If you’ve ever seen a cracked highway or sidewalk, you’ve seen evidence of possible frost heaving.
This is a serious problem when it affects your buildings. Freezing and thawing can raise and lower a structure by inches, and rarely does it happen evenly.
What Causes Frost Heaving?
There are several factors that cause frost heaving: temperature, frost-susceptible soil, and moisture. In some areas of the country, such as Florida, it’s not an issue. But in many other areas, such as where we live in the midwest, proper building techniques must be used to prevent frost heave from happening. We’ve designed the Jess Tools Belling Auger to address your needs as a builder, and increase the speed and efficiency of your construction process.
Are Your Footings in Trouble?
In post frame or pole barn construction in most of the Northern United States, builders know that the ground will freeze to several feet below the surface in the winter, and this is part of what can cause frost heaving. In order to minimize or eliminate heaving issues when building your structure, you must know what your area’s depth of building codes require for footings so that the materials you place in the ground to support your structure are below where soils can freeze. The problem is a pier footing even below the frost line can be heaved by hydro-expansive forces of water in the soil around the pier. To completely eliminate heaving, your pier footing must have a bell-shaped bottom. This expanded shape at the bottom of the pier makes it impossible for frost to move the pier.
Solution to Frost Heaving
Digging bell-shaped piers was almost impossible by hand. But now with the Jess Tools Bell Auger it can be done in literally minutes. Digging accurate holes that don’t disturb the surrounding area and removing excess soil from the hole is now a fast, easy process. Using the depth gauge gives you a great degree of accuracy in measuring the depth of your hole. You are left with a belled hole the correct size that is free of sticky, clay soil that can lead to frost heave. You also are now able to pour concrete quickly and accurately into a bell-shaped hole that is perfect for the prevention of frost heave in your post frame building or pole barn! Our Jess Tools Bell Auger is over-engineered to survive the harshest conditions that you may encounter. One inch solid steel control arms, a robust central shaft, hardened bushings and bolts guarantee that as a pole barn or post frame building contractor, you can work with this auger in wet, heavy and clay soil conditions.
Your reputation as a builder rests on the quality of the buildings you produce, and that includes the foundations. The Jess Tools Belling Auger will allow you to provide quality, lasting foundations for those buildings that won’t move or heave. Period.