Our family moved to the house where we now live 6 years ago. It was built on a pile-screw foundation, and I managed to draw some conclusions. I personally had the opportunity to build several houses on a similar foundation. If earlier I treated him well, today I will hardly recommend it to anyone.
Of course, the screw-pile foundation has advantages.
They cannot but be, otherwise things would be very bad:
- 1. First, the foundation is inexpensive, it is installed quickly enough. In this regard, it significantly benefits in comparison with a concrete base.
- 2. After installing the piles and tightening the screws, you can immediately start building the house. All this takes no more than two days.
- 3. The pile-screw foundation can be installed at any time of the year, regardless of the weather conditions outside. Whether in summer or winter, the installation cost will be the same.
- 4. The indisputable plus of such a foundation is that it is suitable for any soil, even for a peat bog.
Disadvantages of the pile-screw foundation
Now you can go to the disadvantages. First of all, it is necessary to say about jumping ceilings and large losses of heat in the floor, since the wind literally "walks" under the house.
I would like to note that the problem here is not only the foundation, but also the illiteracy and poor qualifications of builders and designers. If a non-professional gets down to business, then even the strip foundation has a lot of shortcomings.
The main disadvantage of the pile foundation is insufficient vibration absorption. The structure is lightweight, and therefore it does not accept vibrations from the frame structure, which are created as a result of:
- Vibrations of walls in strong winds;
- Moving people inside the house;
- Strong slamming of a massive door, etc.
- With a sharp snow melt from the roof.
All vibrations go to the floors, and therefore are felt by the household. Vibrations are most sensed when sitting or lying down. It turns out that a person just lies on the couch and feels how his home is “shaking”.
Unscrupulous designers or greedy developers often install piles without tying them up with metal jibs. As a result, the entire platform of the house begins to swing.
This can be explained by the fact that in the process of tightening the screw diameter at the pile is larger than the diameter at the pipe. When the propeller enters the ground, it loosens the soil, resulting in the loss of a rigid base.
Having moved to a new house on such a foundation, I immediately noticed that the building was shaking. I thought the walls weren't rigid enough, so I tried to make jibs inside the house. Note that the outer walls were sheathed with OSB. Naturally, I have not achieved any positive result. The problem lay in something completely different, which I found out about later.
Jibs allow to reduce the swinging amplitude, but they do not solve the problem. They form a gentle angle when, ideally, it should be 45 degrees.
I believe that the pile-screw foundation and raw boards play a major role. You may think that there is nothing wrong with frame houses, but once you visit such a building, you will change your mind.
What I would like to say at the end: for frame houses, it is best to fill in a monolithic or strip foundation. Those who can afford to make a concrete foundation should take advantage of this opportunity. Piles will never provide the reliability that monolithic concrete guarantees. For small houses, a jellied foundation is quite suitable.
I do not argue that there are advantages to screw piles, but they pale against the background of the disadvantages that you will experience. They are more suitable for gazebos, summer kitchens, baths, outbuildings, but not for residential buildings. It is better to overpay once than to suffer for many years.
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