parts of Lubbock. The housing runs from the 1940s through the 1960s with a later wave built from 1970 onward, and the change from pier and beam to slab-on-grade happened right through that period. Homes from the 1940s and early 1950s are commonly pier and beam. Homes built from the 1960s on are almost always slab.
How can I tell whether my house is pier and beam before I call?
Walk the outside of the house and look for two things: a crawlspace access hatch, usually a small door or removable panel near a back corner, and foundation vents, which are small screened openings spaced around the base of the exterior walls. Either one means there is a space under the floor. It also helps to notice whether the floor gives slightly underfoot and whether the house sits well above grade with steps up to the door, both of which point to a suspended wood floor.
What happens if my house turns out to be a slab?
We tell you at the inspection and there is no charge for it. This company works on pier and beam foundations, and slab foundations need a different evaluation and different repair methods, so the right answer in that case is a contractor who specializes in slab work. It is better to find that out in your driveway than partway into a repair.
Not sure which repair you need?
Start with the measurement. An inspection turns a symptom into a documented scope you can price and compare.
Other older Lubbock neighborhoods
Lubbock’s older neighborhoods were built in the same decades and share the same set of problems, but each one has its own housing stock.