Photo Album: Lifting a Settling house in St. Catharines, ON

Brain had noticed cracks in his brickwork open and close over a couple years depending on the season. this past year the cracks did not close and he felt it was time to do something about it.  David from Omni Basement Systems came out and recognized that the customer had a settling foundation. This occurs when the soil under the home changes and the footing crack causing the foundation to sink in to the ground.  David along with an Engineer put together a plan to fix this problem with a Push Pier system.  In order to lift the foundation rather than just merely support it, the exterior would need to be excavated. Once the footing is exposed, the crew could install the Supportworks Push Piers The push Piers are galvanized tubes which are pushed through the soil until they reach a depth of hard stable soil or bedrock. The Engineer determines what pressure is required to support and lift the foundation. These factors (factor of safety) are determined by the construction of the building being supported such as number of floors, type of facad and roof type. Then the support brackets are mounted on the foundation every 4-5 feet and the pier tubes are pushed through the brackets. Once all the tubes have reached their assigned depth for each bracket, they are capped off and smaller lift cylinders are mounted. These lift cylinders will be the joined together by hydraulic tubes so they can simultaneously lift the foundation in place. See the Before and After page that shows the crack at the front of the house close up.