Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for homes to be built on soil that is less than stable. With the presence of expanding or subsiding soil conditions, the movement in these soils can cause damage to your home’s foundation. In addition, it can cause your home to slowly sink into soft and unstable soil. This is most notable when you begin to see damage to your home’s foundation and you may think that foundation crack repair in Oklahoma City is what you will need. However, cracks may only be a small indication of a larger problem. While those cracks will need to be repaired, often times foundation piering may be the only viable way of making sure your foundation is structurally intact.
Piering is a process where your home’s foundation is structurally supported by large steel shafts. In actuality, there are two types of foundation piering Oklahoma City that you can use. The first type of piering is known as push piering. The second is known as helical piering.
With push piering, large steel shafts are driven into the ground through your home’s foundation until they reach either more firm and stable soil or bedrock. The depth of these shafts will greatly depend upon your soil but given the resistance in the hydraulics when driving the shafts into the ground, the resistance will indicate as to whether the steel shafts have reached either the bedrock or more solid soil.
With helical piering steel shafts are screwed into the ground rather than being forced into more stable soil. This is also done through hydraulics and the level of resistance will also indicate whether the steel shafts have reached a desired bedrock position or more stable soil.
This process can be very involved but if you do nothing about your sinking foundation, you could significantly compromise the structural integrity of your home. If you’ve noticed that doors are closing properly inside your home, you notice cracks in the walls or the ceiling, your home may be subject to a foundation that is damaged and sinking. For these situations, you’ll want to contact a foundation repair company as soon as possible and investigate whether piering is the right process to offer your foundation the structural integrity it needs to keep your home safe and habitable.
