Oakland Foundation's Expert Underpinning Services
Due to the diversity of needs in Oakland, this section focuses on two primary types of support systems. While there are a few other options available, they are not commonly utilized in this region. The technical term for the foundational pillars that hold up your house is "underpinning." However, depending on the foundation restoration method employed, you are more likely to hear them referred to as "piers" or "pilings." These pilings or piers are tall and slender, much like the columns on the porch of a plantation-style house. Picture a set of subsurface stilts providing essential support for your home. In the case of piers, also known as bell-bottom piers, the supports are constructed by professionals who dig, drill, and pour concrete beneath the structure. Piles, also referred to as pressed piles, are installed using hydraulic pressure, forcing pre-formed concrete into the ground, creating a stable base for your foundation.
When Underpinning is The Solution
When a home, building, or other structure has a weak foundation, underpinning may help stabilize it. To achieve this goal, either the current foundation is reinforced, the soil is strengthened by the introduction of an expanding filler or the foundation is extended to spread the weight over a larger area. When a home's original foundation is inadequate, underpinning is often a need for the homeowner. Subsidence, moisture-induced expansion and contraction, the presence of huge trees, and neglected plumbing repairs are all common causes of shifts in a building's foundation. When the qualities of the soil were misunderstood during the initial design of the foundation and the foundation is inadequate for the circumstances, underpinning may be considered.
Types of Underpinning
Underpinning, as we mentioned before, is the process of adding support to an already established base. Restumping is the process used to fix the foundations of structures that are supported on stumps. Whenever the stumps of the foundation are broken or otherwise compromised, they must be replaced. There are now three approaches in use, all of which fall within this concept of underpinning. Injection of grout or resin into the concrete slab and screw pile. Screw pile underpinning, also known as pier underpinning or piercing, and concrete slab underpinning, also known as slab jacking, are two methods we promote. Contact us now to learn more about the ideal option for your foundation underpinning, including the use of grout or resin injection, which is a relatively new technique.
Does Your Structure Need Foundation Underpinning?
If you want to perform an honest assessment of your home or business, there are a few tell-tale signals to keep an eye out for. Subsidence happens on numerous sites, but to varied degrees, as you'll see in this list. Underpinning is necessary only in areas where sinking is already taking place. In certain cases, after sinking has taken place, the structure has returned to balance and no longer poses any threat. For this reason, Oakland Foundation Repair Pros offers a free foundation evaluation service so that you may have your house inspected by one of our trained and licensed foundation experts.
Free Foundation Underpinning Assessments
If you are unsure about anything, why don't you take advantage of our free foundation review with one of our specialists? There are many different kinds of underpinning, and not all of them are appropriate for fixing every foundation issue. We provide you an up-front assessment of whether or not our way of underpinning is capable of delivering a long-term solution to your problem. If this is not the case, we won't quote you and instead will suggest a different course of action.
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