Drone view of a two story tile roof home on a cul de sac, the crew truck backed up to the garage and pier sections staged on the driveway

Residential project, Chino Hills, CA

Nine push piers driven about 35 feet, then a 3 inch lift in a single day.

A Chino Hills home that had settled 3 inches was carried on nine push piers driven about 35 feet to load bearing soil, then raised back up over the course of one day.

At a glance

Location: Chino Hills, CA
Problem: Settled 3 inches
Method: Push piers, 2 7/8 inch steel pipe
Piers: 9
Depth: About 35 feet below the footing
Lift day: March 19, 2024
Engineering: Waypoint Engineering

The challenge

This Chino Hills home had settled 3 inches. The perimeter footing had to be carried on steel piers driven down to material that can bear the load, and then those same piers had to be used to bring the house back up.

The approach

The crew installed nine push piers around the perimeter of the foundation. Each one starts with a hole roughly three feet square and three feet deep to expose the footing. The footing is prepped and made flat to accept a steel bracket, and every piece of installation equipment attaches to that one bracket.

From there the crew drives 2 7/8 inch diameter steel pipe down until it reaches competent soil or bedrock. On this home that was about 35 feet below the footing.

The result

On March 19, 2024, the day after the last pier went in, the crew hooked up the hydraulic lift equipment and daisy chained it together. Over several hours they raised the home slowly, tenths of an inch at a time. The home came up 3 inches.

Crew

Project manager James Rodriguez.

Wondering whether push piers fit your home?

Every home is different, and a crack or a sloping floor does not on its own say what is happening underneath. Schedule a free evaluation and we will look at the foundation before anyone recommends a repair.

Push Piers

From the site

From the first hole to lift day.

Drone view straight down over the tile roof, crew truck at the curb and workers in the side yard — From above, the crew’s work runs along the side yard between the house and the fence.

Crew member kneeling in a pier hole beside the stucco wall, reaching into the loose soil — Digging out a pier hole beside the footing, between the house and the fence.

Square hole dug beside a sliding glass door exposing the concrete footing under the stucco wall — The hole runs about three feet square and three feet deep to expose the footing.

Worker in safety glasses breaking the footing with a red rotary hammer as concrete dust rises — The footing is chipped flat so the steel bracket can seat against it.

Worker in safety glasses fitting a chisel bit into a red demolition hammer beside the wooden fence — Changing the chisel bit on the breaker used to prepare the footing.

Galvanized steel bracket bolted to the prepared footing inside a freshly dug hole — The bracket is set against the flattened footing, and all of the installation equipment attaches to it.

Steel pier sleeve and bracket assembly with threaded rods seated against the footing in an excavated hole — With the bracket and sleeve in place, the steel pipe is driven down through them.

Worker cutting a steel pier pipe on a chop saw in the driveway, sparks flying — Steel pipe sections are cut to length on the driveway with a chop saw.

Blue hydraulic ram mounted on a push pier bracket below a foundation vent, hoses running to it — The ram drives 2 7/8 inch steel pipe down until it reaches competent soil or bedrock, about 35 feet on this home.

Crew member seated beside stacked steel pipe sections, one hand on a hydraulic pump with a pressure gauge above — The next pipe sections are stacked beside the hole, with the crew at the ram and its gauge.

Worker setting nuts on the threaded rods of a pier bracket at the front corner of the house — Setting the nuts on the bracket rods at the front corner of the house.

Two crew members in a narrow side yard, one carrying an orange hydraulic pump past the fence — A hydraulic pump comes down the side yard to the work.

Crew member uncoiling black hydraulic hose across the front lawn with more coils stacked on a pallet — Hydraulic lines are laid out and daisy chained together ahead of the lift.

Worker with locking pliers tightening a hydraulic fitting on the yellow lift ram at the footing — Rams are connected at each pier and daisy chained together before the home is raised.

What this means for your home

Start with a free evaluation.

If your home has settled, the first step is finding out what is under it, not choosing a repair. A free evaluation looks at the footing, the soil and how the home has moved, and you get a straightforward recommendation you can weigh at your own pace.

Push piers are one answer among several. Whether they fit your home depends on what the evaluation finds.

Foundation Repair

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Commercial

Nine push piers driven about 35 feet, then a 3 inch lift in a single day.

The challenge

The approach

The result

Wondering whether push piers fit your home?

From the first hole to lift day.

Start with a free evaluation.

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