Not as Advertised:
Understanding Big-Box Store Piles
When it comes to building a backyard deck in Edmonton, the foundation is not just a starting point; it’s a critical factor that dictates the longevity and safety of your investment. Many homeowners might be tempted to opt for readily available screw piles from local hardware stores. However, these standard options often fall short of expectations, especially in a challenging environment like Edmonton. Here’s why engineered screw piles from the Edmonton Screw Pile Pros are a superior choice and why relying on typical hardware store solutions can lead to disappointing outcomes.
Depth and Stability Concerns
In Edmonton, the frost line—the depth to which the groundwater in soil is expected to freeze during winter—can reach considerable depths. It’s crucial for the stability of any structure to have its foundation elements, like screw piles, extend beyond this frost line to avoid the forces of frost heave. Unfortunately, standard hardware store screw piles are typically only 50 inches long, which doesn’t sufficiently penetrate past the frost line in our region. This inadequate depth setting can lead to significant heaving during freeze-thaw cycles, disturbing the stability of your deck. For this reason the standard engineered deck pile from the Screw Pile Pros is 10’ long, ensuring the pile’s helix is well below any soil with potential to freeze.
Quite often, the issue home owners encounter with cheep box-store piles is that year after year, the pile’s small helix heaves and sinks. This instability requires adjustment each season. A phenomenon that does not exist when using professional-grade engineered piles.
Load-Bearing Limitations
The size of the helix on a screw pile plays a pivotal role in determining how much load it can effectively support. Most hardware store screw piles are equipped with a 6-inch helix, which is often only rated to support “up to” 3,500 lbs in optimal solid clay soil conditions. However, the ideal clay soil required for these ratings is rarely found within the first 8 feet of soil in Edmonton. This mismatch between the helix size and soil type can often lead to an underperformance in load-bearing capacity, risking the structural integrity of your deck under stress or over time.
Furthermore just knowing the soil you have is not enough to know what a pile’s capacity will be. The torque applied to professional grade engineered screw piles provide a quantifiable metric that allows a piles capacity to be calculated by knowing the resistance of the soli that the helix is being turned through.
When installing generic hardware store piles, there is no way to know the applied torque on the pile during installation, nor is there any way to calculate the potential load-bearing capacity of these piles. This is where home owners need to be very careful. Because the soil condition cannot be known via the applied torque, there is no way to know the actual load-bearing capacity of a box-store deck pile. And why the big chain hardware stores can only sell these helical piles with a potential “up to” load rating.
For comparison, the engineered deck piles from the Screw Pile Pros are required to have 1000 lb/ft of applied torque during installation in order to have a verified load capacity of 5000 lbs. Something to be aware of when designing your new deck.
Why Choose Engineered Screw Piles?
Engineered screw piles that are provided and installed by the Edmonton Screw Pile Pros are built to the specifications stipulated by Canadian Construction Materials Centre (CCMC). A building code compliant solution, specifically designed to meet the demanding soil and climate conditions of Edmonton. These screw piles are:
Known & Verified Load Capacity
Knowing the load capacity of each specific deck pile is crucial. This can only be done using engineered piles where the applied torque was measured during installation. This process, executed by Edmonton Screw Pile Pros, provides precise data on the pile’s ability to bear and distribute weight, ensuring the safety and stability of the deck it supports. By measuring torque, installers can accurately determine the pile’s capacity based on the resistance it encounters in the soil, which varies significantly by location and depth. This information is invaluable when building a deck to ensure it can withstand stresses such as the weight of the deck occupants, heavy snow loads, or high winds. Additionally, having a clear understanding of the pile’s engineered capacity aids in planning for potential future expansions or modifications to the deck, such as roofs or hot tubs, ensuring that the foundation will continue to perform effectively under increased loads.
Longer Piles
Engineered screw piles are designed to reach depths that surpass the frost line, ensuring that they remain stable throughout the year, regardless of temperature fluctuations.
Stronger
With larger helix diameters, these piles can support significantly more weight, making them suitable for a variety of soil types and conditions. This is crucial in areas like Edmonton, where soil composition can vary widely and is often not ideal for smaller helices.
More Durable
Engineered to meet strict standards, these screw piles resist corrosion and wear better than their standard counterparts, ensuring a longer lifespan for your deck.
Fabricated to Meet Applicable Standards
Certification means that these piles have been tested and approved for specific conditions. This not only ensures compliance with local building codes but also provides peace of mind that your deck rests on a reliable foundation.
Long-Term Benefits
Opting for engineered screw piles might seem like an investment compared to the more accessible hardware store options, but the long-term benefits far outweigh the initial costs. By choosing the right foundation, you avoid future complications such as shifting, heaving, and structural damage, which can be costly and dangerous. Moreover, a stable, well-built foundation increases the overall value of your property.
Investing in a better way to build a deck
While it’s tempting to cut corners, especially with seemingly simple projects like backyard decks, Edmonton’s unique environmental challenges make it crucial to choose the right foundation. Engineered screw piles provide the reliability, safety, and durability that homeowners need to enjoy their outdoor spaces worry-free for years to come. Don’t let the foundation of your next project be its downfall—opt for a solution that stands firm against the forces of nature. Contact The Edmonton Screw Pile Pros to learn more about screw pile pricing.