FOUNDATION REPAIR

The professionals at Quality Foundation Repair take the time to properly evaluate your foundation settlement issue, help you understand the underlying causes of your unique foundation problems, and offer foundation repair solutions that really work! Quality Foundation Repair is dedicated to providing the most extensive information about structural repair issues and their comprehensive solutions. ECP can custom configure basement waterproofing products to fit engineer-specific projects for commercial and residential applications.

Soil conditions are a big factor in foundation failure and Quality Foundation Repair is well-versed in this area. We can recommend a Geotech Engineer (soil expert) on request.

Foundation Settlement Repair Options

Foundation repair for settling or sinking foundations is usually best done with STEEL PUSH PIERS driven to bedrock or qualified support strata. By carefully stabilizing and even lifting a structure we can regain the structural integrity of the building. This foundation repair method is used in both residential and commercial applications. The trusted professionals at Quality Foundation have many, many years of experience and a professional team of installers who know how to get the job done right, on budget, and on time.

Steel Piers for Foundation Repair

The steel piers from Quality Foundation belong to a family of patented foundation repair products that are sometimes referred to as micro piles, push piers, or resistance piers. The patented ECP Steel Pier is the standard for all underpinning piers in the foundation repair industry. Our piers are all designed and engineered to perform for many years under the toughest conditions.

Earth Contact Products, our manufacturer, offers two basic engineered designs of our steel push piers. The concentric pier installs directly below the footing or load, and the eccentric pier installs to the side of the intended load. Due to a large amount of engineering and field trials, both systems work equally well in their basic duty of supporting a foundation’s load. It is generally the unique application that determines which model of steel pier, not the design of the pier itself.

Introduction to Steel Piers

The ECP Steel Pier™ like other resistance piers is an end-bearing pier that does not rely upon nor require skin friction to produce support. Each pier is field load tested after it is installed. These push piers are able to develop a factor of safety because the piers are installed and load-tested individually using the maximum weight of the structure as the reaction force. The ability of the system to develop significant factors of safety comes from the different methods used between pier installation and load transfer during restoration.

The piers are driven individually and the entire structure works as the reaction. A friction reduction collar is attached to the lead section of the galvanized pier pipe. The purpose of the collar is to create an opening in the soil that has a larger diameter than the pier pipe. This dramatically reduces the skin friction on the pier pipe as it is driven into the soil and allows the installer to load test and verify that the pier encountered a firm bearing stratum or rock that is suitable to support the design load.

During load transfer or lift, high-pressure hydraulic jacks are placed at multiple locations thus reducing the load on each pier to only the design working load. These hydraulic jacks are connected to the ECP manifold system to provide a synchronized lift. A building with substantial construction and rigidity can develop greater pier factor safeties than a lighter or weaker structure. Contact a certified installing contractor or registered foundation engineer to help you evaluate and solve your foundation’s needs.

Total Foundation Replacement

Foundation wall replacement in Council Bluffs, IA, Omaha, NE, Lincoln, NE, and in surrounding areas is accomplished by setting up supports (shoring) to hold the home in position while the existing foundation walls are removed and replaced using minimal lifting of the structure. This is the least disruptive to the utilities coming into the home as they do not have to be disconnected, the elevation is not being changed, and you don’t have to move out! All your personal items in the basement will be covered with plastic sheeting. Older stone foundation walls such as red brick and shelf foundation walls generally do not have a footing in order to construct a new foundation in Omaha, NE, Lincoln, NE, Council Bluffs, IA, and in surrounding communities. This applies to older homes built in the early 1900s. A footing will need to be installed and designed to support the weight of your home.

Basements, sometimes require continuous steel beams to support the structure along with hydraulic jacks to lift. Also, your porch, steps, and deck will need to be reconstructed. In these situations, the utilities must be disrupted as the beams must be straight and continuous (no jogging around inside plumbing or utilities). Both the lifting of the structure and the relocation of utilities add considerable expense to the project over what could be a simple shoring of the home at its existing height.

When replacing your foundation wall(s) in Omaha, NE, Lincoln, NE, and in nearby areas, we can also install new insulated vinyl windows and/or an egress window for a bedroom or family room at an additional cost.

We replace foundation walls with concrete blocks reinforced with steel rebar as per the code. A drain tile or form-a-drain basement waterproofing system will be installed on the exterior perimeter of the footing and tied into an interior sump pump system. The exterior of the wall is then damp-proofed or waterproofed before the backfill is put back in. (Exterior waterproofing has no warranty)

Contact Quality Foundation Repair for more information about our foundation replacement and foundation repair services in the Omaha and Council Bluffs areas.