How The Dwyer Company Stabilized and Lifted a Settling Corner at the Mason Early Childhood Center
- Project Type: Commercial
- Project Services: Push Piers, Shoring/Underpinning
A corner of the Mason Early Childhood Center in Mason, Ohio was settling, and the movement had reached the point where gaps were showing in walls and floors inside the building. The Dwyer Company installed 12 push piers at that corner for Mason City Schools. The piers stabilized the section against further movement, and the crew lifted the settled corner back into place.
Have a settling corner opening gaps in walls and floors?
Quick Facts
- Mason, Ohio
- Project Type: Commercial – Repair
- Owner: Mason City Schools
- Property: Mason Early Childhood Center
- Foundation System: Push piers, 12 installed at the settled building corner
- Scope: Underpinning, stabilization, and lift of the settled corner
The Challenge
One corner of the Mason Early Childhood Center had settled far enough to show inside the building. Gaps opened in walls and floors, which is where settlement goes once it moves past hairline cracking. Movement continues as long as the soil under the footing keeps giving, so stabilizing the corner had to happen before anything cosmetic.
Stabilizing was one part of the job. Recovering the elevation the corner had lost asked more of the underpinning than holding the building in place would have.
Key Project Details
push piers installed at the settled corner of the building
The Solution: Push Pier Underpinning System
The Dwyer Company installed 12 push piers at the settled corner, driven off the weight of the structure itself and loaded once each pier reached capacity. That put the corner on support independent of the soil that had been giving way beneath the footing.
With the piers set, the crew lifted the corner back into position. A lift has to come up evenly across the pier line, so the sequence and the coordination between piers is what keeps new stress out of the structure above. The site itself presented no unusual constraints, and the work ran clean.
The Impact
Settlement stopped
The piers carry the corner now, so the movement that opened the gaps has been arrested.
Elevation recovered
The corner came back into place instead of being stabilized where it had dropped to.
Damage addressed at the source
Fixing the foundation first gives the interior repairs something that holds still.
Efficient execution
Coordination on a straightforward underpinning site kept the pier work moving.
Why Push Piers?
Push piers suited a settled corner on an existing building, where the work called for carrying the load below the soil that had been moving and recovering the elevation the corner had lost.
- Driven to capacity – Piers advance using the weight of the structure, so each one is installed against the load it will carry.
- Supports the existing footing – The system attaches to the footing in place, leaving the structure above it as built.
- Lift potential – Once the piers are set, a settled section can be raised back toward its original elevation.
- Compact installation – Work happens at the footing line, which keeps the footprint small around a building in use.
Why Choose The Dwyer Company for structural integrity?
Deep History • Solid Choice
The Dwyer Company’s proven track record in commercial and industrial foundation systems made us the trusted partner for Mason City Schools at the Early Childhood Center. Our crew installed 12 push piers at the settled corner, stopped the movement, and brought the section back into place.
Have a building corner that has started to drop?