The finished kitchen of the Dripping Springs ranch renovation, with two islands, dark cabinetry, and a stainless range hood

A Dripping Springs Ranch Rebuilt From the Floor Down

The rooms in this single-story ranch house looked finished. The pier-and-beam floor under them had been damaged by moisture trapped in the crawlspace. We lifted the house, filled the crawlspace, poured a new concrete slab where the wood subfloor had been, and rebuilt the rooms on top of it. The photos show the floor as we found it, the structural work, and the finished house.

See the Finished House Schedule a Consultation

Riverbend Hill Country Homes renovated a single-story ranch house of almost 4,000 square feet in Dripping Springs, Texas, after moisture trapped in the crawlspace damaged the beams, joists, and decking of its pier-and-beam floor. The house was lifted and supported, the crawlspace was filled with flowable fill, and a 4-inch concrete slab was poured over the fill in place of the wood subfloor. The rear stem wall was rebuilt and faced in limestone, a gravel drainage strip was added along it, and the kitchen, living room, game room, front entry, primary bedroom, and bathroom were rebuilt on the new floor. The construction photos run from the opened floor on February 8, 2023 to the finished rooms on November 21, 2023.

Location

Dripping Springs, TX

Size

Almost 4,000 sq ft

Floor structure

Wood subfloor replaced with a slab

New slab

4 inches over flowable fill

Construction photos

February to November 2023

Scope

Whole-home renovation

The Finished House

These photos show the main rooms after the renovation, on the new slab.

The finished kitchen looking into the living room, with the island sink in the foreground and the stone fireplace beyond — The kitchen, open to the living room

The finished front entry with an iron door, patterned glass, and a patterned tile inlay in the floor — The front entry

The dining table under a candle chandelier, with the kitchen's glass-front cabinets behind it — The dining area

The living room with leather chairs around the stacked-stone fireplace and a wall of windows — The living room and its stone fireplace

The game room with a pool table under a coffered ceiling, open to the living room — The game room

The primary bedroom with a dark paneled accent wall, woven shades, and two armchairs by the windows — The primary bedroom

The renovated bathroom with a freestanding tub under a frosted window and a lantern pendant — The bathroom

The House in February 2023

These photos were taken on February 3, 2023, five days before the photos of the opened floor.

Before · The Kitchen

Before · The Living Room

The finishes were in place. The floor under them was moving: the flooring had gone uneven and tile had lifted in parts of the house. The cause was below the floor, in a crawlspace where the ventilation had been blocked and moisture had collected.

The floor opened up in February 2023, showing the joists and the wet insulation and soil beneath them

A deteriorated floor beam with crumbling decking resting on it

The Problem

What We Found Under the Floor

When the floor came up, the joists, the beams under them, and the decking on top had all deteriorated. The framing had stayed wet in the closed crawlspace.

The photos show the opened floor and one of the deteriorated beams beneath it.

The rotted rim beam at the edge of the house, exposed from outside with the siding removed

The house supported on temporary timber posts while the floor structure below it was removed

The Decision

Investigate First, Then Lift the House

The homeowners chose to keep the house and its footprint rather than take it down and build again. A conventional repair would have rebuilt a wood subfloor over the same moisture-prone crawlspace. Before deciding, we brought in structural engineering, geotechnical, and concrete specialists. The investigation included subsurface testing, and the repair approaches were compared before one was chosen.

The chosen approach was to support the house, take out the old floor structure, fill the crawlspace, and pour a slab in its place. The house was lifted and supported on temporary posts so the old floor system could come out, and the deteriorated rim beam at the edge of the house was exposed and replaced.

Flowable fill being pumped into the crawlspace around the existing piers, under the insulated floor edge

Steel reinforcing mesh and rebar laid over the cured fill before the slab pour

The Fill

The Crawlspace Was Filled, Then Left to Cure

With the house supported, flowable fill was pumped into the crawlspace around the existing piers. Flowable fill is a self-leveling cementitious material that is pumped in as a liquid and sets into a stable base.

The fill cured for about two weeks. Then steel reinforcing was laid across it, ready for the slab.

The concrete crew pouring and screeding the new slab inside the house, with the walls protected in plastic

A power trowel finishing the surface of the new 4-inch slab

The Slab

A 4-Inch Slab Where the Wood Subfloor Had Been

The new slab is a 4-inch concrete topper poured over the fill and the steel reinforcing laid on it, inside the standing walls of the house. The concrete was pumped in, screeded level, and power-troweled to a flat surface.

The wood subfloor was never rebuilt. The finished floors were installed over the new slab, and the crawlspace beneath them is filled.

