Hello! I would like to give you the warmest welcome to my blog. My name is Pete and last year, I decided to carry out some home improvements. Somewhat foolishly, I decided to try and carry out the work myself. As you can imagine, it was a bit of a disaster as I do not have many skills. Thankfully, I have a friend who works in the construction and contracting service. He called in some of his friends who were able to come in and fix up the mess I had made. I am really pleased with the results so I thought I would write about it here.
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There are a number signs that contractors look out for when determining whether your foundation has settled. Primarily what they inspect are cracks in the brick façade or cracks in the motor joints. Another sign they often look out for is whether your frieze boards are cracked. These cracks could be brought about by wear and tear, but for the most part, they are a result of a settling foundation.
The pier system is a solid method of repairing settled foundations. Not only does it fix the actual foundation work, but it also fixes the cracks on the brick and motor joints. While there are many reasons for a foundation to settle or sink, one of the most common is the bearing stratum being compromised by changes in moisture levels.
In some places, after heavy precipitation, the water table rises high enough to saturate the bearing strata soil. After the soil dries out, it collapses, causing the foundation to settle or sink. There are two permanent solutions to repair a settled structure:
Push Pier System
Push piers are installed by first placing a galvanized steel bracket underneath the footing of the foundation. Then, by utilising a hydraulic ram, steel piles are driven below the structure until they reach low bearing strata. Additional piles are installed to stabilise the remaining affected area.
After all the piles are installed, hydraulic jacks are placed on top of each pier in order to uniformly lift the structure. After the structure is lifted, the jacks are removed, and the piles remain permanently in place.
Helical Pier System
This system is installed by drilling steel piles into low bearing strata. The steel is driven until it reaches to a level sufficient enough to bear the load of the structure. Different from the push pier system, the weight of the structure is not used to drive the piles, making helical piers ideal for new construction since the piers can be installed before new concrete foundations are poured.
Once the piers are installed, hydraulic jacks can also be used to lift the structure and the piers remain permanently in place. Due to the weight of the structure, if all settled areas are not stabilized, any attempt to lift the structure may cause additional damage to the foundation.
Engineering requirements determine that pier placement and spacing should be a few metres apart, depending on the strength of the footing.
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