
Porch Repair in Mason, OH
This is the photo our Inspector took upon the initial inspection. If you look at where the slab meets the brick wall, you can see that the porch had sunk by a few inches, and pretty evenly too. Sinking porches are a common issue due to problematic soil underneath them.

Helical Piles Prep Work in Mason, OH
Near the left side of the porch was an electric line that we had to be cautious of when digging around the porch. We had to dig around the porch to expose the bottom side of the slab in order to install our piers. If you look closely, you may notice the holes we drilled just underneath the electric line in the slab, forming a right triangle shape. These holes indicate where we had to chip away at the concrete to create an even surface for our pier brackets to latch onto. The prep work that goes into foundation repair is often the most important part. When hiring a contractor to dig around your foundation, you'll want a crew who is cautious, cares, and experienced enough to know what to look for so no utility lines are damaged and the work is done right.

Helical Piles in Mason, OH
After we do the prep work to expose the bottom side of the slab, we then drill our screw shaped helical piles deep into stable-soil. We have pressure gauges that we read when we drill in order to see when the piles reach load-bearing strata. This process ensures our steel rods will never move in the future. After we drill the piers down, we then transfer the weight of the foundation to the piers by attaching our "L" shaped brackets. These brackets are securely latched to the bottom side of the slab. This is why we had to cut out an even surface in the slab near the electric line in the last photo, so that we could guarantee a secure transformation of the weight.

Steel Piers in Mason, OH
Because this slab was so thick, we had to use helical piers to guarantee stabilization of the porch. For thinner slabs, we may be able to use our PolyLevel foam to jack the slab back up. Our helical piers are also used to stabilize entire home foundations, chimney bases, garages, decks, etc...

Porch Lifting in Mason, OH
After all of our piers we installed and stabilized, we then were able to manually lift the porch with our handheld hydraulic device. The red device attached to the top of the pier bracket is a hydraulic drive head that transfers hydraulic fluid to the pier, allowing us to carefully lift a foundation. We used a level to make sure the slab was leveled during the lifting process.

Slab Pier in Mason, OH
Here we are installing the single slab pier near the inside corner of the porch. Our slab pier allows us to stabilize and lift a slab without needing to excavate on the outside. We often use slab piers to lift floating slabs in the floors of homes and garages.

Stabilized Porch in Mason, OH
This was what the new porch looked liked after we installed our helical piers on the perimeter and a slab pier on the inside corner! We also injected PolyLevel foam underneath the slab to fill the voids created by lifting the slab back up. The void filling process will help stop water from pooling beneath the concrete, provides surface support, and will help keep critters from burrowing underneath it. We also sealed the joints between the slab and the brick siding with our NexusPro sealant, which will also help keep water from infiltrating underneath the newly stabilized slab.

Concrete Stairs Lifting in Mason, OH
The stairs and sidewalk leading up to the front porch had also settled, so in order to match them to the new height of the front porch, we raised them with PolyLevel foam injections. This process also helped straighten out the handrail that was connected to the concrete stairs.