The rear stem wall during reconstruction, with the old framing and new concrete visible

The rebuilt rear stem wall and new curved limestone steps at the back door

The Structure

The Rear Stem Wall, Rebuilt and Faced in Limestone

The stem wall along the back of the house had been compromised with the floor. We rebuilt it, leveled and straightened the wall sections that had moved, and faced the new wall in limestone with curved stone steps at the back door.

A gravel drainage strip now runs along the outside of the wall to carry water away from the house.

The patterned floor tile for the front entry set with leveling clips

The kitchen cabinets and island boxes going back in on the new slab, with the pendant lights wrapped for protection

The Rooms

The Rooms Went Back Together on the New Floor

With the slab cured, the house was put back together: new flooring in the main rooms, the kitchen with its two islands reinstalled, the living room around its stone fireplace, the game room, the front entry with a patterned tile inlay, the primary bedroom, and the bathroom with a freestanding tub.

The layout the homeowners lived with stayed the same.

What the Finished House Looks Like

The kitchen and dining room

Two full islands, one with the sink and dishwasher and one for seating, dark cabinetry with glass-front uppers, a stainless range hood, and a dining table under a candle chandelier. The ceiling is paneled.

The living room and game room

The living room centers on a floor-to-ceiling stacked-stone fireplace with the television set into it, and a wall of windows beside it. The game room, open to the living room, sits under a coffered ceiling with wood-paneled coffers and an iron chandelier.

The entry, bedroom, and bath

The front entry has an iron door with patterned glass and a patterned tile inlay set into the wood-look floor. The primary bedroom has a dark paneled accent wall. The bathroom has a freestanding tub under a frosted window, a walk-in shower behind a half wall, and a round porthole window.

The coffered ceiling of the game room with wood-paneled coffers and an iron candle chandelier — The coffered ceiling

The limestone-faced stem wall with a gravel drainage strip and a concrete walk along the side of the house — The limestone stem wall and drainage strip

The finished kitchen and dining table under the candle chandelier, with the glass-front cabinets behind — The kitchen and dining table

Who Worked on This House

These are the roles on the project. The specialists were brought in before the repair was chosen.

BuilderRiverbend Hill Country Homes
Structural EngineeringStructural engineering specialist
Geotechnical InvestigationGeotechnical specialist, with subsurface testing
Fill and SlabConcrete specialists

Thinking about a house on pier and beam in Dripping Springs? Our Dripping Springs page covers the permit offices, rock, and wells we deal with on a Dripping Springs project.

Questions About This Renovation

Why not replace the rotted joists and keep the pier-and-beam floor?

The joists and beams had rotted in a crawlspace that held moisture, and a conventional repair would have rebuilt a wood subfloor over that same crawlspace. The approach chosen with the engineers filled the crawlspace and poured a concrete slab in place of the wood floor, so no new wood framing went back under the house.

What is flowable fill?

A self-leveling cementitious material that is pumped in as a liquid and sets into a stable base. On this house it was pumped into the crawlspace around the existing piers and cured for about two weeks before steel reinforcing and the 4-inch slab went over it.

How was the house kept standing while the floor was removed?

It was lifted and supported on temporary posts. With the weight carried that way, the old floor structure could be removed, the rotted rim beam at the edge of the house replaced, and the crawlspace filled, all with the walls and roof in place.

How long did the renovation take?

The dated photos show the floor open on February 8, 2023, the limestone stem wall and drainage strip in place by late September, and the finished rooms on November 21, 2023. Planning with the engineers, including the soil testing, came before the floor was opened.

What changed inside the house?

The floor structure under the main rooms, and then the rooms themselves: new flooring, the kitchen with its two islands put back on the slab, the living room with its stone fireplace, the game room, the front entry with a tile inlay, the primary bedroom, and the bathroom with a freestanding tub. The layout stayed the same.

Does Riverbend take on structural renovations in Dripping Springs?

Yes. Riverbend Hill Country Homes does whole-home remodels that include foundation and structural work, in Dripping Springs and across the Hill Country within about an hour of it. Vanessa and Dan bring in the structural and geotechnical engineers and manage the work directly.

See whole-home remodels on our remodeling page → Walk through our San Marcos whole-home renovation → See the Wimberley primary suite addition →

Schedule a Consultation

If the floors in your house have started to move, or you are planning a whole-home remodel and want the structure checked first, call us or send the form. Vanessa and Dan meet you at the house and walk it with you, including the parts under the floor. You leave the walk with a budget range and a clear read on the scope, at no cost and with no obligation.

Whole-home remodels run $400 to $800 per square foot of remodeled area on our remodeling price guide, and structural work of this kind is priced separately once an engineer has looked at it. See our full luxury home remodeling pricing.

(512) 842-7757

Vanessa answers this number, weekdays 9 to 5.