Landscape design

How to choose the right screw piles for the fence

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What are the features and advantages of screw piles for the fence

Nowadays, there are no problems associated with the acquisition of a particular material to create such a design. If we talk about screw piles for the fence, then virtually any fence erected with their help can rightfully be classified as reliable and durable. Choosing the benefit of installing such rods gives the advantage of building a reliable fence on the ground of any type. In addition, it is not necessary to additionally fill the foundation to increase the reliability of the structure.

If desired, you can install screw piles for a fence with your own hands without the involvement of specialists. It should be prepared for the fact that this option is quite expensive. Of course, it is possible to erect a fence less financially, but the reliability and ease of installation justify the price tag of piles.

Outwardly, the piles look like metal pipes, but at the bottom there is a cutting edge, due to which the rod enters the ground. The design can easily be immersed to any desired depth, which ensures the strength of the installation. Typically, before screwing into the ground, piles are treated with solutions that prevent the formation of corrosion.

Before deciding on the final choice, you need to study the advantages and some disadvantages of this material. The positive qualities include with confidence:

  • the presence of high stability, despite the minimum footprint,
  • universality of installation in different soils,
  • accessibility and ease of installation - entry on the principle of screwing in a self-tapping screw (to get the maximum result when installing large gates, it is advisable to use a drilling installation),
  • no need for excavation, which simplifies the installation process,
  • the season (the fact of freezing of the soil) and a large degree of surface slope do not affect the installation.

The disadvantages of this material are practically devoid. The need for anti-corrosion treatment cannot be classified in this category. Rather, it is one of the preparatory stages, which will allow to increase the operational terms to 50 years or more.

How to be guided when choosing screw piles

The fundamental criteria are the parameters of the length and diameter of the supports. It is advisable to carry out a screwdriving of a trial nature at the place of direct installation and assess the situation. Bearing capacity is ensured by the correct selection of the thickness and diameter parameters of the blades of the screw supports, and for horizontal stability an accurate selection of their total thickness and, again, diameter is necessary.

Pay attention to the following:

  1. If construction takes place on the example of a tension net of a chain-link or a grid of gitter, as well as of welded sections with a load level of about 800 kg / per support separately, then you need to purchase piles with a diameter of about 57 mm. The diameter of the blades in this case should correspond to 180 mm. This option is installed as simple as a wooden hedge from improvised means. And most importantly, that you can do it yourself using scrap and other improvised tools.
  2. If we are talking about building a solid type fence for a summer residence (from a profiled sheet, corrugated board, metal fence), then it is quite possible to use piles with a rod diameter of 76 mm and 220 mm blades. This design, according to its technical characteristics, can withstand loads of 1.5 tons or more. Installation of such piles requires certain skills, abilities and tools.
  3. The construction of forged fences with a large weight, as well as fences for one-story buildings made of wood will require the purchase of piles with a total trunk diameter of 89 mm, and blades - 250 mm. Such rods can withstand vertical loads of more than 3 tons.
  4. For concrete gates, it is better to choose piles with a diameter of 133 mm, and sometimes more, while they are able to withstand loads exceeding 7 tons.

As for the length of piles, for standard fences 3-4 meters will be enough, taking into account the fact that half of the rod is in the ground. The shape of the column is selected individually.

The diameter should be selected based on their soil characteristics: the more loose it is, the “more weighty” the structure should be and, accordingly, the larger the diameter. Also, the supports on the market are distinguished by decorative elements. It is not difficult to find piles in the market, for example, with cast tips.

Ensuring the vertical penetration of the pipe into the soil is an important factor in the construction of the fence. The construction process, depending on the complexity of the structures, may require the involvement of experienced professionals who, through the creation of a 3D project, will recreate it. And you, in turn, will be able to control and make the necessary changes until the moment of actual installation.

What are screw piles

Screw piles are called special elements for the construction of a pile foundation.

In any case, it should not be less than the depth of freezing of the soil of the region in which the structure is being built. It is advisable that the pile reaches a dense horizon. But this requirement is optional. Operating experience and customer reviews show that other methods are quite effective. When installed in soils with weak bearing capacity, the length of the submerged part should be increased, and the pile will bear the load due to the friction force between the outer surface of the product and the soil.

