Construction Advice: Advantages of Installing Pressed Piers in Your Foundation

Pressed piers have been used by a number of different companies in the past, and have recently become very popular with many different cable companies. There are many reasons why they have become so popular, but the main reason is because they are the most cost effective and easiest of the piers to install.

Many builders prefer them because they can be installed much deeper than most other types, and they have been found to be the most durable over time. They are also a whole lot easier to adjust than most piers in use today.

Pressed piers can usually be installed for as little as $125 per pier, and most of the cylinders can be pressed into place using a simple hydraulic bottle jack. Because of the pressure being exerted from the home above, this is normally the preferred method of installation used by most contractors to press the cylinders into place.

Some special types of piers will require more labor to install. Poured concrete footers are a good example of this. Because they are so massive, these piers will often have to be augured out after which the resulting holes can be filled with concrete. After the concrete has been poured, the dirt is then removed and disposed of in some manner.

Poured concrete piers are typically 2-3 feet in diameter, and 25-30 feet deep. This adds up real quick, and makes for a lot of weight. Also keep in mind the fact that these piers are only dug to about 20-30 feet deep, which means that they will have a tendency to sink or settle more easily. In most cases, you can expect to see less settling in the long run because they have a smaller diameter and they will normally press far deeper into the ground, which means that they will not settles as much over a long period of time.

One problem noticed by many builders is the fact that the piers may have to be adjusted over time, and you may notice that the steel plates which are used to shim the top of the pier to the bottom of the foundation, will begin to rust after they have been in place for a while. With that being said, it is really not that big of an issue because the plates should still last longer than the average life span, due to the fact that they are made of solid steel.

Because the steel cables and rods used in the piers are submerged into soil, they will normally rust out over a period of time. This is a direct result of the constant moisture below the surface of the ground, which causes the metals in the cables and rods to rapidly deteriorate. You can usually expect this deterioration to happen within the first five years or less.

Using pressed piers in your home foundation may be a wise choice for you, because they will provide more overall stability, while giving you more bang for your buck over the long haul.