Residential - Information for Homeowners

Concrete foundation cracks, sloping floors, dry wall cracks, windows and doors not functioning properly …is this describing your home? These occurrences are not normal. Typically, these are symptoms of a sinking foundation. Many neighborhoods throughout New England were unknowingly constructed on layers of peat moss or improperly backfilled soils. Homes constructed on these sites, if designed incorrectly, will often settle and will continue to settle until corrective action is taken.

Our goal at HELICAL DRILLING, INC. is to prevent these foundations from settling to the point that very expensive cosmetic repairs are necessary to restore the worth of the home. Early detection is imperative for this to happen. Our company specializes in the diagnosis, repair, and prevention of settled foundations and provide a mix of professional engineering and construction to provide the best diagnosis possible.

Helical Drilling has been specializing in settled foundation repair for over 15 years and we would like to outline our standard method of determining settlement in residential homes. We have developed a three step program that has proven to be very effective in diagnosing, prescribing, and implementing the repair of settled homes. The steps are as follows:

Step 1 - Initial site visit to determine if there potentially is a problem. This process eliminates homes that do not have a settlement problem and reassures the owner that everything is stable.

Step 2 - If it is determined to be necessary, we will propose to perform soil borings and an engineering evaluation of the home. Typically three borings are performed and interior floor elevations are obtained to determine the extent of settlement. The information from the borings indicate why the foundation has settled, whether it will continue to settle, and what depth is the good bearing soil. If it is determined that underpinning needs to be performed, then we will prepare a plan of repair with associated cost. These plans can then be used to obtain a building permit.

Step 3 - Perform the repair.

We realize that no one wants to be the victim of settlement problems but these problems do exist. Early diagnosis is critical to minimizing the cost of repair. Contact us at info@helicaldrilling.com to discuss your home.