Guide
Repair methods a company may propose
A bid will name a method, often by a trade name. Underneath the branding there are only a handful of ways to hold up or raise a house. This page says what each one is. It does not rank them: the right choice depends on your soil, your house and what the measurements show.
The methods at a glance
| Method | What it is | Where it tends to be used |
|---|---|---|
| Pressed concrete piles | Short concrete cylinders stacked and pushed into the ground one after another with a hydraulic jack, using the weight of the house to press against. | Under the outside beam of a slab that has settled. |
| Steel push piers | Lengths of steel pipe driven down in the same way, joined as they go. Steel is slimmer than concrete and can usually be pushed deeper. | Where the firm layer is deep, or where a heavier part of the house needs support. |
| Helical piers | Steel shafts with screw-shaped plates, turned into the ground by a hydraulic motor. The turning force is read off a gauge as they go in. | Lighter structures such as porches and additions, and places where the house is too light to push against. |
| Drilled concrete piers | A shaft is bored into the soil, sometimes widened at the base into a bell, then filled with steel and concrete and left to cure before the house is raised onto it. | Repairs designed by an engineer where a wider base in the clay is wanted. |
| Slab lifting with grout or foam | Holes are drilled through the slab and a cement grout or an expanding foam is pumped underneath to fill voids and nudge the concrete upward. | Low spots away from the edge, sunken garage floors, driveways and walks. It fills and lifts but adds no deep support. |
| Crawl space piers, posts and beams | New pads and piers, adjustable steel posts, shims, and replacement or doubled-up timber beams and joists. | Pier and beam houses with sagging or bouncy floors. |
| Wall anchors and braces | Steel plates, rods or beams that hold a leaning below-ground wall. | Basement walls. Houses here are rarely built with basements, so this seldom applies. |
How the choice gets made
Depth comes first. A pier only helps if its tip sits in soil that is not taking part in the seasonal movement. How deep that is varies from lot to lot, and with pressed or pushed piers it is found on the day by how hard the ground pushes back.
Weight comes next. Pressed and pushed piers use the house as the thing to push against. A single-storey corner with no brick may be too light to drive a pier deep, which is one reason helical or drilled piers get proposed.
Access matters too. Outside piers need a hole beside the beam. Inside piers mean cutting through the floor or tunnelling in from the edge. Tunnelling keeps the flooring intact and takes more labour.
Where an engineer has designed the repair, the method, the spacing and the depth are on the drawing, and the company builds to it.
Questions to put to any method
- Why this method for this house, and what was the second choice?
- How will I know how deep each pier went? Will I get a log?
- What stops a pier from being pushed sideways by the clay it passes through?
- Does this support the area or only fill beneath it?
- What part of the house is not being supported, and can that part still move?
- Who designed the layout: a salesperson, or a licensed engineer?
What no method changes
Piers hold up the part of the slab they sit under. They do not stop the clay from shrinking and swelling, and the sections of the house without piers go on moving with it. Most warranties are written around that fact and cover only the piered area.
That is why drainage, trees and watering still matter after a repair. The guide to looking after a foundation covers them, and what affects the cost explains how the method feeds into the price.
When you are ready
Describe the problem and book an inspection
One call puts you in touch with an independent foundation repair company that works in Sugar Land. Have the address, the age of the house and a short list of what has changed.
Talk to a local foundation company
Say what you are seeing and where in the house. The company you reach is independent and gives you its own findings and its own price.
Call (832) 307-1056Read the referral disclosure and the privacy policy.