Wooden pillars are not appropriate for proper foundation support
Wood soaks up water very easily. As you can see, this home has a thin plastic on the ground and the humidity in the crawlspace was very high. When these nasty conditions effect wooden supports it makes the wood soft and can lead to rot.
Inadequate crawl space supports
This kind of crawlspace bracing really just creates more problems than it is intended to solve. There is no way to adjust the height and the wood will weaken over time. The concrete block on the bottom will sink into the ground as the home settles.
Rusted and flimsy
These types of support columns are only meant for temporary, light duty use. In fact, most of the time it says just that on the box they come in. If they are left under the crawlspace they will rust, lean, and crush.
Trying to shim the leaning support
This wooden support is leaning just slightly to one side. Also, someone didn't achieve the kind of lift they wanted when they installed it. That leads to the small pieces of wood being shoved in to try and lift the entire house. Over time all those tiny pieces will soak up moisture and crush under the weight of the home.
Tiny piece of wood holding up the house
How silly does it look for that big piece of wood to be "supporting" the weight of the house only to shove a little piece of wood in to lift? You can also see what happens to the temporary columns over time. The red one is all rusted out, but the grey one behind it is pretty new. The homeowner intended to try and fix it himself, but soon found out that it is a very labor intensive process.
Measuring the floor joists
A lot of times the wood in a wet crawlspace will be beyond repair and will need to be replaced. DryZone inspector Johnny is measuring the floor joists so that if wood replacement is needed, we will know what size beams to use. Luckily, this house only needed a few floor joists replaced. The process of replacing wood under a home is difficult and can get very expensive. This is why preventing the problems is always a better solution.