Push Piers: Stabilizing and Lifting Sinking Foundations
A structural method for settled foundations across North and South Carolina that carries your home's weight down to firmer soil below the surface.
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What to Know About Push Piers
A settled footing has lost steady support in the soil beneath it, so push piers carry the load down to soil that can hold it. Our crew attaches steel brackets to the footing, then hydraulic equipment presses sections of galvanized steel pipe into the ground, using the weight of the house as the force, until each pier reaches firm soil or bedrock and the resistance the plan calls for.
The weight of the home then moves onto the piers, which are designed to hold the foundation against further settling. Working the piers in a controlled sequence can often lift the foundation back toward its original height. That may help close diagonal cracks above doors and windows and help window sashes that no longer line up square. We do not promise a perfect return to level.
Push piers reach past the active upper soil, so they suit the seasonal clay movement in the Piedmont and the SC Upstate. They do not change how water moves around the home, so the inspection also checks how water reaches the foundation. For a lighter structure, piers screwed in with helical plates may be the better tool.
The symptoms that usually lead to push piers are on the foundation repair problem signs page, alongside the other signs that point to the same underlying cause.
How We Install Push Piers
Free Inspection and Diagnosis
We start by looking at the foundation and at why it settled. We measure how far and in which direction it has settled, look closely at signs such as a house corner that has dropped, and check how water reaches the foundation. In Piedmont or SC Upstate clay that swells and shrinks with the seasons, or Sandhills sand where fine particles wash out, the cause shapes the recommendation. We will tell you plainly if push piers are not the right fit.
Confirm the System and Explain the Plan
Push piers suit many settled foundations but not every situation. Where the load or the soil calls for it, helical piers screwed into denser soil may be the better tool. We confirm whether push piers fit your house and soil, map out where the piers will go and roughly how deep we expect to drive them, and walk you through the plan before anything begins.
Dig Down and Attach the Brackets
Our crew digs at each pier location along the affected foundation, down to the footing. A steel bracket is secured to the footing at each point. The bracket is what the pier presses against and what carries the load once the pier is in place.
Drive the Piers to Firm Soil
Sections of galvanized steel pipe are pushed into the ground with hydraulic equipment, using the weight of the house as the force to press against. We add and press sections in order until each pier reaches firm soil or bedrock and meets the required resistance, so each pier rests on a layer that can hold the load.
Transfer the Load, Lift If Possible, and Restore the Site
With the piers seated, the weight of the home moves onto them to stabilize the foundation. Where conditions allow, we work the piers in a controlled, monitored sequence to lift the foundation back toward its original height, which can help with cracks running through the brick veneer. We then backfill the holes, clean up the work area, and review the result with you.
How Do Push Piers Stabilize a Sinking Foundation?
Push piers are sections of steel pipe pressed straight down beside the footing. Hydraulic equipment uses the weight of your home as the force to press against, and the pier keeps going until it reaches firm soil or bedrock.
Push Piers on Our Job Sites
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Care and Expertise From a Team Serving the Carolinas Since 2017
When the fix is push piers, our own crews do the work. HydroHelp911 handles foundation repair and related structural and moisture work across North and South Carolina.
An inspector looks at your home, finds the source of the problem, and explains each finding in plain language. There is no obligation.
We are headquartered in Dallas, North Carolina, with eight offices across North and South Carolina.
Foundation repair, crawl space repair and encapsulation, basement waterproofing, framing repair, and concrete leveling are the whole focus of the team.
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For example, helical and push piers carry a lifetime warranty that no additional settlement will occur in the area of installed piers, once the final invoice is paid in full. Read the warranty terms.
Ask your inspector about financing when you get your written estimate. See financing options.
Common Questions About Push Piers
Don't see your question here? Call or fill out our quick online form, and our team will help.
Both are steel pier systems that carry a foundation's weight down to firmer soil, but they install differently. Push piers are driven straight down with hydraulic equipment, using the weight of the house as the force that presses them to depth, so they usually work best under heavier loads. Helical piers are screwed into the ground like a large screw and can be a better fit for lighter structures or certain soils. During your inspection we explain which system suits your home and why.
Which Foundation Repair Problem Signs Can Push Piers Help With?
A sign can trace to more than one cause. These are the foundation repair signs that can point to a cause this method addresses; the inspection shows which cause is at work in your home.
Foundation Settlement
When part of your home drops because the soil beneath it has moved or compressed, the symptoms show up as cracks, sticking doors, and uneven floors.
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Stair Step Cracks
When cracks climb diagonally along the mortar joints of a brick or block wall, the masonry may be showing you that one part of the foundation has shifted.
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Diagonal Cracks
A crack running on an angle out of a doorway corner, across a wall, or up through brick is one of the clearer signs that a foundation has shifted.
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Doors and Windows Misaligned
Uneven gaps, a door that no longer meets its frame square, a window sash sitting crooked in its track.
Learn MoreSinking Foundation
When part of your home is dropping because the soil beneath it can no longer hold the load, the signs show up as cracks, sticking doors, and floors that pull away from level.
Learn MoreLeaning Chimneys
When a chimney starts to tilt or pull away from the house, the cause is often below the masonry, in the footing underneath it.
Learn MoreOther Foundation Repair Solutions We Install
Each solution fits a different cause. The inspection shows which one your home needs.
Carbon Fiber Reinforcement
When soil and water pressure starts pushing a foundation wall inward, carbon fiber straps bond to the wall and resist that load, a slim repair for minor to moderate bowing.
Learn More
Epoxy or Polyurethane Crack Injection
A targeted way to seal cracks in poured concrete foundation walls and stop water seepage, paired with a careful look at what caused the crack in the first place.
Learn More
Foundation Underpinning
When the soil near the surface can no longer carry your foundation, underpinning reaches deeper ground to stabilize the structure.
Learn More
Helical Piers
Steel piers shaped like large screws, turned down below the active surface soil to support and, where possible, lift a settling foundation.
Learn MoreDeep Foundation Systems
When the soil near the surface keeps moving, we install piers that carry your home's weight down to ground that holds, and only after a free inspection.
Learn MoreGrout Injection (Chemical Grouting)
A targeted way to fill voids and firm up weak or shifting soil under foundations and slabs, so settlement has less room to continue.
Learn MoreGuides and Answers
A Guide About Push Piers
An article from our team that goes deeper on this topic.
Foundation Repair
Underpinning With Helical Piers
The cost of underpinning with helical piers depends on how many piers the home needs, their length, the soil and access.
Get the Free Foundation Repair Guide
A free guide for homes in North and South Carolina: what can move a foundation here, the signs worth writing down, and how foundation repairs work, in plain language.
- A room by room checklist to walk your home with
- Why foundations move in Piedmont clay, on hillsides and near the coast
- How piers, wall anchors and other repairs work
- Five questions worth asking any contractor, including us
1,300+ Verified Google Reviews (4.9 Stars)
Before you choose a contractor for push piers, read how homeowners across North Carolina and South Carolina rate our work.
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