Helical piers, and the paperwork that proves they work

Confirm helical is the right family before choosing a brand

The method choice follows from the structure's weight, the soil profile and whether documented per-pier capacity is required. Structures light enough that a driven system would struggle for reaction are the classic case. The head-to-head with driven piers is set out on the comparison pages.

Watch for: A contractor whose recommendation matches whatever they install exclusively. Method should follow from the loads and the ground, and the reasoning should be stated in a sentence you can repeat.

Establish the loads and the target capacity per pier

Someone has to work out what each support location is actually carrying and what capacity each pier must reach. That number is the whole basis for judging the installation afterwards, because torque only means something when compared with a target.

Watch for: A proposal that specifies pier count and spacing without a target capacity anywhere. Without it there is nothing to check the installation record against, and the log becomes a page of numbers with no verdict attached.

Investigate what is under the site

Helical piers work by reaching soil capable of carrying the load through the helix plates. What that depth is, and whether it varies across the footprint, comes from soil information — a bore log, published local data, or experience on immediately adjacent sites.

Watch for: A fixed shaft length quoted for every location on the property. Bearing depth commonly varies across a single lot, and a fixed length either wastes steel or stops short.

Excavate and prepare each location

The soil is opened at each support point so the bracket can engage the footing. On a repair, the condition of the footing itself gets assessed at this point — the pier is only as useful as the concrete it will transfer load through.

Watch for: Deteriorated or undersized footings passed over silently. Attaching a bracket to crumbling concrete moves the failure point rather than removing it, and it shows up years later as a support that appears to have done nothing.

Advance the pier and record the torque

A hydraulic drive rotates the shaft into the ground. As the helix plates enter denser material the resistance rises, and that resistance is monitored throughout. Installation continues until the required resistance is achieved at an acceptable depth.

Watch for: Torque being read off a pressure gauge with no calibration and no written record. Ask how torque is being determined, whether the equipment is calibrated, and whether the readings are written down per pier as the work happens rather than reconstructed afterwards.

Transfer the load through the bracket

A bracket ties the pier to the footing or foundation wall so the structure's weight is carried by the pier instead of the original bearing soil. Whether the sequence stabilises the current position or attempts to recover elevation is a decision made before this step, not during it.

Watch for: Load transfer treated as an opportunity to improvise a lift. Elevation recovery has real consequences upstairs and should be a written decision — see foundation leveling.

Collect the as-built record

When the crew leaves you should hold two documents: a torque log listing each pier with its final resistance and installed depth, and an as-built layout showing where each pier physically is. Together they turn buried steel into something checkable.

Watch for: Being told the log is internal. It describes work performed on your property and paid for by you, and every serious installer produces one. Put the requirement in the contract rather than requesting it on the last day.

Backfill, reinstate and re-measure

Excavations are backfilled and compacted, hardscaping and planting are reinstated, and the elevation survey is repeated so there is a documented condition on completion.

Watch for: Loose backfill left to settle on its own, which produces a trench of sunken ground along the wall that directs water straight at the foundation you just paid to support.