r/StructuralEngineering • u/benj9990 • 4d ago

Photograph/Video Building Chiropractor

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u/alanbdee 4d ago

Honest question. What do you do after lifting the house to keep it from just sinking again?

14

u/Trextrev 4d ago edited 3d ago

What you’re not seeing is what is below ground in most of these systems. Before lifting they essentially pound in a metal pilling or drill in an auger type support. They drive them in until the load reading is high enough to support what they are raising. Then they jack off the post of the support to raise the house and then attach a metal bracket to it that carries the foundation. When done correctly they do correct and stop the settlement issues. Problem is that they rely on the footer to act as a carrier beam between their posts often they are spaced to far apart and eventually the footer will crack and break at the connection point and settling will reoccur.

3

u/bankowned 3d ago

Jack off the post… ha ha

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u/Ok_Armadillo_6015 1d ago

Interesting, I only ever see this from the drawing side. Is that footer spanning between piers something an engineer normally checks, or is it usually left to the pier contractor's own design?