OUTDOOR HAVEN ON A HILL

• Wanting to expand your living space to the great outdoors, but you live on a slope?
• Longing to create a little slice of paradise by building a deck, or extending your hillside home?
• Looking for the seamless flow from indoor-to-outdoor living, but feel restricted by your property?

There is no need to feel discouraged because your yard is on slope; you can still have a beautiful hillside deck or extension. That sloping hillside is an opportunity for a unique and stunning outdoor sanctuary. With Techno Metal Post your environment will not limit you. It is completely feasible – and simple – to build a strong, durable, and secure foundation on a backyard slope. Techno Metal Post has the ideal deck footing answers for hillside decks and other structures. That slope is no longer an obstacle; it’s an opportunity for effortless creativity and peace of mind.

INNOVATION AND EXPERIENCE

With our specialized installation equipment and our accomplished engineering department, Techno Metal Post can design a foundation for your hillside deck project or extension. Access to your property is not an obstacle. In fact, we love steep slopes. Our machines can easily maneuver around landscaping, fences, sides of buildings, and precarious hillsides, with no digging or damage to your property. Techno Metal Post’s powerful and versatile equipment is created to move around very narrow spaces, and to get through tight and hard-to-reach areas, including steep slopes.

Techno Metal Post provides expert in-house engineering services for your deck footings. Our highly skilled engineers know helical piles and will oversee the analysis and certification of your deck footings. When assessing your project, they will take into consideration lateral loads, compression loads, and uplift, and will recommend different products for different situations. They will determine which piles to use, depending on the structure that needs supporting, the soil’s characteristics, and angle of the slope.

EFFORTLESS FLOW

Whether you are a homeowner, a contractor, or both, Techno Metal Post is the perfect solution to meet your needs. As Paul Lafrance (June 3, 2017) says, “The deck ‘should’ be a true extension of the home that carries your living space from the indoors to the outdoors…We want our interior living spaces to make us feel good when we spend time in them. So why would we settle for anything less from an outdoor living space?” (“Re-Thinking the Deck with Paul Lafrance”). Techno Metal Post’s helical piles and innovative technology ensure that your investment remains strong, stable, and long-lasting, guaranteeing many happy years of easy indoor-outdoor flow.

The revolutionary technology comes from the province of Quebec, Canada, but is also used in France.  They’ve introduced the idea of screwing helical piles into the ground rather than pouring a concrete slab to support buildings and infrastructures.  In many cases, a traditional slab foundation isn’t always practical or even possible, so the introduction of piles has been a great solution for those projects.

For the urban development of Forlach, architect Sébastien Morfouasse launched an invitation to demonstrate this process.  Twenty people were present to witness how this worked: Galvanized steel helical piles, are screwed into the ground by a hydraulic machine.  The piles are driven into the ground until the load-bearing capacity is then reached.

Techno Pieux Rennes-Vannes’ Olivier Le Bigot explains, "One day was all we needed to drill the ten piles for the house".  They were installed 4 meters deep and cut between 12 to 24 inches above the ground.  Sitting atop the pile shaft is a cap or plate which supports the structure.

The house is 105 square meters on one floor and will also be supported by some retaining walls.  Soil will be placed around the house at the height of the lowest level in order to hide the piles.  Ty Coat Construction was the company that built this wooden house.

Sébastien Morfouasse the architect, has already used this technology in the past…"For this house, we wanted a slab that was as close to the upper-level ground as possible.  Because of poor soil quality, we were forced to dig very deep in order to establish a proper foundation. The idea of ​​installing piles proved to be the best option, otherwise we would have had to pour more concrete, which was too expensive.  In a situation that is not problematic, this technique is not advantageous from an economic standpoint. But from an ecological point of view, it is very smart! The day you want to remove the house, you’ll have no permanent foundation to contend with-clear area only once you remove the piles".

During the demonstration, many questions arose on the longevity and performance of the piles.  The response was, "at least one hundred years, can withstand very heavy buildings and they can be changed after their present lifespan".

Odette Odin, the future owner of the house, was present at the demonstration. Her wooden house will take shape at the beginning of this year, and she is already excited about the idea of ​​moving in

. "You can have an eco-friendly townhouse", which she insists it is.  She wanted it to be environmentally friendly and that is exactly what she got.

This is what she had to say about other aspects that pleased her… "All the companies involved, support ways that are friendly not only to the environment but to the people as well.  This includes the materials used, cleanliness of the work, and that no employee carries loads over 55 pounds… "

Source : West France

Helical steel piles have become the number one solution, proposed by Techno Metal Post, when dealing with problem foundations.  Poor soil quality and ground movement can disrupt the stability of buildings, and this method of solidifying them fixes that situation.

Clément Rouchouse and Maxime Albafouille started a new business adventure, in the Rhône and Isere area within France, back in 2012.  They invested in the equipment, and began installing this specialized system, with determination. "We often get called in urgent situations, where the soil quality is not suitable to lay traditional foundations.  We work in the housing industry, but find ourselves expanding to tackle larger infrastructures.  From a traditional concrete foundation on unstable ground, to a slab cast directly onto the piles, or a wood/steel structure built atop them, Techno Metal Post’s approach suits all types of construction", says Clément Rouchouse.

From the technical standpoint, the piles are screwed into the ground until it reaches compact soil.  At the time of installation, the machines measure the torque, which determines the load bearing capacity in real time.  Steel supports are then fixed onto Techno Metal Posts’ foundation piers that support the structure.  Whether the foundation gradually settles or raises the structure (depending on ground movement), the weight is permanently transferred onto the piles.

Thanks to the dedicated and experienced engineering services, Techno Metal Post has developed a range of hydraulic machines, specialized in the installation of helical piles.  The compact and versatile equipment can access different terrain, and allows the installed piles to hold a bearing capacity of 50,625 lbs (225 kg).

"Without excavation, without laborious concrete pouring (whether permanent or temporary), this system also has a very low environmental impact. We are independent but part of the TMP network, which provides us with engineering services that are responsible for analyzing and validating all projects," adds Clément Rouchouse.  At the present time, this revolutionary system that comes from Canada, has been running for over 20 years worldwide and has a network of over 120 dealers.  Techno Metal Post is certified by the CSTB, and intends to establish a solid presence in the French region of Rhône-Alpes.

Source: Journal du bâtiment & des TP - Septembre 10-16, 2015.