helical piers - helical screw foundations

[J & D Goldman]

Thanks for the comments and interesting pictures.  The piers I've
looked at might be different than those you used.  They don't go to
bedrock and maintain their shape after installation.  I'll have to ask
about this when I talk to some of the tech staff.

I'd like to think that domes are light enough, especially with the
weight spread, that one could get by with a somewhat lighter duty pier
that might cost less.  I'll see what I can find out on routine
foudation specs and see if there might be some savings there. With
concrete footings, its seems the depth, width, amount of rebar and
seleted strength of concrete are the main factors, and one can only
cut back so much.  Might be an opportunity to save with piers,
especially where forms might be required for poured cement.

cheers for now
- Dan G.

-----Original Message-----
From: Rachel Rosencrantz <rachelr at pobox.com>
To: J & D Goldman <jmgoldma at dwx.com>
Cc: domesteading at sculptors.com <domesteading at sculptors.com>
Date: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 9:04 PM
Subject: Re: helical piers - helical screw foundations


>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.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>