Comparison of Concrete Piles and Push Piers

Foundation settlement can be repaired in a number of ways, but two of the most frequent are concrete pilings and push piers. Both systems require being hydraulically driven into the ground beneath your property and claim to guarantee the greatest possible recovery.

One such explanation is the “same idea, different tools,” which may be accepted by some.
On the other hand, these two are not as similar as two halves of a whole. Some analogies are clearly not apples to apples.

You can’t just say concrete is better than steel or pipes are better than blocks or a shallow depth is better than a deep one.

Push Piers are used to raising, stabilize, and secure a home, and to stop additional settlement. In the short term, concrete piles can help you get your house off the ground, but they rarely go deep enough to give stable support for your house in the long run.

Push Piers excel over their crusty concrete counterpart for a few key reasons: push piers to drill down into bedrock/load-bearing stratum (with verifiable PSI readings), and push piers to use end-bearing support rather than friction or skin friction support.

The Meaning of a Concrete Pile
A concrete pile is a column made of reinforced concrete used for building foundations. These can be:

The foundation is precast (already made) and then driven into the ground using hydraulic pressure. Cast-in-situ (a hole is dug, a cylinder rebar cage is wedged in, and concrete is poured around this concrete pile already positioned)

We usually think of concrete piles as being used to support large constructions, such as bridges, skyscrapers, or even your mother-in-ego. law’s

However, concrete piles used for foundation restoration are often significantly lower in size. Common dimensions are 12 inches in width and 12 inches to 18 inches in height.

Pile Concrete Use
Bottle jacks are commonly used to press concrete piles down into the earth using hydraulic pressure.

They are set up beneath a house’s base and hold everything up using only compression and skin friction. Keep in mind that concrete piles are essentially a defensive line—they are short, stocky, and not very maneuverable. These big monsters can be a pain to get through the active zone and into the competent load-bearing stratum.

Pile of Cement

Hybridization of concrete piles with push piers is common. Push Piers interlock with one another to provide a level of intrinsic support that is simply not possible with concrete piles.

But other builders make the mistake of trying to use the same method with old, cracked concrete pilings. Following this, shims are installed between the pier cap and the foundation. As a result of the over-lifting operation required to shimmy, the foundation is typically weakened even worse.

This additional foundation damage, along with the lack of a guide-sleeve for installing concrete piles, should be enough to discourage any prospective customer.

Budget for a Concrete Foundation

Concrete piles may be less expensive to install initially than either push piers or helical piers, but they won’t stand the test of time without additional maintenance and repair costs.

Drive Piles
What Is the Meaning of the Term “Push Pier”?
Steel pipe is hydraulically forced into competent, load-bearing soil and then connected to a home’s footing with a repair bracket to create a Push Pier. Standard depths for push piers and extensions are 30 feet (2.5 meters), and they are constructed of galvanized steel that can support up to 68,000 pounds.

Because of their streamlined construction and choke collars that add some initial width, Push Piers have low skin friction. They can be made thinner because they don’t have to support the weight in the middle (definition coming up soon). The Helical Pier is the sibling Pier to the Push Pier.

Using Piers for Pushing
Since its introduction, push piers have been the gold standard for permanent foundation stabilization.
The push piers for your house are fastened to a corrective bracket that is screwed into the carefully leveled footing of your house.

These piers are installed every six feet all the way around your home’s perimeter into trenches three feet wide and three feet deep. These push piers are pushed directly into the ground and kept straight with a guide sleeve.

The home is raised and the holes are backfilled once the piers have reached bedrock or load-competent soil.

Expenditure Pressure on the Pier
Push Piers in California typically cost between $1,800 and $2,000 to build using general contracting.

While not cheap, push piers are a long-lasting solution that will save you from having to sell your house to pay for the cost of repairs.

If you still need more information before making a decision, the RLM Retrofit Foundation is the place to go. If you have issues with the structure’s base, we can assist you. Get in touch with us if you think your Foundation Inspection Chatsworth or repair needs.

How much does it cost to have a foundation redone Chatsworth