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About Foundation Repair
Tomorrow's technology for today's full service foundation repair.
Foundation repair has changed significantly during the past two decades. Before then, all foundation companies used virtually the same method. The only real differences were the cost of the piers and the degrees of the professionalism exhibited by the salespeople and the crews.
It was a time-consuming operation where the average job took two to three weeks to complete. During that time, treasured plants died, homeowners' nerves became frayed, and results varied widely.
PRESSED PILINGS were the first innovation. Capturing an age-old technology, they provided a way to reduce the time involved from weeks to days, but there was no way to verify proper alignment, and no steel reinforcements to prevent the pilings from shifting. These major flaws in the initial design doomed most early pioneers to go quickly out of business.
To address these problems, a variety of reinforcement methods were experimented with.
The first potential solution was using 3/8" or 1/2" cables in an attempt to "string" the concrete cylinder sections together. This was a reasonable start, but because no tensioning of the cable was ever applied, either during installation or after, the flexible cable would simply "snake" along and yield to whatever path the cylinders took.
Another problem developed because the cables were pre-cut to limited specific lengths, and sometimes the piling needed to be driven deeper than the cable length available. Splicing on more cable wasn't practical in the hole provided, leaving the final cylinders driven without any continuous re-enforcement.
Other companies experimented with inserting a long piece of 1/4" or 1/2" rebar down through the hole in the middle of the cylinders, once they had all been driven into the ground. The main problem with this approach was that as the cylinders became misaligned during the installation process, it proved impossible to insert the rebar all the way down to the deepest, first cylinder. Without any aligning characteristics, and nothing to connect the rebar at the top or bottom either, this method quickly faded.
In this trial-and-error period of trying to find the piling system with the least amount of maintenance, sectional rebar inserts were next. Even though this was a definite improvement over previous attempts, problems quickly became evident. What engineers discovered is that the extreme seasonal fluctuations in the moisture content of our Houston area soils, was enough to cause the pilings to move up and down along the unconnected sections of rebar inside the cylinders. This "heaving" was rarely enough to cause the piling to completely come apart, but enough movement was exhibited to allow cracks in walls to re-appear and doors to stick again.
Finally, engineers developed a method for the concrete cylinders to actually be connected securely and permanently to one another as they were being driven into the ground.
Dura Lock is the only system that uses bolts... 5/8" corrosion resistant bolts that are inserted one at a time and properly tightened and tensioned to permanently ensure the correct alignment of each and every cylinder. Also, as the Houston area soils continue to shrink, swell, and shift with ever-changing moisture content, only the Dura Lock system is guaranteed not to move with it.
For you added protection, Dura Pier offers a Lifetime Transferable Warranty that's good for the entire life of your home at no extra cost.
Look around and compare. Just remember that the straighter the piling sections are initially driven into the ground, the better the "skin friction" they will develop. And the longer the pilings remain fastened together securely, maintaining optimum friction, the longer the repair will last.
Only repair your foundation once!
Only repair your foundation with the
Dura Lock System.
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Houston's "Best Full Service Foundation Repair" For Three Generations.
Call today for a free, no obligation evaluation of your home.
(713)721-8888 | (713)721-8883 | Fax:(713)721-3787 | Toll Free:(800)856-3872
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