Pier Estimator: How Many Piers Does Your House Need?

Most Shreveport homes that need pier stabilization end up with piers spaced 6 to 8 feet apart along the walls that are moving. A 50 foot wall often needs 7 to 9 piers. Your exact count depends on wall length, weight, and soil, so use the estimator below for a planning range.

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How Pier Spacing Works

Think of piers as new feet for your house. When the soil under part of a home shrinks or washes away, that part of the house sinks. Piers are driven down through the weak soil until they reach ground that can hold weight, and then the house is steadied on them. How far apart the piers sit matters a lot. Put them too far apart and the wall between them can still sag. Put them closer than needed and you pay for steel you did not need.

On homes in Shreveport, residential steel push piers and helical piers are typically spaced 6 to 8 feet on center. "On center" just means the distance is measured from the middle of one pier to the middle of the next. The count for any wall starts with one pier at each end, then adds one pier for each full spacing step in between. That is why a 48 foot wall needs 9 piers at 6 foot spacing: one at each end, plus 7 in between. At 8 foot spacing the same wall needs 7 piers. The estimator above uses this same simple math, so you can see exactly how the number is built.

Spacing is not a guess. It comes from how much weight each pier must carry and how stiff the wall or beam above it is. A long, heavy brick wall pushes down harder than a light wood frame wall, so it needs piers closer together. A beam that spans a long distance without support will flex, so the supports under it sit closer. When an inspector walks your home, the spacing they plan comes from the weight of your house, the type of walls, and what the soil is doing under each side.

Use the table as a quick check. If your estimator result looks very different from the table for the same wall length, you probably picked different walls or a different spacing choice. That is normal. The table counts one straight wall. Most homes need work on more than one side, and the estimator adds those runs together.

Steel Push Piers vs Helical Piers in Plain Language

Both types of piers do the same job: they carry the weight of your house down to soil or rock that does not move. The difference is how they get there. A steel push pier is a set of steel tubes pressed straight down into the ground with the weight of the house itself pushing back. Installers watch the pressure as each section goes down, and they stop when the pier reaches ground strong enough to hold the load. A helical pier looks like a big screw. It is turned into the ground, and the screw-shaped plates grip the soil as it goes. Helical piers are often the pick when the ground near the surface is soft, when the crew must work in a tight spot, or when a lighter structure does not give enough weight to push against.

Here in northwest Louisiana, the choice between the two usually comes down to soil, access, and the weight of the house. Caddo Parish soil is heavy clay that swells when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries. That movement is what cracks so many foundations around Shreveport, from South Highlands to Cedar Grove. Piers have to reach below the layer of soil that moves with the weather. On some lots that is a short drive. On others, the crew goes deeper before the pier holds firm. Your inspector decides which pier fits your home after taking elevation readings and looking at the soil and drainage around the house.

One thing that surprises many homeowners is that piers are not only for houses that are sinking fast. A home that has settled a little and then stopped may still need piers to keep it from moving again the next time a long dry spell is followed by heavy rain. That dry-then-wet cycle is the pattern that does the most damage in our area. September 2026 was the 8th driest September in 132 years for the area, followed by rain. When dry clay shrinks away from a foundation and then soaks up water all at once, the ground swells unevenly, and walls crack. Piers give the house a footing that does not ride up and down with that cycle.

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What Changes Your Pier Count

Wall length is the biggest driver, but it is not the only one. Wall weight comes next. A brick veneer wall is far heavier than a wood frame wall with vinyl siding, so brick homes usually need tighter spacing. Two-story homes carry more weight than one-story homes, and that extra load can also push spacing tighter. The estimator asks about walls and soil because those two answers move the result more than any other detail you can enter from your couch.

Soil is the second big driver. The expansive clay under much of Shreveport and Bossier City swells and shrinks with moisture. Where the clay is deep and the drainage is poor, the moving layer is thicker, and piers must go deeper and sit closer together. Where a home sits on better bearing soil with good drainage, wider spacing can do the job. Neighborhoods built on low ground near bayous and creeks, or on lots where water ponds after a storm, often need more attention than homes on higher, well-drained lots. That is why two houses of the same size on the same street can end up with different pier counts.

The shape of the settlement matters too. If only the front wall has dropped, the work may cover just that wall and the corners. If the whole house has settled unevenly, the plan may cover the full perimeter plus an interior beam line. Interior beam lines are common in slab homes, where a thickened beam runs under the middle of the slab, and in pier and beam homes, where wood beams carry the floor. When floors slope toward the middle of the house or doors stick in the center rooms, an interior line is often part of the fix. The estimator includes an interior beam line option for this reason, and it counts that run at the same spacing as the outside walls.

