Foundation Repair in Farmington Hills

Push piers fix a footing that has sunk. A crew digs a pit beside the footing, bolts a steel bracket to it, and hydraulically drives sections of steel pipe straight down through the bracket. The house itself is the counterweight: each push uses its load to drive the pipe deeper until it reaches soil or rock that resists. The load then moves from the soft soil under the footing to that firmer layer, and hydraulic jacks can lift the settled section back toward level before the piers take the load for good.

Because the house is the reaction, a push pier needs real weight above it. A light porch or garage wall may not have enough to drive the pipe, and some installers argue that even an average house is on the light side for them.

A helical pier is a steel shaft with one or more screw-shaped plates welded to it. A hydraulic drive head turns it into the ground like a screw. The building code leaves its depth and installation torque to a registered design professional, and the torque reading during the install tells the crew when the pier has reached the resistance the design needs. Because helicals don't rely on the weight of the house, they're the usual choice for lighter loads: a porch slab, a garage wall, an addition. They can also go in before a load is added, which push piers can't.

A sagging floor upstairs is often a basement problem: a main beam that has deflected, or columns that have rusted or sunk. The fix is temporary shoring, new footings where needed, and permanent steel columns. The residential code calls for steel columns of at least 3-inch Schedule 40 pipe and wants every column restrained at the bottom so it can't kick out. A temporary screw-jack post standing loose on the slab isn't restrained at the bottom, so if you have one, ask about it at the inspection.

The main house usually sits on footings that reach 42 inches below grade, the depth Michigan requires for frost. Porches, stoops, garage walls and older additions may not go as deep, and footings above the frost line can heave in winter and settle in spring. The sign is a gap or crack where the newer part meets the house. Helical piers or a new footing below frost depth stop the cycle. Mudjacking a porch slab back up is cheaper, but HomeGuide notes it may not be as effective, and it leaves the shallow support in place.

When a wall has moved too far to brace or pier, it comes out. The house is shored, the soil dug away outside, the failed section removed down to the footing, and a new wall poured or laid with reinforcing. A wall going back in should get new waterproofing and a footing drain at the same time, since the trench is already open. HomeGuide puts rebuilding a foundation at $23,000 to $48,000 nationally. For walls that are bowing but haven't failed, start with bowing basement wall repair: anchors, straps or braces are far cheaper than a rebuild.