There are many right ways, but even more wrong ways when it comes to fixing helical footings in your home building or renovation.
In today’s series, we are talking about helical piers. Helical piers are plated steel shafts with flat helix plates on the floor that get driven into soil of varying proportions to render a sturdy foundation.
Knowing Everything About Helical Piers
Helical piers can maintain settling foundations by joining footings and walls to solid, load-bearing soils. In extension, the turning plates welded to the shaft of a helical pier are designed to pull the pier into the ground when the pier is fixed.
The constructor can decide when the pier has reached competent load-bearing soil by covering turning resistance as a pier is driven. Eventually, piers are connected to the foundation with solid steel sections.
Watch our video on Helical Piers for more information:
Understanding Helical-Footings-Installation
The plated steel pier installation uses a digital hydraulic system that can measure the depth, the sturdiness of the clay, and the highest weight the footing can hold based on these circumstances. It will inform you when it’s properly secured. In some severe cases, you may drill down up to 100 feet deep before you reach compacted, sturdy soil. It is possible by connecting more piers on top of one another until that depth is gone, and they generally come in 7-foot pieces. The highest capacity of the steel helical pier is 80,000 pounds!
Advantages of Helical Piers
Helical piers, or piles, are applied to secure new or existing foundations. You can use them to support a foundation frame, deck, patio, second edition, or whatever you need to keep. They are usually used as an alternative foundation resolution when soil conditions don’t allow standard practices.
Benefits to Our Services:
- Fitting from inside or outside the construction
- Maintains both light and heavy structures
- Round shaft has high resistance to bending
- Can lift foundation to stabilize permanently
- Below-grade solution not visible after installation is done
The helical plates connected to the shaft of a helical pier help improve the pier deep into the soil during installation and secure it solidly in place when sufficient load-bearing ground is relinquished.
A sturdy steel bracket is fastened to the top of each pier to connect the pier to the foundation.
Installing Our Foundation Helical Pier System
HydroHelp911 helical pier system enduringly stabilizes settling, decaying structures. One of our infrastructure specialists can inspect your home and acquire a free helical pier installation quote. In addition, we can customize a method that is ideal for your foundation and soil health.
To establish helical piers, our constructors will take the following four steps:
1. Preparing The Foundation Footing
For an outdoor installation, you must dig the soil around your foundation to open the footing at each pier area. Next, a division of your slab floor will need to be removed to tell the base for an inside installation. Finally, the slab is replaced after the installation.
A part of the footing will be cut off so that the steel bracket attached to the pier will strengthen the wall immediately.
This method will provide more efficient support than lifting the footing section that stretches beyond the walls.
2. Fitting Helical Shafts
Next, steel helical piers are directed down into the soil until sufficient layers are reached. Finally, extension shafts are attached as needed to reach greater depths.
These steel foundation piers are the most vital elements in our basement repair and are accountable for transferring the weight of your house to solid, load-bearing clay.
Our foundation piers are available, including a galvanized steel composition. These piers are corrosion-resistant for long-lasting endurance.
3. Installing Foundation Brackets
Unlike push piers, helical piers are pressed fully and completely before their brackets are fastened.
It is mainly because helical piers don’t need the heavyweight of the house to be driven into the soil. Therefore, it makes them perfect for lighter structures, such as decks and cement stairs.
Once all helical piers are introduced, steel brackets are connected to join each pier to the footing.
4. Uplifting The Foundation
Once all piers and sections have been fitted, they will forever stop the settlement of your foundation.
At this moment, one of our team of in-house foundation contractors will decide whether or not it makes sense to lift your base back to sustain permanently. This operation has the potential to close fissures in your foundation and restore doors, locks, and windows to their primary functionality.
At HydroHelp911 Foundation & Waterproofing Specialists, we want to help you reestablish the value of your home through structural durability. To this end, we have a broad category of repair solutions that can address foundation obstacles of any kind.
Constructors have been in the practice of installing helical piers when making infrastructure repairs or during utility wire applications for many years. However, recently, they have begun to introduce them under the construction of new homes to add further foundation stabilization. They are a deep foundation element used to replace spread footings and shallow poured cement piers.
Your house is built on active soils. We install helical piers to anchor your home to well-built grounds that are found much more profound. With the aid of the piers, there are no difficulties with them being inappropriately installed. Since there is no wait time for the cement to cure, it can fix the helical piers during any climatic condition. If you call, we will operate side by side with you and find a suitable resolution for you.
Multiple times helical piers are the best solution for your foundation repair project due to one of the pursuing factors:
- Comfort of installation
- Limited to no vibration
- Direct load transfer upon installation
- Installed torque relates to capacity
- Quickly load tested to verify capacity
- Installs below active soils
- All-weather installation
- Little to no disturbance to the job locality
Foundation Repair Solutions Using Helical Piers
Helical piers are the number one sought-after medium for foundation repairs because they can use them nearly anywhere using traditional deep foundations. They also serve to be more efficient for restricted access sites and work great for vibration-free and noise-free applications.
Helical piers are fixed using a torque driver device commonly attached to a mini excavator to dig them into the area. The helical piers turn into the various layers of common soils that are not supportive and lie on the surface till they eventually land and guard themselves within the bedrock.
Due to the characteristics of the installation method, the helical piers in your North Carolina home can be fixed year-round and only require small equipment, so there will be little disruption to your home and its surroundings. They are mechanically installed by screwing them below into the soil, and we closely monitor the installation to assure excellent capacity. Once we possess them at degree, we will fit and attach an underpinning steel foundation section to the piers and accurately transfer the weight of your home onto the piers. That will ensure no future sagging and shifting of your house.
Benefits of Helical Piers
A critical benefit of using helical piers or piles is their versatility for ground freezing and thawing. During winters, the ground freezes in a climate like we have, pushing up standard foundation supports, building crooked or slanted decks and foundations. The rounded end turns into the soil like a screw, forming a solid but flexible base that does not disturb the ground as much as a concrete or wood pier would.
Helical piers have additions for the top of the dock, called special construction brackets, and one can be customizable based on whatever you are using them for and supporting, such as a frame or deck. In addition, helical piers can help prevent uneven settling. Cracked drywall, drawers that don’t close properly, and uneven decks or patios are consequences of a foundation settling unevenly due to unsteady footings.
When Is Helical Pier Installation Used?
Foundations that are cracking or shifting may need extra support from a helical pier system installed under the footing. These systems offer permanent stability for areas moving due to expansive soils or poor quality during the construction of the original foundation. These installations are warranted for the structure’s life and are a very cost-effective remedy for specific problems.
Homeowners often prefer helical piers to solve their foundation difficulties. Contractors in new construction can also use helical piers as an option for masonry foundations. HydroHelp911 is a troop with a combination of experience and know-how to establish helical piers to meet all regulations while using the most reliable industry standards.
HydroHelp911 is the foundation repair firm that will reach out and fix your problem quickly and efficiently. Let us assist! Contact HydroHelp911 today for more learning on how we can help you resolve this issue once and for all!
You can reach out to us at whatever time of day or night it is, and we’re here for you all while you need us most. Schedule your basement repair consultation today by calling us at 704-286-8871!
We look ahead to hearing from you!