Access can change the plan as well. Piers need room for equipment beside the wall. A wall blocked by a driveway, a porch, or a tight fence line may need the crew to work from inside, or to tunnel under the slab. Tunneling and interior work can change how many piers go in and where they sit. None of that shows up in a simple length calculation, which is one more reason the estimator gives a range and the inspection gives the final plan. If you live in Blanchard, Benton, Haughton, Greenwood, or Keithville, the same rules apply, but the soil and lot conditions in each town still get checked on site, because clay depth and drainage vary from one part of Caddo and Bossier parishes to another.

What Happens at the Free Inspection

The inspection starts with a walk around your home. The inspector looks at the cracks, the doors and windows that stick, the floors that slope, and the gaps around trim and brick. Then they take elevation readings, which show how much each part of the house has moved compared with the rest. That elevation map is the key document. It shows whether the movement is on one side, in one corner, or across the whole house, and it decides which walls need piers and which do not.

Next comes the plan. The inspector explains how many piers the home needs, where they go, which type fits your soil, and what the work will look like day by day. You will hear the price range for your home, not a generic number. Pelican's published ranges give a rough idea before the visit: crack repairs typically run $400 to $1,500, while full pier jobs range from $3,500 to $15,000 or more depending on pier count and access. The inspection is free, and qualifying repairs carry a 20-year structural warranty. There is no pressure to decide on the spot. A good plan is one you understand, with the pier count, the spacing, and the price all spelled out before any work starts.

After the work, the inspector should re-check the elevations so you can see the change. Keep the elevation map and the plan with your house records. If you sell the home later, buyers and their inspectors will want to see what was done and how the house responded. If you are comparing quotes, ask every company for the same details: pier count, spacing, pier type, depth goal, and warranty terms. A quote that only gives a single price, with no pier count or spacing, does not give you enough to compare. You can read more about the process on our helical pier installation page, our house leveling page, and our foundation repair costs guide, or see how pier counts work in real homes in our post about how many piers a house needs.

Pier Estimator Questions

How many piers does a typical Shreveport house need?

There is no typical number, because it depends on which walls are moving and how long they are. A single 50 foot wall needs about 7 to 9 piers. A full perimeter job on a mid-size home can need several times that. The estimator above gives a planning range for your walls, and the free inspection sets the final count.

Are piers spaced the same on every home?

No. Residential piers are typically spaced 6 to 8 feet on center, tighter for heavy brick walls and poor clay soil, and wider for light frame walls on good bearing soil. The inspector picks the spacing for each wall based on weight, soil, and how much the wall has moved.

Do slab homes and pier and beam homes need the same piers?

Both can use steel push piers or helical piers, but the layout differs. Slab homes often need piers around the outside edges and sometimes along an interior beam line. Pier and beam homes often need support under the wood beams and at failing piers under the house. The estimator covers both with the interior beam line option.

Will piers lift my house back to level?

The first goal is to stop the movement by giving the house a stable footing. Lifting happens when it is safe to do so, and it is done slowly and in small steps. Some homes come back close to level. Others are stabilized where they sit because lifting further could crack walls or break plumbing. Your inspector will tell you honestly what to expect before work starts.

How long does a pier job take?

Every home is different, so the inspection includes a written plan with a schedule for your house. Most of the time is spent digging, driving piers, and checking elevations. You will know the timeline, the crew size, and what parts of the yard are affected before the work begins.

Does this estimator replace an inspection?

No. The estimator is an educational planning tool. It uses wall lengths and standard spacing to give you a range. It cannot see your soil, your drainage, or your elevation readings. Only an on-site inspection can do that, which is why the inspection is free.

What does the free inspection include?

A walk around the home, a review of cracks, doors, windows, and floors, elevation readings with a map of the movement, and a written plan with pier count, spacing, pier type, and price. Qualifying repairs carry a 20-year structural warranty. Call (318) 585-2003 to book yours.

Call (318) 585-2003 – Free Inspection

Pelican Foundation Repair serves Shreveport and the surrounding areas, including Bossier City, Blanchard, Greenwood, Keithville, Benton, Stonewall, Haughton, Red Chute, Eastwood, Mooringsport, Minden, and Ruston, Louisiana. Learn more about pier and beam foundation repair, slab foundation repair, and drainage correction on our services pages.

Contact Pelican Foundation Repair

Pelican Foundation Repair
6118 Fairfield Ave, Shreveport, LA 71106, USA
Phone: 318-585-2003
Hours: Monday–Saturday, 8:00 AM–6:00 PM
Website: foundationrepairshreveport.com