Underpinning Guildford
The foundation of your home or a building are the basic strength of it and the major reason for it standing firmly, in one place. However, with the passage of time, the foundation of any building or property becomes weak. There are several reasons that contribute to it but they need to be strengthened again, once they start wearing out. This is where underpinning comes into action. Underpinning Guildford helps you strengthen an existing foundation, to ensure that your property or building keeps standing tall for the years to come.
It can be required during renovation of a building or some visible huge cracks might push you to take this step and get the foundation set again. But whatever might be the reason, it is very important to consult expert contractors for this purpose as underpinning is more complicated than setting the first foundation. A Lot has to be considered for this and one doesn’t want to get the foundation of their property set wrong. Southern Piling Foundations is an extremely efficient team of professional engineers and contractors, who help you with impeccable underpinning services. You can try them out too!
Purpose of Underpinning
What is the purpose of underpinning? What is it serving as? Let’s have a look.
Underpinning serves you at different construction issues. If the soil on which your property is standing has slipped due to unstable slopes or landslip, then Underpinning Guildford is used to stabilise the foundations. Likewise, it stabilizes the foundations that are built on unstable grounds too or the soil that is ruined due to erosion or mine works etc.
Many times, the soil is disrupted due to a construction project that is being done in the surroundings. Excessive vibration causes damage and the foundations are slipped. Thus, underpinning helps in stabilizing all such foundations that have been slipped or weakened due to various reasons.
How to determine whether you need underpinning or not?
One cannot determine this on their own. You need a professional engineer or contractor to come and identify whether underpinning is required or not. They identify why the foundation has weakened and how much damage has been done to the soil and groundworks. Without determining all the causes, no professional undertakes the process of underpinning. Thus, to determine whether your property needs Underpinning Guildford or not, you need to hire a professional. If your house is under renovation, then the engineers will decide it on their own. However, if you have visible cracks showing up on the exterior of your property, then you must call in an expert to examine your space and make the right decision for you.
Types of Underpinning Methods:
There are 7 types of underpinning techniques that are used during construction projects. The method that has to be used is determined by the engineers as they understand the soil and foundation condition better and make a decision accordingly. Here are the underpinning methods that exist in the world of construction:
- Pile methods
- Underpinning to walls
- Pit methods
- Needle and pile underpinning
- Angle Pile Underpinning Columns
- Jack Pile Underpinning
- Pynford Stool method of Underpinning
These are complicated techniques and can only be understood by an expert perfectly.
Is Underpinning the only solution for weakened groundworks?
- Underpinning is not the only solution or method to strengthen the weakened soils. The major element that plays a huge role in determining whether it is required or not is the soil or groundwork condition. There are other methods like Piling Bridgewater too. Also, underpinning is a very sensitive method and requires a lot of deep insight before it is done. Thus, only a professional team of engineers like that of Southern Piling Foundations can undertake it efficiently.