House Foundation
Construction & Repair
We bring the same creative problem-solving solutions to your house foundation project.
TerraCana – Home Foundation Contractor
Certifications & partnerships
House Foundation Construction & Repair
TerraCana works with architects and engineers preparing specifications for new homes. We also offer visual inspections and estimates to homeowners who suspect they have foundation problems.
These homeowners are often worried and have many questions. How serious are the warning signs? What are the options for repairing the damage? What costs are involved? How intrusive is the work?
Our goal is to remove all mystery from the process so you can feel reassured knowing that you have a reliable foundation. TerraCana has decades of experience building and restoring foundations of all kinds across Metro Vancouver and Western Canada.
Need an estimate on your new home’s foundation cost?
House Foundation Applications
TerraCana installs and repairs house foundations across a wide range of residential project types. Here is where our work commonly applies.
01
New Home Foundations
We work directly with architects and structural engineers on new builds. Our in-house engineering team coordinates with your permit drawings and installs the right pile system for site conditions.
02
Home Additions & Sunrooms
03
Decks & Outbuildings
Helical piles for residential decks perform better in BC’s freeze-thaw cycles than shallow concrete footings, with minimal yard disruption and no spoils to remove.
04
Full-Height Basements
05
Foundation Underpinning
For settling or sinking foundations, we install helical or driven piles through the existing footing into competent bearing soil, then use those piles to lift and stabilize the structure.
06
Lifting & Levelling
Helical Pile Applications
01
New builds
Helical piles are ideal for new construction where conventional excavation isn’t feasible: soft soils, tight lots, or vibration-sensitive sites. TerraCana has installed helical pile foundations for residential duplexes, commercial facilities, and multi-storey developments across BC.
02
Environmentally Sensitive Sites
03
Existing structures
When an existing structure has settled or needs additional load capacity, helical piles can be installed with minimal disruption to the building and its occupants. TerraCana installed piles inside a fully operational brewery in Surrey, working within inches of existing equipment without halting production.
04
Utility Infrastructure
05
Restricted access shoring
Where large shoring equipment can’t mobilize due to tight access or low headroom, helical piles offer a practical alternative. TerraCana delivered a shoring solution for a multi-level underground parkade in Victoria using helical tieback anchors, H-Piles, and drilled pipe piles on a constrained urban site.
06
Soil Stabilization
07
Infrastructure & Public Works
Helical piles handle the load and depth requirements of municipal and infrastructure projects. TerraCana installed 120 large-diameter screw piles for the City of North Vancouver’s Phillips Avenue soundwall, developing custom tooling to navigate variable fill and glacial till.
08
Contaminated Sites
Types of House Foundation Solutions
TerraCana offers several engineered foundation systems for residential construction and repair. The right system depends on your soil conditions, structure type, and site access.
Helical Pile Underpinning
The most widely used residential underpinning solution. Installed through the existing footing, advanced into bearing soil below, and used to lift and stabilize the structure. Works in tight access, no heavy machinery required on your lawn, minimal site disturbance.
Driven Pipe Pile Underpinning
Where soil conditions and access allow, driven pipe piles provide a high-capacity underpinning solution. TerraCana crews have installed driven piles beneath homes, additions, and outbuildings throughout the Lower Mainland and across BC.
Micropiles
Where access is extremely limited, such as inside an existing basement or beneath a low-clearance structure, micropiles offer a compact and powerful solution. They can be installed at angles that larger equipment cannot reach.
Types of Helical Piles
Square Shaft
Consists of solid square shafts, ranging from 1.5″ to 2″. The piles are typically used for ultimate loads between 100 and 650 kN (25-150 kips) but have been tested to loads in excess of 900 kN (200 kips) in unique situations.
Square shaft products are generally used in small to moderate loading applications, and they provide excellent tension resistance. Square shaft piles are able to penetrate dense and cobble-rich soil when compared to their helical pipe pile equivalents, but they have lower resistance to buckling and negligible lateral load resistance.
