Foundation Repair Case Studies: Lake Lure, North Carolina Foundation Repair Using Push Piers

Something that we see a lot in homes that we visit are cracks on the exterior of the home. Almost all of the homes that we visit for cracks around the home have to deal with settlement. Settlement is an extremely common issue that happens in a lot of homes, because of the way that homes are being constructed, which simplified-is that a "bowl" is dug out, the foundation is built, then dirt is filled in around the foundation. This soil is usually pretty loose (especially compared to the undisturbed soil), and over the years begins to settle, which causes the foundation to move as well.

This is the problem that this homeowner was having. As you can see from the photos, there was a very large crack that was coming from the top of this exterior door. The size of the crack was definitely a concern for us, which is why we wanted to get out to this home and fix the problem as soon as possible. The only difficulty that we had with this project was that the area in which the push piers were to be installed was under concrete. However, this was only a small set back and was taken care of very quickly.

While this made the job take slightly more time, the fact that the push piers were to be installed under the concrete porch was really not that big of an issue. The crew was able to easily cut through the concrete with a saw and open this area up for the push piers. After the concrete was removed, this was nothing more than our average push pier project.

Push pier installation is usually a pretty simple process, which takes a lot of work. After the concrete was taken out, the crew dug holes down below the foundation, so that the push piers could be securely fastened to the foundation of the home. After the push pier is securely attached to the home, the crew carefully hydraulically pushed sections of piering into the ground until it reached a stable soil that is able to support the weight of the home.

After the piering has been pushed through, and everything is secure with the pier, the foundation is lifted. Once the foundation has been lifted to its original position, our job is pretty much finished. Our crew filled in the holes around the push piers, and then poured some new concrete to finished everything out! When all was said and done, the crack had been pushed back together and the home was much safer!

Installing Contractor: All-Dry of the Carolinas

Systems Design Specialist: John Mitchell

Project Foreman: Francisco Gamez

Products Installed: Push Pier (2)