Diamond Pier Builder Training

[@jasonbowman7190]

I plan on building a sunroom 3' off the ground, 25' wide and 12' out from the house with a belconey above, would 8 DP50/50's work, 4 under the post's and 4 under the 25' long girder in the middle of the deck. Going through soil with mostly sand.

[@Cotronixco]

Don't take the risk. Drill the holes and pour sonatubes. The frost then slides up and down their smooth surface. There is nothing to stop these ridiculous diamond piers from heaving.

[@patty109109]

@@Cotronixco except for physics you’re completely right.

[@highlanderthegreat]

can enough diamond piers also substitute for pylons when pouring a concrete slab??? so you dont have to bring in a pylon pounding machine to drive the pylons into the ground,so you dont have to go through all the headaches of that??? can you just place the diamond piers in place then put up the foundation place whatever rebars down then pour concrete over it all???

[@MisterFizz]

Max load bearing capacity would be dependent on soil. Do you have a table of values for varying soil conditions? For instance... Clay Sand Silt Soil Loam Gravel Peat Sandy soils Silty clay

[@tylerroehl11]

When setting the layout of the piers, Should you square the entire pier to the house, or the 6x6 platform on top of the pier to the house?

[@DiamondPier]

Hi Tyler- builders choice really.

[@gillerizedworksaws9561]

What happens if you hit a rock

[@adisworld3255]

How can a DP 50/50” be code compliant in an area with a frost line of 42”? The pin is driven at a 45degree angle so the pin only goes down vertically 35”? You don’t need to be below frost line with this product?

[@DiamondPier]

Good question we get a lot- the Diamond Pier is considered an Alternate Product in the code. As an alternate product it is required to match the performance of the prescriptive footing depth (eg concrete footings). So, Diamond Pier is a performance-based path to code compliance, not a prescriptive path to code.

[@spacecaptain9188]

It's a cool idea, but that warrantee sucks. If your product fails, you should guarantee the damages, too.

[@DiamondPier]

sounds like a solid business move, we'll run this by the higher-ups.

[@Cotronixco]

Simple physics reveals that these will heave. There would have to be some sort of pressure-absorbent material on the bottom of the block to mitigate frost heave.

[@Cotronixco]

@@vickyls.5736 Diamond Piers are designed to not settle, but there is nothing to prevent them from heaving. Any real engineer will tell you to stay away from them, especially in clay in northern climates.

[@gg-gn3re]

looks like it has pretty good heave resistance due to it's top shape vs bottom shape to me. They also have a 10 year study. You have an example of why it wouldn't be good?

[@Cotronixco]

@@gg-gn3re "They" have a 10-year study, is of course meaningless. Just take a look at their disclaimer, which reveals that these are no better than standard piers. If you really want to understand how frost heave works, talk to an engineer. You have to get below the frost line, and you have to have smooth vertical surfaces above that point. The frost will have traction to lift anything else.

[@DiamondPier]

He won't be able to answer that since he has not read the 10-year study. Which was published by... engineers. The problem with studying frost heave is that you can't replicate it since there's too many variables involved that are never consistent; soil, moisture, geography, temperature, etc. So testing against it is impossible. The reason why we in the U.S. currently install concrete footings at or below the frost line, is just that that is what builders have always done here and it worked. Except for when it doesn't- I'm sure you've seen plenty of images of concrete footings that have heaved, but were installed below the frost. We're not better or worse than any other pier, we're equivalent. The advantages of our product are that you don't have to buy 6x 80lb bags of concrete per post, dig 6 post holes, wait for it to cure, wait for the weather, wait for inspector to come, etc. Doesn't tear up the landscaping and you can get into tight spots and start building right away. If you'd like more details about the Frost Study or how our engineering works (see spread pile footings on bridges), feel free to reach out to us, our engineers loooove to talk shop! [e-mail]

[@Cotronixco]

@@DiamondPier Anyone who thinks these are going to remain stable knows nothing about how frost heave works.