Foundation Services Photo Album: Foundation Underpinning in Ft Mitchell, Kentucky

These photos are from a foundation underpinning project we completed in Fort Mitchell, KY. We also filmed this project, so if you want to learn even more, be sure to head to our YouTube channel. Anyways, this slab foundation home had been underpinned by a previous contractor, but it was a botched job. The inexperienced contractors actually underpinned their slab with more concrete, which actually accelerated the settling process. We stopped the home from sinking by underpinning the foundation the correct way, with helical piers. Our piers are able to extend deep into stable soil, (about 10 feet underneath the home) where as the concrete did not. You see, the problem wasn't the footing of the home or how big it was, it was the weak soil the footing once rested upon. If you want to learn more about how we repaired this home, be sure to check out these photos!

Signs of Settling

This patio near their front door was breaking apart. The homeowners noted the pace of the cracking had increased since the previous contractors underpinned their foundation with concrete.

Foundation Excavation

In order to give our piers a solid connection to the home, we had to chip away a lot of the concrete left by the previous contractors. All this concrete was acting like an anchor to the foundation, causing it to sink fastly.

Pier Excavation

When we have to chip away lots of concrete like this, it takes more time & money.

Helical Piers

Here are what our helical piers look like. These screw shaped rods allow us to penetrate them deep into the earth without disturbing the soil too much.

Pier Drilling

We like to drill our piers at a slight angle away from the home so that the brackets we connect to the piers have a super strong connection, and can never slide off. We used a pressure gauge when drilling the piers, so we knew the exact moment the rods had reached load-bearing strata.

Pier Brackets

These "L" shaped brackets helped us transfer the weight of the home to load-bearing strata.

Bracket Attaching

Just after this photo was taken, we slid the bracket to the left. This picture shows why we want to install our piers at a slight angle away from the home, so that the bracket can't slide off.

Piers Installed

Here are four of the 8 piers we installed. They are all secured to the footing of the home.

Pier

Here is the 5th pier.

Piers

Here is the 6th pier.

Pier Lifting

Here are the 7th and & 8th piers. There is a division between these two piers and the fours piers to the left. This wall barrier was designed to prevent the footing of the home from caving in. Intervals like these prevent disasters from happening.