Soil Stabilization and Clay Soil Stabilization in California
The need for soil stabilization isn't difficult to understand especially when you consider the many materials that soil can contain including; sand, gravel, stone, silt, clay, organic materials and even landfill debris and waste. The composition of soil will determine its characteristics. Soil that has a high percentage of sand and gravel provides the best base for a building foundation because it drains well and has excellent load-bearing characteristics.
On the other hand, soil rich in clay and/or silt has poor load-bearing capability and tends to be very unstable; it shrinks when dry and expands when wet. When foundations, sidewalks, patios and other structures are built on clay-rich soil, it's very likely that structural repairs will be necessary sometime in the future.
Soil stabilization or more specifically, clay soil stabilization is a repair strategy frequently used by the contractors at Foundation Supportworks, otherwise known as the foundation repair specialists in California. There are different techniques used for soil stabilization. Since water is what makes clay-rich soil swell and shrink (exerting pressure that can crack and shift foundation walls, and cause foundations and slabs to crack, settle and heave), foundation repair contractors often improve drainage around a foundation so that the soil's moisture content can remain more stable.
Where the soil has shrunk or settled, causing the masonry to crack and sink, soil stabilization is sometimes achieved by driving foundation helical piers into the soil. Helical piers work like giant screws. As the contractor turns the shank of the pier, helical plates (like screw threads) pull the pier deeper into the soil. The contractor can add pier sections in order to reach stable soil beneath the foundation. Once the pier is anchored to this soil, the foundation can be jacked back into position and held securely by a steel bracket that's secured to a pier.
A number of piers are often used to repair a settled foundation; this process is sometimes referred to as "underpinning" a foundation. To complete the repair, empty areas (voids) beneath a slab or footing may need to be filled. As mentioned earlier, to avoid further settling and shifting due to unstable soil, drainage usually must also be improved so that the soil's shrink-swell cycle will be less extreme.
We provide free foundation repair estimates and inspections and service all of California including Los Angeles, San Diego,San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Long Beach, Sacramento, Oakland.
