Every foundation company has a favorite pier. Here is the plain-language difference, and how we actually choose for Tennessee Valley clay.
Call (256) 342-9622Both piers do the same job, carrying your foundation's weight down through the unstable clay to soil that does not move, but they get there differently. Push piers (also called resistance piers) are steel tubes hydraulically driven straight down, using the weight of your house itself as the driving force, until they reach load-bearing strata. Helical piers are steel shafts with screw plates that are literally turned into the ground like a giant screw, and their capacity is verified by the torque it takes to install them.
The practical difference: push piers need the structure's weight to drive against, so they suit heavier homes and deeper stable soil. Helical piers do not depend on the house's weight, so they win for lighter structures, porches and additions, new construction, and situations where we need precise capacity numbers as we install.
In the Tennessee Valley the honest answer is: the soil report and the structure choose, not the salesman. Heavy two-story brick on deep clay over chert usually points to push piers. A light frame home, a settling porch, or a garage addition usually points helical. Sometimes one house needs both. What matters is that the pier reaches truly stable strata and the load transfer is engineered, which is what our free inspection works out, with the reasoning and the numbers in writing so you can compare any other bid against it. See our cost guide for ranges and our inspection page for what we measure.
Free inspection with the why in writing. Compare every bid against it.
Call (256) 342-9622