Pier and Beam foundation repairs are said to be the traditional repair system for people dealing with major house remodeling and foundation settling issues. Not only is this a tried and tested method, it is efficient and also durable as most of the modern concrete-heavy foundations laid today.
What is the exact procedure of a pier and beam repair and its possible complications and problems are, for your easy understanding, discussed below.
As a process that was very popular in the early 50s, with the resulting foundation robust and long lasting, there are still a few problems encountered with pier and beam foundations that require repairs. They are:
- Decay and damage to wooden beams or joists.
- Movement of exterior piers due to presence of water
- Movement of interior piers
- Inferior or sub-par construction
- Shim failure in cases where a house has been shimmed with non-standard material such as plywood, sheetrock or even cardboard.
To combat these problems, with improvements and advancements in the procedure over the years, now a pier and beam repair is done in three different phases.
Phase 1:
Preparation of site is done by removal of shrubs, plants, vegetations from the work areas and tarps placed around the property to safeguard the surrounding landscape.
Phase 2:
Temporary shoring is placed underneath the existing beams of your home. A hole of appropriate depth and width is dug where the new pier locations have been determined. Rebar is tied and concrete is poured inside this footing up to a certain height. It is then allowed to set and cure for 24 hours. Once set, concrete blocks are placed over the footing to accommodate the hydraulic jacks used in the leveling process.
Phase 3:
Sonotubes are cut as such to span the top of the previously poured footing to the new height of the beam, rebar is then tied together to provide sufficient strength. The cut sonotubes are placed atop the tied rebar and concrete is poured into each individual form by hand. After setting of concrete, the sonotubes are cut away and any space is re-shimmed to replace the previously used wood with steel. If any nominal spacing remains, it is filled with dirt and the pier is completed.
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