Today, more and more houses are being built on unstable soils, such as those that you learned about in previous chapters. Between expansive and hydroplasticized soils and matter, the foundations are pushed and folded, creating movement. Every year, thousands of homeowners are faced with assessing and correcting problems with the basics. Fortunately, this means that there are reliable, engineered solutions.
What exactly is available and is this the right solution for your structural problems?
Since the root of structural problems is soil, the first two solutions concern removing the substrate from unstable soils and placing them on bedrocks or other stable soils — these solutions are called pushing supports and screw supports.
Push Piers are basically long steel shafts that are hydraulically driven into the ground through unstable surface soils until they reach a layer of rock or other bearing layers. Technicians can say that the moorings have reached bedrock by measuring the hydraulic pressure needed to bring the piers into the ground until they reach the engineering depth. The weight of the house is then transferred from the unstable soil to the berths through the mooring brackets attached to the base of the house.
Spiral piers are likewise driven into the ground using hydraulics, but they turn into earth like a giant screw. In fact, these are giant screws that literally hold the house through resistance. Then the weight of the house is transferred to the berths, using the same durable steel brackets.
Indications that you need a pier system:
You have an area of your basement wall that experiences a vertical movement, such as a dive.
Your chimney is not flush with your home.
Your soil conditions can be classified as expansive, falling, hygroscopic, or active.
How are the piers set in 6 basic steps:
Step 1: Outside, the sod and landscaping around the house are removed and deposited.
Step 2: The soil is removed until the supports of the concrete foundation are opened.
Step 3: Fixing anchors with fastening on a foundation made of heavy, strong steel are attached to the base of the house.
Step 4: Strong steel berths are hydraulically driven to solid bedrock or supporting layers with the same load.
Step 5: The weight of the house, attached to the steel brackets, is carefully transferred from the unstable soil to the solid supports.
Step 6: After the approval of the engineer, the land around the house is replaced, and the landscaping can be returned to its original location.
There are several other options that have been used in different epochs to solve foundation problems. The oldest method is to raise the house and replace the foundation, and the newest method is to use punching systems either around the perimeter of the house, or only in one piece. Here is a breakdown of other methods that people used to solve problems with the base from the old to the most recent:
Replace Foundation:
Destroys the yard and takes several weeks to complete
No guarantee of a repeat problem (expect the same result
Preparations are still in the active zone.
VERY EXPENSIVE - $ 50,000 PLUS
Concrete foundations / spreads:
May take weeks / months
The added weight of the concrete can make the problem worse.
Unable to remove structure
Preparations are still in the active zone.
Concrete supports:
Concrete cylinders may break during installation and CANNOT be removed due to depths.
Cylinders cause too much skin friction to pass through the core.
May require additional gaskets in the future.
Even if pruning is included in the warranty period, damage from recalculation and re-excavation is not covered
Square shafts Spiral piers:
Originally designed to provide resistance to gaskets on electrical towers during strong winds.
Not designed to hold weight through the soil.
Square shafts experience bending and bending when they have a foundation.
Concrete supports with cable reinforcement:
Designed for specific soil conditions that are not available in Colorado.
Cylinders cause too much skin friction to pass through the core.
The cables in the center of the berth stretch over time, which allows for a moment after the berths are in place.
Additional cables on the outside of the cylinders may increase friction in the cylinder.
Finally, body piercing systems:
Push Piers WILL:
Allow the deepest penetration of any type of steel pier.
Satisfy the possibility of using internal installations with minimal impact (as a rule, with much less side damage than the external approach)
Provide a lifetime warranty that can be transferred for the first 25 years when vertical movement in the places where they are located will not occur
Do your job in most soil conditions for a calculated lifetime of more than 100 years
Push Piers MAY:
Let the likelihood of raising the structure to a flatter, more even state
Allow the possibility of closing or compressing existing cracks in brick, plaster, drywall or other internal or external coatings
Allow re-alignment of gluing doors or windows and straightening of inclined chimneys
Push Piers WILL NOT:
Ensure that ideal flat or final conditions are achieved.
Provide lateral (horizontal) fastening to the foundation wall
Improve water resistance or lower basement moisture levels
WILL spiral piers:
Do your job in most soil conditions for a calculated lifetime of more than 100 years
Allow installation on relatively old, manufacturer or lighter foundation types.
Allow installation as a pre-engineered (or new) bearing system in poor soils.
Allow horizontal installation as a “folding” system to provide creep resistance on slopes
With some rare exceptions, exterior excavations are required, with the destruction of the surrounding landscape or paving.
Provide a lifetime warranty that can be carried over the first 25 years that vertical movement in the places where they are located will not occur
Spiral piers MAY:
Let the likelihood of raising the structure to a flatter, more even state
Allow the possibility of closing or compressing existing cracks in brick, plaster, drywall or other internal or external coatings
Allow re-alignment of gluing doors or windows and straightening of inclined chimneys
Spiral piers WILL NOT:
Ensure that ideal flat or final conditions are achieved.
Provide a lateral (horizontal) bond to the wall of the basement masonry (otherwise specially installed in the “binding” mode)
Improve water resistance or lower basement moisture levels
