Case Studies
Apartment Elevation Recovery | Helical and Driven Pile Recovery
3.5 in. Maximum Practical Recovery Achieved on Apartment Building
San Diego, CA
Foundation settling can lead to door and window frames being misaligned,
causing them to not work properly. Doors sticking can be a life or death
situation: Property managers take tenant safety seriously.
SITUATION
The owner of an eight-unit, two-story, wood frame apartment building contacted
Ram Jack Pacific when tenants made complaints of being stuck in apartments
from sticking doors. Other warning signs of foundation issues were present:
one corner noticeably sinking, sloping floors, out-of-square door frames,
sticking windows, large cracks visible throughout the slab of a laundry
room on one end of the building. While the building itself is situated
on a relatively flat graded partial fill lot, the environment surrounding
the structure likely caused settlement. A vacant lot on the south side
of the structure on a partial fill slope descends approximately 20 ft.
to a drainage course. Rainfall and landscape irrigation around the structure
contributed to infiltration of surface water.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Ram Jack and Grantham Engineering took elevations and assessed the damage,
noting a 3.6 in. settlement. Ram Jack Pacific proposed using both driven
and helical piles to both repair the foundation and ensure the structure
would not experience further settlement. Ram Jack also proposed providing
crack repair and filling void space under the slab once the foundation
was lifted.
OUTCOME
Demolition of the laundry room and slab, as well as removal of plants
and stumps, was necessary before excavation of holes for piles could begin.
The Ram Jack crew worked tirelessly in narrow working space around the
perimeter of the building. A total of 14 piles were placed on the exterior
of the structure: 11 driven piles and three (3) helical tiebacks torqued
at a 30-degree angle. Four (4) driven piles were installed on the interior
at strategic grade beam locations. Maximum practical recovery was achieved
with a 3.5 in. lift. Ram Jack Pacific dug footings and installed five
(5) helical piles with new construction brackets to support a new laundry
room slab. Ram Jack Pacific addressed cracks and voids once all pile work
was complete. Fifty-plus (50+) linear feet of crack were repaired with
carbon fiber staples and gravity-fed epoxy injection. A 2:1 ratio polyurethane
foam was injected to fill any voids left after the lift.
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