There is extensive mortar deterioration on the piers under this New Orleans home. Soon the piers will have to be rebuilt or they will need tuck pointing where we scrape out a portion of the old soft mortar and refill between the bricks with new mortar. More commonly, people just parge over the old piers with concrete. This is not the most ideal solution but it does strengthen the pier and it is a cheaper. You can have us do either or.
The beam cut does not rest right on top of the pier but it should. In this case, I didn’t see any cracking of the beam and it has stood the test of time.
In the background you can see wood around the lattice work, so there is wood to ground contact. It’s a path for wood destroying insects.