Small-Diameter Pipe
Small-diameter pipe piles consist of pipe sections ranging from 2 7/8″ to 5.5″ in diameter, with wall thicknesses ranging from 0.203″ to 0.375″ depending on the application and loading. These piles can withstand similar loads to the square shaft pile (100–650 kN, 25–150 kips), but they provide superior buckling resistance and lateral load resistance. Small-diameter pipe helical piles penetrate well into sand and clay, but can be difficult to install in cobble-rich soil.
Where lateral loading is an important design factor, small-diameter pipe piles are often the preferred choice over square shaft. Couplings are formed as cold upset expanded sockets or pipe sleeves welded to the shaft ends, providing a robust connection between segments
Square Shaft / Pipe Combo
These piles combine some of the benefits of square shaft and small diameter pipe helical piles. The pile starts with a square shaft and transitions to small diameter pipe. Where depths and soils allow, this pile type provides the excellent penetration of the square shaft piles in addition to the lateral and buckling resistance of the pipe piles.
Adapters take all square shaft products and couple them with 2 7/8″, 3 1/2″, or 4 1/2″ pipe shaft extensions. This makes the combo pile well suited to sites where the upper soils contain cobbles or dense fill that would resist a pipe-only pile, but where lateral loads or buckling potential at depth require a pipe section.
Large-Diameter Pipe
These piles are the newest emerging product and have gained significant popularity over the last ten years. They consist of pipe shafts ranging from 7″ to 30″ or greater. These piles require large equipment to install and can withstand loads in excess of 2500 kN (560 kips).
Large-diameter pipe piles are suited to heavy commercial, industrial, and infrastructure applications where high compression and lateral loads are required. Helical plates are spaced far enough apart that each functions independently as an individual bearing element — the capacity of one helix is not influenced by the helix above or below it. Segments are joined with bolted couplings, and installation depth is limited only by soil density and project economics.
Advantages of Piled House Foundations
Works in Tight Access
Equipment fits through gates, beside existing structures, and in constrained yard spaces. We have completed residential projects that other contractors could not access.
Minimal Site Disruption
Helical pile installation requires compact equipment and produces no spoils. Most residential projects are completed in days without damaging your yard, driveway, or landscaping
Immediate Load Transfer
Unlike concrete underpinning, which requires curing time, piled systems transfer load immediately after installation. No waiting period before the structure is reloaded.
Proof Tested on Installation
Every pile is monitored during installation. Where required, proof testing confirms actual capacity rather than relying on estimates alone
There are significant benefits from a structural and design perspective
Need a Foundation Solution for restricted accesss ot difficult ground conditions?
Engineering and Design
TerraCana is not just a crew that shows up with equipment. Working alongside engineering partner StrucTec, TerraCana brings technical design capability to every project from the first site visit through to installation.
Having a dedicated engineering partnership means the foundation solution can be designed, optimized for cost and performance, and installed by one coordinated team. This is what separates TerraCana from contractors who only install what someone else has designed.
For residential projects this matters because conditions on site often differ from what a geotechnical report describes. Having engineering support close to the work means faster decisions and better outcomes when conditions change.
Dealing With Foundation Problems
BC’s soil conditions, climate, and aging housing stock create a predictable set of foundation problems. TerraCana has resolved all of them.
Settling & Sinking Foundations
When a foundation sinks into soft or unstable soil, the structure above shows the signs: cracks, sticking doors, sloping floors. Helical pile underpinning stabilizes the foundation at depth and can lift the structure back toward level.
Bowing or Cracked Basement Walls
Lateral soil and water pressure on basement walls causes bowing and cracking over time. Helical anchors installed through the wall and into the soil behind it provide a measurable, proof-tested solution to wall movement.
Soft or Unsuitable Soil for New Construction
Many sites in the Lower Mainland have soft marine clay, organic soils, or fill that cannot support a conventional shallow foundation. TerraCana designs pile systems that transfer building loads past the poor material to firm bearing below.
Tight Access & Low Headroom
Older homes, lane houses, and tight urban lots often limit equipment access. Our crews work with compact machines through gates, inside basements, and in confined yard spaces to complete projects that others cannot.
See it in action
Need Residential Foundation Help for Your Project?
Construction, engineering, and design-build services for house foundations across Metro Vancouver and Western Canada.
