Helical Piers
A steel shaft with helical bearing plates, turned into the ground until it reaches soil that can actually carry your house. Every pier is torque-verified as it goes in, so its capacity is measured rather than assumed.
A helical pier is a steel shaft with one or more helix-shaped bearing plates welded near the tip. A hydraulic torque motor turns it into the ground like an enormous screw, advancing it through the loose fill and soft soil near the surface until the helices seat in dense, load-bearing material below.
A bracket then ties the pier to your footing, and the weight of that part of the house transfers off the failing soil and onto the pier. Once the load is on, the settlement stops. Where conditions allow, we can also use the piers to lift the structure back toward its original elevation.
The part that matters most, and that most homeowners never hear about, is installation torque. How hard the pier resists turning is directly related to how much load it can carry. We monitor it the whole way down and record the final value for every pier, which means the capacity of your foundation repair is a measured number in your file — not a promise.
When a helical pier
is the right call
Piers are not the answer to every foundation problem, and we will say so when they are not. These are the situations where they clearly are.
A section of the house has settled
One corner, one wall or the area around a chimney has dropped relative to the rest. Piers take that load off the failing soil and stop the movement.
Wet ground and a high water table
Helical piers install cleanly in saturated soil where excavation is impractical and where the ground has too little strength to react against.
Lighter structures and additions
Porches, stoops, sunrooms, decks, carports and additions rarely weigh enough to drive push piers. Helicals generate their own capacity, so weight is not a limitation.
New construction on poor soil
If a site has deep fill or weak bearing soil, building on piers from the start costs a fraction of correcting settlement in five years.
Why the
numbers matter
Foundation repair is largely invisible once the pits are backfilled. What proves the work was done correctly is the record of what happened while it was open.
- Depth of the pier
- Final torque of the pier
- Pier location
- Elevation before and after installation
- Any conditions we hit on the way down, such as obstructions or voids
Questions we
get asked
How deep do helical piers go?
As deep as it takes to reach competent soil, which is a property of your lot rather than a number we can pick in advance. Around the Gulf Coast that is typically somewhere between fourteen and twenty feet, but we have gone shallower and considerably deeper in certain areas.
We do not predetermine depth. We stop when the torque readings confirm the pier has reached the required depth and load-bearing strata.
Helical piers or push piers — which is better?
Neither is universally better; they suit different structures. Push piers use the weight of the house as the reaction force to drive them, so they work best under heavier masonry homes that can push back hard enough.
Helical piers generate their own capacity through torque, so they do not depend on structure weight. That makes them the right call for lighter framed homes, porches, stoops, chimneys, additions, and new construction where there is no building yet. On the Gulf Coast they have one more advantage: they install cleanly in saturated ground and high water table conditions.
Will installing piers tear up my yard?
Less than most people expect. Helical piers produce no spoils — nothing is augered out and left in a pile — and the equipment is small enough to work in tight side yards and through gates. We excavate a modest access pit at each pier location, backfill and compact it when the work is done, and clean up the yard, ensuring everything is filled in and cleaned up to the best of our ability.
Can helical piers be used on new construction?
Yes, and it is often the least expensive time to do it. If a site has poor bearing soil, deep fill, or a high water table, setting the structure on helical piers from the start avoids the far larger cost of correcting settlement later. We work with builders, engineers and general contractors on new foundations, additions and light commercial projects.
Keep reading
Foundation Repair
The full picture: what causes settlement here, and every method we use to correct it.
ReadCrawlspace Stabilization
When the problem is above the foundation — sagging girders and bouncing floors.
ReadExterior Drainage
French drains that move standing water away from the house before it reaches the soil under the footings.
ReadFoundation Repair
Inspection Process
We will inspect the structure, take elevation readings and tell you whether piers are warranted at all. Free, on site, with a written price if you go ahead.