Soil Being Washed Away From Under Shed, Manchester
Challenge
This homeowner in Manchester, New Hampshire had lived in their home for a decade. Three years ago the homeowners decided to build a big shed in their backyard. The shed was built as a garage/shed to store their BMW sports car, lawnmower, and some miscellaneous tools. The shed was built on a concrete slab so it could support the heavy items. Since it was built, the homeowners have seen soil around the back corner begin to erode. The erosion had gotten worse every year. The structure was beginning to list toward the back left corner and now it is no longer level. The homeowners wanted to ensure that the shed would protect their car so they reached out to EFS to have a free inspection of the slab and the structure.
Solution
Our Design Specialist Josh Phillips met with the homeowners and looked at the building. Josh looked at the inside and outside of the shed to gain a full perspective on how to solve the issue. After Josh inspected the entire structure, he found that the soil had settled approximately 2.75 inches. The back left corner of the shed would need to be supported by something so we recommended installing:
- 6 Push Piers - to stabilize the corner where the soil had eroded
- PolyLevel - to fill voids and support the entire slab
Our installation team led by Neal Foley began by installing 6 Push Piers brackets to the slab that was already exposed from the soil erosion. The brackets attach right to the slab and have a seat on them which will help us lift on the slab and support the structure. We then used our hydraulic press to push the piers down at the same time so we lifted the structure all at once. We pushed the piers to the predetermined pressure that we knew before we started driving them. After all of the piers were at that pressure we then capped them to lock them in place. After the piering was complete we sent out our PolyLevel Crew to spray PolyLevel beneath the slab. The PolyLevel will be spayed and it will rapidly expand to fill the void under the slab to prevent further soil erosion and support the slab itself. The team was able to lift the shed back to its original height by using our Push Piers and PolyLevel.
The homeowners were very happy with the results of the project. With the structure stabilized the homeowner can store their sports car inside the shed without worrying about the building failing and damaging the car.
Project Summary
Design Specialist: Josh Phillips
Crew Leader: Neal Foley
Products Installed: Push Piers and PolyLevel
