Helical Pier Suppliers
Contents
Form
Info Request
Hi,
We would like a quote for a 4200 lb-bearing helical pier foundation pile assuming clay soil. We need 27 of these for a small, one story stick frame house. We were intending to rent a bobcat driver for the piles. We are located in the Kansas City area. Please include cost + shipping (zip code 64469). Can you do this?
If you can do this as a contractor, we'd be interested in a quote as well. We will be building several houses, and we will do the helical piers both ourselves and by contracting out.
If you don't do this type of work, what is your top recommendation for somebody else?
Thanks, Marcin
Engineering
We do not have engineering drawings, but I can provide technical detail. The exact weight of a 16x16 house section that we are building is 18,000 lb including 50 PSF snow load. Our soil is light clay with N=10. We are rural in Dekalb County, where we have no building codes, so we don't have engineering drawings. It's a simple light-frame structure. It is 4 sections of 16x16 feet, so 27 piles total. Here is our engineering, which indicates only 4 kips per pile:
Would this work for you to get us an estimate?
Marcin
Quotes
Helical Anchors Inc
- Helical anchors - $100 a pop -
, $6k total if 14' deep - 
- These are 7 foot sections, which needs to be determined for the depth required. Here we have 14, so half the piling may be ok, but need to do Helical Pile Calculations. The 2-3/8" OD 0.19 wall pipe is 1.4" of meat, or about 90 kips ultimate tension (at 60 ksi) and likely 45 kips working strength, so our requirement at 4 kips is much smaller.
- Specs:
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- Note another catalog describing the part numbers in more detail - [1] - on page 8. Single, double, triple helix versions.
- More quotes:
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. Note: however keep in mind if the N value is 10 as discussed a single 8” will just keep on digging and not torque up to capacity.
Goliath Tech KC - $5k
Mike Davis 10:20 AM (1 hour ago) to me
Marcin,
I read through your presentation and have a few observations...We already have a safety factor of 2 built into our specifications (I think you'll find that is the case with any helical pile provider you speak to) So I'll base the quote on the actual load. I don't see that you accounted for the live load on the floor (normally 40 psf.) I do think your 50psf roof load is probably adequate for both the floor and roof live loads...(there probably won't be any grand pianos in your houses.) For normal residential you would use live loads of 40psf live load for floors (30psf for sleeping only rooms) and 30psf for roofs with deductions for lower sloped roofs (I can't tell what your roof slope is...I'm assuming it's low.) So your 50 psf load is probably spot on.
The factor that influences lateral loads the most is how high the piles extend above ground level. I'll make the assumption that you will use the minimum extension which is 6-8". If that is not the case then this quote is invalid. It appears you are wanting heads with some vertical adjustment (a very good idea) ours are the best in the industry and they are adjustable up to 4"...I show a few pictures below. You can definitely get cheaper heads elsewhere but not better. I'm assuming you will want U brackets in the 3.5-4" range. I also have an assortment of flat brackets, as well. I'll do your first installation for $5000 for 27 piles with adjustable heads installed. After the first install, I reserve the right to change the price...could be lower based on a number of factors, but could be higher as well, I think we should be able to get the installation done in 1 day.
I have a few thoughts FWIW about DIY piles. If you want to play around with installing a pile by hand, I'll give you one. I think you'll find it pretty difficult. For one thing, you need a fairly good amount of crowd (that's what we call the downward force on the pile during installation.) I'm not sure how you will achieve that manually. I do know piles have been installed by hand using the methods you describe since the early 19th century, though. As for fabricating your own piles...that's also a little more complex than you describe, for one thing, if the helix is not truly helical and also the proper pitch, it won't follow the correct path during installation and you can't use torque correlation to verify the loads. As for renting a bobcat and installing yourself...I don't know where you're going to get your hands on the right kind of motor (low RPM/high torque) to do the install...certainly not at the rental yards. You also need the right tooling to attach the motor to the pile during installation and that won't be easy to come by.
I'm happy to answer any more questions, Good Luck, Mike
Techno Metal Post - $6250
Corey DePenning 3:07 PM (55 minutes ago) to Darron, Chris, me
Hi Marcin
Our product is far superior than anything you can buy from a box store. Instead of only spanning 4’, have you thought of spanning 8’? I am going to give you two pricing structures, our P2 pier and our P3. From the pics you provided me with the example structure, those are definitely the P2 post, which are cheaper and hold less weight in down pressure and lateral capacity.
How high out of the ground is this structure? If you are just a few inches and not needing engineering, we can get by with the P2. If you are a foot or higher above ground, then you really need the P3 for stability.
P2 Post installed for 27 piers = $6250 - P2 post can get you up to 7500 lbs capacity P3 Post installed for 27 piers = $9000 - P3 post can get you up to 20,000 lbs capacity
Each one of these prices include a saddle or flat bracket. From what I can see, the P2 will work with your situation, but we should have a conversation to get more details.
Thanks Corey
Summary
- Two direct quotes received are $5000 and $6250 for 27 piers.
Weight
P2 Helical Piers Weigh from 30 to 80 lb:
