Start with conditions, not a product
Because bedrock depth changes fast across Birmingham's folded ridge terrain, a support system that works two lots over may need a completely different pier depth and spacing on a given property -- grading, drainage, and framing all factor into that calculation before hardware gets chosen.
Build a complete scope
- What was measured and across how many months of the wet-dry cycle
- Whether the house sits on ridge fill, in-town masonry piers, or block walls
- How uphill groundwater loading the wall is being handled
- The proposed method, and the alternatives ruled out on the way to it
- Access on a graded lot, restoration afterward, and warranty terms
Birmingham context
Pier and support decisions depend partly on which era built the house: Birmingham's iron-and-steel-boom neighborhoods and mill villages used different foundation approaches than the postwar ranch suburbs -- Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Homewood, and others -- that expanded along U.S. 31 and U.S. 280 through the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. The Piedmont clay under most of that housing stock shifts with the seasons regardless of when the house went up.