Sunday Morning Tip for March 08: How Slabs Benefit From Helical Piers

Soil that is sandy or clay-heavy is especially problematic for its long-term outlook. Even if a slab is laid by the best teams, there’s still a significant chance that it will suffer from settlement or expansion of the soil over time. There is a way to fix this issue, however, and it comes in the form of helical piers.

Want to learn more about the benefits of helical piers and how they can stabilize your foundation? Then continue reading.

Prevents Breakage

When slabs are poured for homes or other buildings, the support those inches of concrete provide for a house is more than enough to uphold the structure built on top of it. If the slab is laid on sandy or clay-based soil, however, the slab itself will only be supported for so long.

When soil shifts, settles or expands, the concrete slab will not be able to shift or expand with it. The result is that the slab cracks, shows signs of breaking down, and if left long enough, becomes a very uneven foundation.

Helical piers enter this situation and save the proverbial day. Rather than placing the weight of the house directly on the slab and the shifting soil, helical piers transfer the weight onto themselves and down deep into bedrock or soil that is load-bearing.

By transferring the weight, the slab can be leveled out. It will complete a home structurally, but no longer be the supporting weight bearer. This principle can be used for whole buildings as well as porch foundations.

Improves Lifespan

Concrete slabs poured on grades will all degrade over time as sand and soil shifts. In areas where there is excessive moisture, water that sits around a concrete slab can filter into the soil and create a muddy environment and increase the rate of sinking.

With helical piers, you won’t have to worry about sinking into muddy soil ever again.

Because the helical piers transfer the entire load-bearing weight to deep soil or bedrock, the slab foundation is supported and cushioned, protected from the shifting or muddy soil beneath it.

This system not only keeps the foundation safely intact but also preserves the life of the concrete base, as well.

Restores Form

When slabs have already started sinking into the soil, it’s understandable for homeowners to consider them a loss. However, with helical piers, the slab can not only be saved, but it can be raised out of the mud and restored to its former height.

Helical piers can effectively restore a foundation slab to the appropriate measurement, thereby restoring the structure of the house, as well. When the foundation slab is broken or sunk, the structure on top will naturally bend slightly out of shape.

After the foundation slab is restored, the structure will be set right, as well.

Provides Support

Helical piers can withstand incredible amounts of weight, which is ideal when it comes to supporting concrete slabs. There is no slab that helical piers cannot support, be it residential or commercial, single or multistory.

Helical piers can support any slab that needs to be poured. When the weight is transferred to bedrock, the slab is completely supported and protected from the active soil that lies beneath it.

Faster Slab Installation

With typical slab installation and concrete piers, there would be hours of wait time while the concrete set up and dried before the concrete slab could be poured.

With helical piers, as soon as the piers go in, the concrete slab can be poured. There is no downtime while waiting for anything to dry, and slabs can be poured faster than ever.

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Affordable Alternative

If using concrete piles to support slabs, if water is found during the dig for the posts, the concrete piles would have to be retrofitted, costing more time and greatly increasing the overall expense for the project.

With helical piers:

• There is no stopping due to water in the holes. It might require deeper digging, but eventually, the piers will reach stable soil or bedrock, and construction can continue.
• No retrofitting is required regardless of the soil directly underneath a building site, and they will hold up the foundation slab just as well, regardless of the type of active soil.

All-Around Upgrade

Helical piers are not only an ingenious device that can restore a foundation slab to its former condition, but it can help prevent deterioration by providing a cushion between the slab and active soil beneath.

It allows for faster slab installation, improves longevity, and is a highly affordable alternative to old fashioned concrete piles. No longer is there a need to wait for concrete to cure, helical piers solve that, as well, and allow slabs to be poured as soon as the piers are installed.

Helical piers provide an all-around upgrade in structural integrity and support for concrete slabs.

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