Foundation Piers

What Are Foundation Piers? 

Foundation piers are structural elements driven deep into the ground to reach stable soil or bedrock, providing the support your foundation needs. 

These piers act as stable columns that allow the weight of the home to be transferred through piers and down to more stable ground. They prevent future settling, and there’s an opportunity to lift the house back towards its original position. 

 The pier systems ensure permanent stability, preventing your property from vulnerability due to shifting or expansive soil conditions. 

Foundation piers can be part of a broader strategy for whole-home solutions, including basement waterproofing, crawl space repair, and more. In short, foundation piers are essential to a comprehensive approach to maintaining your home’s structural health. 

Signs You Need Foundation Piers 

Recognizing the signs of a settling foundation is the first step toward a solution. Look for these common symptoms of settlement around your home: 

Contact a foundation repair professional like Ohio Basement Authority immediately if you observe any of these signs. We provide free foundation inspections and recommend customized repair solutions. 

Are Foundation Piers Necessary? 

Yes, foundation piers are necessary to permanently stabilize settling foundations and prevent further damage. 

The sooner you address foundation settlement, the more affordable the repair. Postponing needed foundation piers will lead to exponentially higher costs down the road as damage worsens. 

As your local basement experts, we recommend acting at the first signs of trouble. 

We recommend appropriate basement repair solutions if your home suffers from other damage, such as bowing walls caused by hydrostatic pressure. When devising a customized repair plan for your home, we take into account factors such as the type of damage and its extent. 

What Are the Different Types of Foundation Piers? 

Ohio Basement Authority uses three types of pier systems—helical, push, and slab—to handle Ohio and Northern Kentucky’s soil conditions. Each pier system functions in the same way but differs in its application. 

Here’s how our pier systems work and how we install them: 

Helical Piers 

Our SettleStop Helical Pier System utilizes steel piers with circular helical plates at their ends, acting like screws to anchor your home in the stable soil below. This system guarantees a strong foundation for your property. 

Helical piers are versatile and ideal for supporting lighter structures in various situations. 

Push Piers 

The SettleStop Push Piers operate similarly to helical piers but differ in design and installation. Push piers consist of elongated steel rods pushed into the ground using powerful machinery. They leverage the house’s resistance for stability. 

Slab Piers 

SettleStop Slab Piers offer targeted support specifically designed for homes with slab foundations. 

Ohio Basement Authority offers a proprietary line of each type of pier personalized to your needs and foundation type.  

What Are the Benefits of Foundation Piers? 

Our pier systems provide unmatched strength and longevity. We customize every installation to your home so it can experience benefits such as: 

• Long-term Stability: Each pier system is guaranteed to permanently stabilize your foundation. 
• Prevent Further Settling: In addition to providing stability, our piers prevent your home from settling further into the ground. 
• Avoid Related Foundation Damage: Our piers prevent additional foundation damage. 
• Protect Your Foundation: Our durable pier systems ensure your foundation is protected for years to come. 
• Potential for Foundation Lifting: When the installation crew deems it is safe to do so, additional pressure can be added to the piers during their installation to potentially lift settling sections of your foundation. 
• Comprehensive Warranty: Each pier is protected by a nationally backed, transferrable, lifetime warranty. 

To reap the most benefits, choose Ohio Basement Authority’s proprietary foundation pier solutions. Contact us today to learn how our exclusive piers can help your home. 

Why Our Foundation Piers Are the Best Choice for Your Home 

In addition to the mentioned benefits, here’s what sets our foundation pier systems apart: 

• Superior to standard piers and piles 
• Proprietary design optimized for Ohio soils 
• Designed for long-lasting durability and performance 
• Protected by a comprehensive warranty 
• Part of our annual maintenance service plan 

Contact Ohio Basement Authority for Foundation Piers Today! 

FAQs

What Are the Best Solutions for Settling and Sinking?

If you notice sinking and settling around your home and you reach out to a professional, it is very likely that you will be told that foundation piers are the best option. This is especially likely if the soil under your home is the main issue. 

Push Piers 

Sometimes called resistance piers, push piers are straight beams of metal which are driven into the ground under a property to support it when the soil cannot. These forms of foundation piers rely on the weight of a property to drive them into the ground against load-bearing strata and set them in place. As such, they are best for heavy, multi-level structures that are being affected by foundation problems. 

