Are Helical Anchors the Only Solution?
So your house is sinking? Sloping floor? Cracks? Racked door and/or window frames? Sounds like your foundations are less than stable. Maybe you heard about helical piers or they were referred to you. Are they for real? Or just a scam? Are there other options? Does anything REALLY work?
Your first step should be a good inspection by a building inspector, engineer, or a high quality, specialized contractor that you trust. Find out what really is going on. Where is it happening and is it actually causing your problems? The answer should always make sense to you. Structural support is not rocket science. Once they determine by the evidence what is happening, you can understand why that is affecting your home.
OK but what about the solution? The first question is what do you want to accomplish? There are "band-aid" things you can do to hide the problems. You can fix the symptoms. Or you can reliably fix the problem. One important issue is disclosure. State law may require disclosure of your knowledge of significant problems at the point of sale, even if they have been fully dealt with. "Patching and painting" can get a seller into a lot of legal hot water. But then disclosure could kill the sale or lower the selling price.
So back to the sub title. Are helical anchors the answer? If you want to solve the problem with a long-term, professional, and cost-effective method, the answer is yes.
Yes because it goes to the problem - a sinking foundation. Anything done above the footing is still subject to continued settlement of the footing.
Even lifting the house and installing a new foundation won't solve the problem because it is placed directly on the soils that are proven to be unstable. Even with a new foundation, you could be addressing the same issues again just a few years down the road.
Helical piers are installed passing through the weak soils into the stable stratum. The installing pressures assure us of the capacity of the pier to hold your home. Bracketing the helical to the bottom of the footing stabilizes the footing. Hydraulic jacks can be used to lift the structure. Locking the brackets will keep the foundation stable.
Non-vibratory, measurable, minimally invasive, helical piers truly are the best answer to your sinking foundation concerns. Use them with confidence.
Posted in: Foundation
