Whats better, concrete or steel foundation piers?

[TheArtist]

  Long story short... back of my house is wanting to slide down the slight slope into my back yard (adding a new level of meaning to "split level ranch").  They say that we have clay underneath the house.  And I am sure that it's not too far down till you hit sandstone after seeing them widen parts of I44 nearby my house and do some excavating to do so.  Anyway, first company estimate was for steel piers.  Second company estimate recommended cement piers.   The cement ones cost about $100 less per pier (@ $400 per pier).  Looks like we will need around 10-14 piers.  Anyone got any advice?

[Breadburner]

Go with steel...They will be Hydraulically driven down to a stable substrate......

[BKDotCom]

They say that we have clay underneath the house. 

Patrick Henry?

[TheArtist]

Go with steel...They will be Hydraulically driven down to a stable substrate......

What about rust and readjustment?  The person giving us the quote for the cement piers mentioned those as possible future issues.

[Breadburner]

That's a good thing....You will never be able to re-adjust solid concrete piers.....

[Gaspar]

What about rust and readjustment?  The person giving us the quote for the cement piers mentioned those as possible future issues.

You will be long dead before your steel piers rust to the point of compromise.  Contact with air and moisture breeds rust.  Once underground, the corrosion process slows significantly.

[Conan71]

What about rust and readjustment?  The person giving us the quote for the cement piers mentioned those as possible future issues.

Always be wary of the sales pitch when someone can't offer the competing product (i.e. concrete guy can't do steel piers).

[heironymouspasparagus]

If you don't mind, keep us posted...that is exactly the question I have been dealing with and have heard no good answer to go with one over the other.  Seems like neither would be a problem if done right.  (That is the bigger question - who can you get to do it right!!)

[TheArtist]

You will be long dead before your steel piers rust to the point of compromise.  Contact with air and moisture breeds rust.  Once underground, the corrosion process slows significantly.

Dude, I have no plans on dying.  However, I also do not plan to live in this same house for several hundred years so do get your point. 

[heironymouspasparagus]

I've seen the steel post method, but curious about the concrete....do they just dig a hole under your footing with the wall jacked up some, then pour concrete?

[Ibanez]

I saw some foundation repair place at the Home & Garden Show last Saturday that was using expanding foam for piers. Seemed odd and I was hoping to talk to them to satisfy my curiosity but there was nobody at the booth both times I walked by.

[DolfanBob]

I owned a home in South B.A. that started to have foundation problems. The doors did not completly close and I had a few cracks on the walls toward the ceiling.
I had only lived there a short time so I called a piering company. The salesman walked around the outside of the house showing me all the seperation that was taking place between the bricks and the sidewalk.
I was informed that most of my soil was clay and to remedy the problem I would need 10 to 12 piers at the cost of 2000.00 a pier. He assured me that they would go all the way to bedrock and the house would never shift again.

This was mid to late 80s. And I contacted my realtor to ask him what kind of a crappy home he sold me.
He laughed and said that was a big scam going around at that time and to not do it.
He gave me a example of piering was the same as soaking you're backyard and then walking around it in high heels. It would be the same result.
His advice was to get guttering and use soaker hoses at night on low for a week or two around the foundation of the home as needed.
Damned if that didn't do it. The cracks pulled back up together and my doors closed. The ground by the sidewalks pulled back together too.

You're situation sounds different though. If the house is sliding then piering may be the only choice. I'm glad to hear the price of doing it has come way down. Good luck with the task at hand.

[TheArtist]

  Had another company just come by this morning to give a quote.  Have now realized that what the last one was talking about was "helical" piering.  Looks like a large auger screw that essentially presses down as it screws down into the ground until the foundation is supported.  This new company does the Hydraulically driven Steel Piers like what I thought a pier would be like.  Was kind of confused with the other company when they were describing their "steel piers" and how they worked. 

I also have clay under my house and apparently I have a little of several things going on.  In some areas the when the clay dries out, that part of the house settles down.  Then in another area when the clay gets wet, it bows up causing the middle of one long wall to bow up, crack in the middle, causing the end corners to look like they are going down.

But what I have now decided to do is get a structural engineer to come out and give me a more unbiased/educated opinion on where the piers should be (I have gotten quotes that run the gamut from around 10 to 17 some depending on what is thought to be most critical) and ask him his opinion on the types. 

[TheArtist]

I've seen the steel post method, but curious about the concrete....do they just dig a hole under your footing with the wall jacked up some, then pour concrete?

I don't know exactly, but suppose that is how they must do it.

[rdj]

It is my understanding the drought of the last few years has caused "structural issues" in homes built on clay, which almost all in Tulsa are built on clay.

I had our home inspected by a structural engineer due to being on the side of a hill and was told the cracks appeared to be decades old and just to monitor them and monitor the soil cracking around the base of the home.  I have a basement that tends to get some water in it, so its a tricky dance for me to keep the foundation soil moist, yet not get water in my basement.