A homeowner in Cincinnati contacted our team after noticing that their chimney was starting to lean away from the home. During our inspection, we found that the issue extended beyond the chimney itself — several areas of the foundation were settling, which was causing uneven floors and cracks to appear along interior walls.
Solution
To permanently stabilize the home and address the tilting chimney, our crew installed 20 helical piers around the foundation, including 2 that were placed directly beneath the chimney. Once the piers were driven deep into stable soil, they were carefully tensioned to transfer the home’s weight from the failing soil to solid, load-bearing strata. This not only stabilized the structure but also allowed us to lift parts of the foundation back toward their original position.
After the installation, the chimney was secure and the foundation was fully supported. The homeowner can now rest easy knowing the structure is safe from further settlement.
This project is a great example of how foundation piers can permanently stop settling and restore stability to homes throughout Cincinnati and the surrounding area.
This photo shows the tilting chimney that the homeowner was concerned with.
This photo shows the chimney lifted back up against the home. If you want to see how we did it, then be sure to scroll through the photos!
This stair-step crack, found away from the chimney, was a sign that the home was settling in multiple areas.
The first step in this process was digging a trench to expose the footing of the structure. The footing is the lowest part of a foundation and is typically poured first during a home's construction. In this photo, you can also see our helical piers. Their screw-like design allows them to be drilled deep into the ground with minimal soil displacement, creating a strong, stable connection to the load-bearing strata below.
The next step was to drill our piers down into load-bearing strata. The device we use to install them includes pressure gauges that show how much resistance the pier encounters as it's driven into the ground. Once the gauge reaches the target PSI, we know the pier has reached solid, stable soil capable of carrying the structure's weight. You'll also notice that our piers are installed at a slight angle away from the foundation instead of straight down. This angle helps the bracket seat more securely against the bottom of the footing while also providing stronger overall support against the weight and outward pressure of the foundation.
After all the piers were installed to the proper depth, we transferred the home's weight onto them by fastening our L-shaped brackets securely to both the pier and the underside of the footing.
This photo provides a closer look at the pier brackets secured beneath the footing. At this stage of the project, our hydraulic attachments were connected, allowing us to carefully lift and relevel the structure.
This photo shows the base of the chimney with the piers supporting beneath.
You can see that our pier layout had to wrap around several different sections of the home that were experiencing settlement.
This photo was taken upon completion. We backfilled the piers with soil to conceal them completely after the home was lifted back up.
Last but not least, we then took points around the home. These points allows us to document if the foundation ever settles in the future. If it does, it's covered under our lifetime warranty.
