The Beam on a slab foundation is a part inside the slab that is thicker then the rest of the slab. They are located every 6 to 10 feet apart. The rest of the slab house is only four inches thick as you can see on the picture below. This is the case with most houses. Houses without a perimeter beam have a much thicker slab in most cases also. The pictures below also have homes that are around 30 to 40 years old. Enjoy your read and call us if you have any questions
When we press down the cylinders they go down to refusal. Some times the pressure allows for seven and some times twelve. However, there are situations where the piers can go down to thirty feet and others where it only goes don one. We do not charge more or less in any of these situations, and the piers are guaranteed to hold the house up as long as no water goes under the house. The same goes for steel piers, if water goes under the house both steel and concrete piers will fail. I like to use the example of an extreme pier that goes down into bed rock and is a solid pipe that holds the house. If this pipe was possible to create and water got under the house the frictional forces of the soils will be off set on one side only and push the pier side ways away from the perimeter beam, and the house would sink.
Finding the beam is a matter of know how houses are built. Usually the house will have a trench around the perimeter and some every six to eight feet and vertically every eight to ten feet for the most part. When we place the interior piers we first make sure its under a -1.2 or lower. Some times we place interior piers in a -0.8, but only when the house is high on the other side. If we don't find the beam as we make the holes we then put a metal angle that is suggested by the engineers to create more support for the foundation not to buckle up with the pier, or brake like a sink hole due to the lack of support.
When we put interior piers the floors will have to be replaced after the foundation is repaired. The picture above has a hole inside the house without a concrete beam so it has a metal angle above the jack. The hack will be removed after lifting and replace with concrete cylinders.
As we assess a house we make sure that the pier placement is in the correct location. We do a complete foundation inspection to where the house may not need any piers at all, or it may need them only on the exterior. However, there are some situations where the house needs interior piers and break outs. The interior pier is accounted with the piers at the same price, but the break out is an additional cost because it requires some extra steps.
When we press down the cylinders they go down to refusal. Some times the pressure allows for seven and some times twelve. However, there are situations where the piers can go down to thirty feet and others where it only goes don one. We do not charge more or less in any of these situations, and the piers are guaranteed to hold the house up as long as no water goes under the house. The same goes for steel piers, if water goes under the house both steel and concrete piers will fail. I like to use the example of an extreme pier that goes down into bed rock and is a solid pipe that holds the house. If this pipe was possible to create and water got under the house the frictional forces of the soils will be off set on one side only and push the pier side ways away from the perimeter beam, and the house would sink.
Finding the beam is a matter of know how houses are built. Usually the house will have a trench around the perimeter and some every six to eight feet and vertically every eight to ten feet for the most part. When we place the interior piers we first make sure its under a -1.2 or lower. Some times we place interior piers in a -0.8, but only when the house is high on the other side. If we don't find the beam as we make the holes we then put a metal angle that is suggested by the engineers to create more support for the foundation not to buckle up with the pier, or brake like a sink hole due to the lack of support.
When we put interior piers the floors will have to be replaced after the foundation is repaired. The picture above has a hole inside the house without a concrete beam so it has a metal angle above the jack. The hack will be removed after lifting and replace with concrete cylinders.
