Helical piles for Homes – An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

HELICAL PILES for Home Foundations:

Google “foundation repair” and notice all the hits.  Inadequate site preparation is generally the cause.  Soft soils or expansive soils are common causes.  But the most common cause of foundation problems is uncompacted fill dirt used to level a building site.  Driving the back hoe over the area a few times is not enough.  Thank you building contractor my foundation is cracking and settling!

The advantage of helical piles for a home is long term stability.  Problems with shifting, settling, cracks, differential settlement can all be avoided.  It is an investment up front.  An investment in helical piles up front can prevent settling problems for the life of the building.

• Helical piles are installed with at least a 2x safety factor.  Push piers used for foundation repair rely on the weight of the house and have no safety factor.
• Helical piles can be used with slabs or pier and beam.  They are the pier in a pier and beam design.
• Expansive Soils:
  • Helical piles are the most effective way to get below the soil active zone.
  • Important to use void form under grade beams, or pile caps.
  • Helical piles due to their smaller size are not subject to heave forces when the expansive soil swells.
• Helical piles solve issues with differential settling when you have changing soil conditions.
• Helical piles can provide additional support when needed for fire places and other heavy structures.
• FEMA P-320 Safe Rooms:  Helical Piles greatly exceed the load and up lift requirements needed for a safe room or shelter.
• Elevated Structures:  Helical piles can be used for structures and buildings elevated above the ground.