Helical Piers

We mentioned on the homepage that the concept behind these types of foundations is pretty straightforward. What builders do is essentially build a frame in the bedrock and hold up the house with these piers that are embedded in the soil. There are essentially two main problems that we see with these types of foundations. If you start having a lot of soil erosion beneath the home you can actually see the building start to shift. The other issue comes as a result of excessive wear on the piers. There are a couple of ways that you can go about fixing these issues.

What Type of Foundation Do You Have?

Do you know what type of foundation you have? This is obviously something that you should look through before you buy a property. You can encounter a couple of surprises along the way if you don’t look into these types of things on the spot. Anyway if you happen to have one of these types of foundations we’re going to be able to help you with repairs.

Have There Been Any Type Of Adjustments Made To The Foundation Before?

This is another one of those things that should be in the property documentation. We have seen instances where the previous owner did not report any type of adjustments to the foundation. Sadly, a lot of times this is where we encounter the most problems. If you don’t make the right adjustments to a foundation anything else that you want to do from that point forward is going to be much more challenging. Before we talk about leveling,  adding support, or anything we need to make sure we’re getting accurate information about the current state of the foundation.

Can You Add Extra Support Systems To Help The Foundation? 

Yes, this is certainly going to be something that is on the table. We’ve seen cases where companies lure clients into these options and the support is really not needed. We want to make sure that we justify the use of the extra support systems. Not all of the types of foundations are going to benefit from adding extra support. When you’re working with helical piers though it can be an option that is worth taking a look at. Again, this is not something that we want to overdo. There are a variety of things to account for before we make the decision.

Protect The Foundation Before Things Get Out Of Hand

One of the main challenges or issues that these types of foundations could come across is having the soil around the piers begin to erode or have a lot of moisture. The best way to make sure that these types of foundations stay in decent shape is to make sure that we’re able to divert all of the water that is naturally coming down through a safe spot. That’s why it’s important to keep tabs on your crawlspace, basement, and other areas where issues can pop up.