Dallas Fort Worth Foundation Repair

DRILLED CONCRETE PIERS:

The Drilled Concrete Pier is created by digging a starter hole, called a footing.  From there, an auger is used to drill out a hole in the ground as deep as possible. The dirt is removed from the hole, thus leaving an empty shaft extending into the ground. These pier shafts can vary in diameter from 6” to 18” or more. Some are belled at the bottom to give more bearing area in cases where bedrock not obtained during drilling.  Usually a single 12” diameter shaft pier and single-or-double 8” diameter shaft piers are the most common installed for residential foundation repair. Steel rebar is installed in the pier shafts in order to add strength and flexibility. Fresh wet concrete is then poured into the holes, filing them to about 1' below the bottom of the foundation. After allowing this concrete to dry and harden for approximately one week, the house is then lifted and stabilized on these piers and dirt is back-filled to cover the remaining hole.

ADVANTAGES OF DRILLED PIERS:

•  This method does not rely on the weight of the house for installation, so works very well on lighter structures such as wing walls, fence columns, and sometimes even patio slabs.
•  The piers are adjustable by almost every company in the industry.
•  As the home is not utilized for downward force, no new cosmetic damages are created in the installation of drilled piers.

DISADVANTAGES OF DRILLED PIERS:

•  This is by far the messiest and most time-consuming method on the market.
•  Drilled piers are limited in depth and rarely extend deeper than 10' which is not deep enough to reach rock in many areas of Texas, so are more prone to failure.
•  If the pier holes are not properly cleaned of loose soil before pouring the concrete,the piers can compress into this loose dirt when lifting the house which can at times cause the pier shaft to break and the pier to fail.
•  Open pier holes are exposed around the home for 6-10 days, thus increasing therisk of injury.
•  Dirt piled in the yard for a week increases the chances of killing vegetation.
•  This system is typically more expensive than pressed pilings.

Overall, Drilled Piers can be a very good foundation repair system if installed properly and used in the proper areas and applications.

Schedule Free Inspection

(972) 961-4100 Office

(469) 855-3540

Tompkins and Associates

Civil/Structural Engineers

2201 Midway Road, Suite 108H

Carrollton,  TX  75006

(214) 269-2388 Office

(214) 269-2389 Fax