These piers are very effective at supporting properties and can even be used to help lift them back into place. However, there are some drawbacks. Push piers are not useful for supporting small and lightweight properties, because they lack the weight to set them in place property. Likewise, they cannot be used at an angle. They must be installed vertically to ensure that they are stable and do not cause further damage. 

Helical Piers 

Helical piers are foundation piers that address the weaknesses of push or resistance piers. Unlike resistance piers, helical piers have screw-like additions to the pier shaft that are used to bite into the soil as the piers are placed. This makes them more suitable for light properties that cannot push the piers down into the soil sufficiently, or problem soils that are unstable far below the frost line. This allows the weight of a home to be spread out. 

Helical piers also have the benefit of being suitable for installation at an angle. This makes them more versatile than push piers and allows them to be used in a wide variety of situations. Like push piers, helical piers are the easiest to install when the foundation damage is relatively limited. Both kinds of foundation piers require some excavation and will cause disruption no matter the state of the foundation.

Do I Need Slab Piers?

Slab piers are a specialist foundation repair and support tool with a very specific purpose. Do not immediately plan slab pier installation just because you have uneven floors or some kind of foundation issue. 

Soil Washout and Erosion 

Soil washout and erosion are common causes of foundation damage in Cincinnati and Columbus, OH. However, just slab piers are not always the best solution for properties that are experiencing this kind of damage. This is because properties being impacted by erosion and soil washout tend to experience sinking around the exterior edge of their foundation. This means that exterior foundation piers, either push piers or helical piers, can be a better option. 

Soil washout and erosion occur most often in areas that have unhealthy, bare, or very loose, light soils that are primarily made of sandy or loamy earth. These processes occur when strong winds blow away dehydrated soil or flooding washes loose, saturated soil. Over time, it will lead to the soil going fallow, cause driveways and sidewalks to sink, and expose the edge of your foundation. 

Expansive or Weak Soils 

Properties that sit on weak, marshy, or expansive soils are more prone to issues like sinking and settlement, as the expansive soil increases and decreases in size and changes in texture. When expansive soils are saturated, of course, they swell and become soft and marshy, which can lead to heavy properties starting to sink into the ground. This happens because the soil is unable to support the weight. 

However, when expansive soil becomes dehydrated, it shrinks, gets harder, and can start to crack, leading to large gaps opening up. This can leave large voids under a property and lead to sections of the foundation cracking and falling into the voids. When either of these issues arises in a way that affects the center of a property, slab piers can often be the most effective way to lift, secure, and support a property that has a damaged foundation. 

Can I Install Foundation Piers Alone?

No. Foundation piers are very specialist pieces of equipment designed for serious structural repairs. Trying to use them alone or to deal with foundation problems without professional input is potentially dangerous, both to your yard and your person. 

Equipment Procurement 

One of the main hurdles to DIY foundation repair is finding the tools, equipment, and products required to undertake the work successfully. These are not simple tools, after all. You will need excavation equipment, hydraulic equipment to drive the foundation piers into the ground, and the ability to cut the piers to the appropriate length. Assuming you can get a hold of these pieces of gear, renting them can be very expensive—and you still have to make sure you use them properly.  

Professional foundation repair specialists, however, will have most of the tools to hand already. So, by the time you have rented the tools you need to properly excavate the foundation and place the piers, never mind buying the piers, it may actually be cheaper to hire a professional to undertake the work. You will certainly get a better result from professional foundation repair services. After all, you are paying to benefit from their expertise and skill as much as the products themselves. 

Excavation and Installation 

Even if you are able to properly identify the cause, extent, and type of damage to your foundation, and you are able to rent the equipment, there is still the matter of undertaking the work. The problem with structural repairs is that they can be very dangerous when undertaken by someone who lacks experience. The equipment itself can be dangerous, of course, but there are also structural hazards you have to be aware of. For example, excavation near your property’s walls could exacerbate damage to the walls and even cause them to collapse if you excavate improperly. This could be lethal if you or someone helping you is in the way of a wall when it goes down. 

Likewise, the installation of the piers themselves can be incredibly tough. If they are installed at a slight angle, or if they are not driven deep enough into the soil, you could do more harm than good for your home. If you try to install piers alone and cause more damage to your home, you will need to call in a professional to undo your work, as well as rectify the original issue. This will cost far more than it would have to simply call a professional in the first place.