The process of supporting or strengthening the foundation of any existing building or a house or similar structure is called as underpinning.  You can accomplish this by strengthening the soil (by introducing a filler that expands), reinforcing the already existing foundation or you can even extend the foundation so that the load gets distributed over a large surface area. Many people search for underpinning services in Sydney to strengthen the foundation.

Underpinning is required only when the original foundation can no longer support the house as it is not strong enough to do so. It is because of the changes in the soil structure that might be due to the type of soil or there might be some external influences acting on the soil.

Types of underpinning

We all are aware that underpinning is nothing but the reinforcement of the existing foundation of the particular building or structure. When the foundations on buildings with stumps need to be repaired then the method employed is called re-blocking or restumping. This underpinning services in Sydney basically involves the replacement of the foundation stumps when they get cracked or damaged due to certain conditions prevailing. This cannot be particularly referred to as underpinning.

There are three methods that are used today for underpinning or; there are three types of underpinning services.

• Screw pile
• Concrete slab
• Grout injection

Primitively, there has been the use of two main underpinning techniques. The first is the concrete slab underpinning which is also called slab jacking and the second one is screw pile underpinning which is called piercing or pier underpinning. The grout injection technique is the most recent one.

Screw pile – It combines steel piers with the concrete footings to safely secure the building and to lift it back to its original position to close up the gaps and cracks. Piers are used as a permanent solution because it doesn’t get affected by any changes in the ground that surrounds the house or the building. 

Concrete slab – It is the most traditional method and is used for increasing the size of foundations and for strengthening them. These underpinning services in Sydney are still very common.

Grout injection – It is the newest method. A resin or grout is injected into the ground that will fill up the voids under the slab and it will expand leading to compression of the ground. 

Why do you need these services?

Underpinning services are required when the original foundation of the building or similar structure is not strong enough anymore to support the particular house. It might be due to:

• Changes in the soil that’s supporting the foundation.
• Due to moisture
• When properties of soil were not well understood.
• Damaged plumbing that’s left unrepaired
• There aren’t adequate conditions for the foundation.

Underpinning services are required for:

• Change in the way the structure is used.
• Natural disasters caused the structure to become unstable.
• New construction nearby to the existing building; that leads to the excavation of soil.
• For increasing the capability of the existing foundations.

       These are the different underpinning services in Sydney and the reasons why they are needed. This will clear all your doubts related to underpinning services.