Helical Piles

A helical pile is defined as a manufactured steel foundation consisting of one or more helix-shaped bearing plates affixed to a central shaft that is rotated into the ground to support structures. Helical piles are also commonly referred to as helical piers, helix piers, screw piles, and torque anchors. A helical pile is driven using a mechanical drive head and the helical plates essentially screw the pile deep into the ground. To understand how this works one can think of a cordless drill as the drive head, a screw as the pile, and a piece of wood as the ground. As a drill turns a screw, like a drive head turns a pile, the screw begins to embed itself into the wood like a pile embeds itself into the ground. Helical piles are used in several different residential and commercial construction applications.

Helical piles can be used for:

Repairing Your Foundation is Worth the Expense

Nearly every home in the United States will be sold at some point. It’s hard to sell a home with a foundation problem. When cracks are evident in the walls, floors are heaving, mold is surfacing, and doors and windows won’t shut properly, buyers are not interested in taking on these problems. The value that’s lost and the safety risks that are posed are convincing reasons why homeowners shouldn’t leave foundation problems unattended.

“The majority of people won’t fix their foundation problem because they either don’t have the money or they don’t see the need,” says Ron Davidson at Ram Jack Systems. “What they don’t realize is that a foundation problem is like a cancer — it never gets better. It only gets worse and will cost more and more.”

Problems will get worse!

“When the door starts sticking, especially the front door, is when people will typically call out a foundation repair specialist for help,” says Davidson. “If there are cracks on the outside of the house or on inside walls, many people will try a cosmetic fix or try to patch up and hide the problem, but that only masks the real issue,” he says. Because the soil beneath the home is continuously moving, hiding the problem is only temporary.

Safety Concerns!

“When the corner of a home sinks even just one inch, it puts an extreme amount of pressure on other parts of the house,” explains Davidson. “One of the first things people notice is their doors won’t shut right, or their windows aren’t shutting smoothly. The sinking foundation is causing a shift in the home, and it’s most evident at openings such as doors and windows.” Entrances and exits that aren’t working properly can be a serious safety issue. “If the door is sticking and you need to get out, or you need to get in to help someone, that is a serious problem,” he says.

“People don’t have to be convinced that they have a problem, they just want to be educated on how to make a good decision on who to choose to stabilize their home,” says Davidson. “But they usually don’t know how to compare products or companies. For example, if two foundation repair companies offer a lifetime guarantee, but one company is significantly cheaper, there’s a big difference on the meaning of that guarantee if the cheaper company is coming back every year to fix the problem. You want a solution that is going to solve it right the first time, period.”

Resale Value!

A foundation problem is no doubt a negative selling point for a home. “When there are cracks in the walls, moisture has access, bugs have access, and people just don’t want any part of that,” says Davidson. “A good foundation system can make a home more valuable.” Whether selling a home or not, many people don’t fix an apparent foundation problem because they simply don’t have the money,” explains Davidson. “The average repair cost for a home foundation is around $10,000 and can be as much as $30-40,000,” he says. “In the last eight years, home values have dropped, but some people are still able to draw on a home-equity line of credit to preserve the value of their home by repairing their foundation problems.”