Q: WHAT IS A STEEL PILING?
A: For homes and light commercial buildings, steel pilings are steel columns that are pushed into the ground under a foundation. Steel pilings can be made in short segments, for example one foot long, or longer sections up to 10 feet. Pilings made of short segments can be installed in tunnels under the interior of a building while pilings made of longer sections are installed on the exteriors of homes.
Q: WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF STEEL PILINGS?
A: Steel pilings have several advantages:
- They are fast to install.
- Because of their narrow diameter, generally around 3 inches, steel pilngs go deeper than concrete pilings.
- Once installed, steel pilings they can be used right away (poured concrete piers must harden for a week before they can be used).
- They have a proven record of performance.
Q: IS THERE A WARRANTY?
A: Advanced Foundation Repair offers a transferable lifetime warranty on its steel pilings. There are no if’s, and’s, or but’s; the warranty remains valid as long as it is transferred from owner to owner.
Q: HOW DO I KNOW THE WARRANTY WILL BE GOOD?
A: Advanced Foundation Repair belongs to the Texas Foundation Warranty Trust. Advanced pays the Texas Foundation Warranty Trust a fee for every job that is completed. In exchange, the Trust backs each job for which a fee is paid. With over one million dollars in assets, the Trust will be here for the long run.
Q: HOW LONG DO STEEL PILINGS LAST?
A: It is simple, steel pilings will last long as your steel foundation.
Q: HOW ARE THEY INSTALLED?
A: The installation process is simple.
- In each location where a piling is going to be installed, a hole is dug next to the foundation. Each hole is about the size of a doormat. The holes go down one to two feet below the bottom of your foundation.
- Next, a section of steel pipe is placed in the bottom of a hole and under the foundation.
- A high power hydraulic ram is then placed on top of the pipe.
- The ram is activated and used to push the pipe down into the soil. The pressure applied to the cylinder will often exceed 1,000,0000 pounds per square foot!
- Once a pipe section is driven all the way into the ground, another is set on top of the first.
- The two pipes are linked by a connector.
- The process is repeated until no more pipe can be driven.
- Finally, a cap is placed on the top of the piling.
- When all of the pilings have been driven, hydraulic jacks are placed on the caps and are used to lift the foundation.
- Once the foundation is lifted, concrete and steel spacers are placed on the cap to support the foundation, and the hydraulic jacks are removed.
- The final step is to cover the pilings and clean up.
Q: WHAT IF I NEED PILINGS IN MY HOUSE?
A: Steel pilings can be installed by cutting holes in your floor and then digging down beside the interior grade beams. Of course, this is terribly messy, and can destroy expensive tile and wood floors.
An alternative is to dig tunnels under your home and install the pilings from the tunnels. This is the advantage of the short section steel pilings. If tunnels are used to install interior pilings, you can stay in your home while the work is being done and your floors will not have holes cut in them!
Q: HOW MANY PILINGS HAS ADVANCED INSTALLED?
A: Advanced has installed hundreds of thousands of pilings across Texas. Pilings have been installed from Amarillo to Brownsville and from Texarkana to El Paso!