Underpinning
Sometimes, as homes age, their foundations can develop problems like settling, fissures, or instability. If you’re experiencing or observing cracks, sloping floors, or other indications that your foundation has moved, you should inquire into underpinning as a means of repair. Fortunately, underpinning with screw piles can be used to repair these issues if they arise in a home’s foundation. Screw piles can be used to repair and improve foundations that have grown weaker over time as a result of things like moisture damage or shoddy construction.
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What Is Underpinning?
Underpinning entails stabilising and bolstering the old foundation by using screw piles to take on the bearing load of the home. Underpinning works by inserting screw piles along the afflicted areas of a foundation that have sunken, settled, or shifted. Special brackets are attached to transfer the loads of the foundation to the steel shafts of the screw piles. With the loads of the foundation being supported by the screw piles instead of the adjacent soil, the foundation can then be lifted back into its original position. Because the screw piles transfer the loads of the home deep into the ground, underpinning can restore the foundation back to its normal level and continue to support the foundation for many years to come.
Is Underpinning A Permanent Type
of Foundation Repair?
Underpinning provides better support than your original foundation and is a permanent method of foundation repair. Once a home has been underpinned with screw piles, it has a secure base that is less vulnerable to shifting in poor soil conditions. Because a screw pile helix transfers the load of the home deep into the ground, it can help prevent further shifting or settlement. The helix of a helical pile is installed well below the frost line. This ensures that freezing and thawing of the ground will not affect your underpinned foundation. Furthermore, screw piles can be positioned to offer lateral support and stop any additional movement in situations when foundation walls are bowing or exhibiting indicators of instability, restoring the walls’ structural soundness.
Minimal Invasive Restoration
Using screw piles for foundation restoration is less invasive than alternative techniques like concrete underpinning. There is less disruption during installation, and less excavation is needed. When repairing a foundation with concrete, the repair process takes longer due to the cure times needed to allow the concrete to set and reach its full strength. Helical piles are prefabricated from steel and do not need to cure. Once a screw pile has been installed into the ground, it is immediately load-bearing, and a sunken foundation can be lifted and supported that same day.
The Red Deer Screw Pile Pros are Underpinning Specialists
Not all screw pile installation contractors can perform underpinning repairs. Underpinning with screw piles requires special tooling, engineering capabilities, and most of all, experience. The Red Deer Screw Piles Pros have many years of experience in providing underpinning repairs to home owners throughout Red Deer County. The Screw Pile Pros also possess and engineer the needed tooling to lift and level sunken foundations.If your home is in need of foundation repair, contact the Red Deer Screw Pile Pros for help today.
