helical piers - helical screw foundations

[Rachel Rosencrantz]

Actually I do have experiences with Helical piers.  When we were 
building an addition to our house they found that there was a lot of 
clay in the soil so they were going to put caissons in to support the 
foundation since foundation footers (the part of the foundation that 
sticks out from the building) are not reliable on clay soil.  Caissons 
are basically cement pillars that go in the ground that then support 
the foundation. However, it rained and so the pouring of the Caisson's 
kept on getting pushed back. We looked around and found out about 
helical piers.  They screw down into the earth until they dig into 
bedrock.  They start out as solid square beams but by the end because 
of the torque they look like licorice sticks.   You can see some 
pictures of them (in our construction) here: 
http://homepage.mac.com/israelr/PhotoAlbum32.html

So helical piers will work in place of footings, however they are more 
expensive than footings.  On the other hand the foundation will then be 
solidly supported by the piers.


-Rachel

On Aug 9, 2005, at 7:20 PM, J & D Goldman wrote:

> Hi all,
>   Sometime ago I came across these helical piers and was impressed by
> the opportunities they present. They are a lot like those little screw
> anchors you can buy to hold your tin shed down in a storm - a lot like
> them, on steroids that is.  These are designed to hold the load and
> resist uplift for full size buildings as a substitute for concrete
> foundations.  Consider yourself trying to get your dome up before the
> snow falls, and deal wilth these issues:
>
> "Sorry, its too wet for me to get in there and dig footings. Call me
> when it dries out"
> "If I dig now, the walls of the trench will collapse before I can get
> the cement truck here".
> "We had to stop digging. We are getting groundwater in the trenches
> before we can even finish."
>
> Helical piers require no trenches
>
> "We can't put concrete trucks in there. The ground is too soft and its
> too steep. You can wheelbarrel it up there if you want."
> "Sorry guy, those trees will just have to come out if you want my
> people to come in and pour."
> "We have a big road job right now. Call me in about two weeks and I'll
> see if I can get you a few loads."
> "Can't pour concrete in this kind of weather. Even if we did, it'll
> never cure right."
> "Yeah, I can get a slab there for you but what are you going to do
> about footings?"
>
> Helical piers require no concrete.
>
> "The ground can handle the weight of that light building you want to
> put up, but a foundation is too heavy and is out of the question".
> "I'll need my carpenter to do the forms for this one, and he's out
> sick."
>
> Helical piers are much lighter than concrete.
>
> No, I'm not getting a commission from the National Helical Pier
> Salesman's assoc   :-).     However, these can be put in place with a
> machine no larger than a skid-steer loader, or even walked into place
> and driven in with a hand-carried post hole auger in some situations.
>
> Take a look at some of these sites. I'd like to hear what you all
> think.  Anyone got any experience with these, or know anything about
> them? Any downsides?  Do you see the same potential I do for getting
> your building up, especially for the DIY market?
>
> What about you dome companies? Does this provide new options for you
> to consider in working with the owner/builder, or even taking your
> crew out to build a dome?  Are there good reasons "not to"?  They meet
> code in most places, although they might be new to a lot of building
> inspectors.
>
> A few examples below, but there are quite a few more if you look.
>
> http://www.helicalpierinfo.com/newconstruction.htm
> http://www.piertech.com/index.php
> http://web.umr.edu/~stephens/helical%20anchors.htm
>
> - Dan G.
>
>
>
>
>