Foundation Repair in Haubstadt, IN Home

Challenge

These Haudstadt, IN homeowners had noticed that their home felt "off" for a while.  The floor felt slanted and there were cracks in the plaster inside the home.  Since the exterior of the home is brick, it was easy to spot the stair step crack that indicated foundation movement.  They decided to have Damon Cheatham out to the home to determine what could be done to fix their problems. 

Damon came out and determined that one side of the home was settling and that the best way to repair the problem and regain the lost elevation would be to install push piers along that side on a couple of push piers around both corners.  He also noted that two helical piers needed to be installed to hold up a settling portion of the home.  The biggest challenge to the repair would be coordinating the lift properly to close the stair step crack without creating any other cracks at the same time.

Solution

The Haubstadt home needed 11 push piers, 2 helicial piers, and full excavation to regain lost elevation.  Damon determined that the best pier configuration would be 9 push piers along the sinking side of the foundation and one push pier 3 feet off of the adjacent corners of the home to achieve a solid lift and permenant stability.  The installation process went well.  First, the team excavated the side of the home where the 9 piers would be installed.  They prepped the foundation footer by creating notches where the pier brackets would sit.  This ensures that the brackets sit directly under the foundation footer so the piers are positioned to take the weight of the home off the unstable soil and onto the piers.  Next, the team placed the low-profile pier brackets into the notches and began hydraulically driving the push pier sections deep into the ground to the load bearing strata.  At intervals, pressure measurements were checked and once the proper pier depth was achieved according to engineer specifications, the piers were ready to have lift cylinders attached.  11 lift cylinders were attached to the 11 piers and the entire side of the home was brought back to level condition.  As much of the lost elevation was recovered as possible and the piers were then capped to prevent movement.  The soil was then replaced into the trench, tamped and smoothed. The area where the helical piers were needed was tackled next.  The area was excavated and the helical piers were advanced, ie: turned like screws, into the earth until the proper resistance was achieved.  The piers were capped and the excavated soil replaced, tamped, and smoothed.

The entire process went smoothly and the homeowners are very happy with the results!

Project Summary

Owner: Tim Runyon

Project Manager: Damon Cheatham

Project Foreman: Steven Joseph, Jr