Commercial Foundations Case Studies: Slab Settlement in Wallingford - Model 288 Helical Piles

Friday, August 10th, 2012 by Marianne Koiva

Challenge

May 2011 -- A two-story residence in Wallingford, CT had a severe slab settlement problem in the garage portion of the home. The structure was originally built in 2000 and the garage floor slab began to settle almost immediately following construction. Because the settlement took place so rapidly after the home was built, in 2001 the builder repaired the problem under warranty by removing the original slab, compacting the soil below andre-pouring a new garage floor. Throughout the next several years, the garage floor continued to settle, indicating a deeper problem existed within the soils beneath the slab. In total, the 45’ x 55’ garage slab settled an additional 4 inches over nine years, causing significant trip hazards as well as drainage problems in the garage. In September of 2010, the homeowners decided to put their home on the market, but the ongoing problems with the garage floor kept potential buyers from making an offer to purchase the property. After having their home on the market for eight months without an offer, the homeowners decided to have the garage floor repaired.

Solution

After evaluating several slab repair options, the homeowners hired Connecticut Basement Systems to fix the problem. To ensure a long-lasting repair, Connecticut Basement Systems provided a deep foundation solution to transfer the weight of the slab to deep, load bearing soils below. Four (4) Foundation Supportworks® Model 288 Helical Piles were installed to depths of 12 feet below the slab surface. With the helical piles in place, a new slab was re-poured and cast into the tops of the piles. The entire project was completed in less than one week, and the homeowners were extremely pleased with the results. With the garage floor repaired and a transferable warranty, the homeowners were able to sell the home only two months later.