FYI » Foundation Repair Basics
Get Your Foundation Right... The First Time!
Why use steel piers for foundation repair?
To answer that question you must understand the primary cause for foundation problems. Unless a foundation is resting directly on rock it depends on the underlying soil for support and stability.
If the underlying soil is clay then the potential for foundation problems is greater because clay soil is expansive or unstable soil.
The volumetric change of moisture in the soil is what triggers movement. Simply put, when clay gets dry it shrinks and pulls away from the foundation and when it gets wet it expands and lifts the foundation. This shrink/swell movement is constant throughout the seasonal changes and eventually causes a foundation to break.
To repair a foundation problem, the contractor installs underpinning piers under the perimeter beams and then mechanically raises the foundation and holds it in place.
Historically the type of piers used in foundation repair have been concrete piers drilled and poured in place. If these foundation piers are drilled to rock they are excellent. However, if they're not, they depend on the clay soil for support just as the foundation does.
Since a poured-in-place concrete pier gets its support by skin friction from the hole in which it is poured, it is prone to move as the soil moves and create more foundation problems.
In order to fix foundations problems with longer lasting results, a pier was needed that could bypass dependence on the soil as much as possible. This is how the steel pier came about. Whereas concrete piers are known as friction piers, steel piers are called point bearing piers.
Ace Foundation steel piers are specifically designed to penetrate clay soil and seat the point of each pier on rock or load bearing strata. Due to a unique feature of Ace Foundation's pier design, the clay soil is pushed away from the pipe as the steel pier is driven into the soil.
This feature of the steel pier prevents dependence on the soil, transfers the weight of the foundation to rock or load bearing strata, and provides a very stable support system for the foundation.
The development of the steel pier has also resulted in side benefits that property owners can really appreciate. Poured-in-place concrete piers require several days to cure (or dry) and the installation process demands a great amount of landscape destruction. So, even a small concrete pier job is slow and messy.
Steel pier jobs are generally completed in about a third of the time needed for concrete piers and cause significantly less landscape destruction!
Plus, Ace Foundation is so confident in our steel piers that we back them with a warranty as strong as the steel pier itself!
When you are ready to trust your foundation repair to a contractor, you need someone that has experience. You need someone that understands the problem, and you need someone that knows which foundation repair methods work and which ones don't.
In Texas, clay soil expands and contracts with different moisture levels in the ground and can create foundation problems like cracks and shifts. Poor landscaping design can create water flow problems weakening your foundation. Broken sewer or fresh water lines under a foundation can cause significant problems, as well.
Tree or large shrub feeder roots can break sewer lines and cause soil and foundation movement. Feeder roots can reach as far as two miles from the host tree to seek water.
Did you know that one mature hardwood tree can use up to 500 gallons of water per day? Ace can install a three foot deep rubber barrier between a tree and your foundation to keep the roots away and prevent foundation problems.
The layer of clay soil which is most unstable is the first 9 to 12 feet.
Generally, in clay soil the deeper a pier goes the longer it can hold without creating foundation problems.
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