The scheme of screwing piles when installing the fence

Savings on earthworks

The construction of a fence using screw piles avoids unnecessary labor. This is due to the high adaptability of this method. Regardless of the type of fencing and loads, the need for excavation for the installation of a strip foundation disappears.

Indeed, during the construction of the fence on a tape base, you will have to dig a whole trench about a meter and a half deep throughout the entire structure.

When installing a column foundation, separate pits are required for each pillar.
Since the fence is an extended structure, the probability of encountering an outlet of groundwater is quite high.

An example of a fence mounted on screw piles

Savings on concrete work

Typically, fence racks are installed on embedded elements of a concrete foundation. This is absolutely necessary, since the fence is subject to wind loads and can have significant weight. Pouring a concrete base is a very time-consuming construction phase. In addition to the pit, the manufacture and installation of wooden formwork is required. In the future, concrete should be delivered and laid in the base. All these operations also become redundant during the construction of the fence using screw piles.

Screw piling process

Piles at the base of the fence can be connected together by a metal profile, forming an inextricable structure, which will successfully become a replacement for the labor-intensive strip foundation.

Easy solution with difficult terrain

Complex reliefs are a significant complicating factor in the construction of fences. Screw piles will allow you to safely establish the foundation for a metal fence with your own hands in hard-to-reach places, for example, on slopes, embankments or sharp fractures of the relief. In addition to reducing costs and using inconvenient places for construction, such a solution will make the fence more expressive and original due to the use of the relief configuration and hear admiring reviews from neighbors.

Using screw piles, a change in the direction of the fence in the horizontal plane at any angle and with an arbitrary frequency of fractures is easily realized. It is just as easy to provide vertical displacement of the canvases. Since the piles are made of steel, it is not difficult to install supporting elements by welding, along which the canvases are mounted at any height.

Fencing along the coastline

Screw piles make it possible to erect fences even where previously it was not possible due to the complexity and high cost of work. It became feasible to enclose the shore of the reservoir, limiting access to your site from the water. The cost will not exceed the level of investments required for the construction of a fence on the surface of the earth.

Installation of a fence along the coast on screw piles

Wetland Fencing

Using the usual techniques, it is almost impossible to build a fence on heaving soils in swampy or flooded places. Weak soils with a high water level limit the ability of the foundation and allow the construction of only temporary fences of a light type. But using screw piles, you can create a reliable and durable capital fence even there. Depending on the nature of the bogging, installation is carried out in different ways. You can go through a weak plant soil and install piles in the underlying continental layer. If it is not possible to reach the mainland soil, then using a pile of sufficient length, you can create a reliable foundation that will hold due to the area of ​​the blade and the friction forces between the soil and the pile.

To select the best option, you should study in detail the conditions at the place of work, and, after consulting with the manufacturer of screw piles, select the required diameter of the pile shaft and blades. With the necessary anti-corrosion treatment, as evidenced by reviews, such a base will last a long time.

Good for solid fences.

Fencing from corrugated board, metal or wooden fence of the ladder allows you to ensure maximum privacy of your territory, protection from prying eyes, noise isolation. However, another feature of such a solution should be taken into account. Panels like corrugated board have a high windage.

The higher the fence, the greater will be the forces transmitted by the webs from the perceived wind load to the level of the soil fastening. The advantages of a fence on screw piles are obvious in this case. Screw piles create an inextricable element from the bottom point buried in the ground to the top of the fence.

An example of a solid fence on screw piles

And even in the Far North

The permafrost zone occupies a significant part of the territory of Russia. Despite the frightening name, many territories included in it have long been inhabited and densely populated. But the problem with a change in the density of the base due to thawing and shifts due to the presence of permafrost does not disappear from this.
Screw piles for the fence can also solve it, which is confirmed by grateful feedback from developers. Special types of piles are developed and manufactured that differ not in the way of immersion, but in the configuration of the head part. Instead of a pointed end, such piles have a serrated cut, biting into a layer of frozen soil. The working end of the pile is left open, which allows part of the soil to penetrate into the internal cavity of the pile. The cost of such a product is not much different from ordinary analogues.

After the end of immersion, or screwing in, the soil that has got inside ensures the temperature of the pile at the same level as the surrounding environment.

If the pile were hollow, then its buried part could be heated due to the convention of air inside the product. As a result, thawing of the surrounding soil could occur. Installation of enclosing structures on the installed supports is carried out in the same way as when using conventional piles.

Installation process

Self-installation of a screw pile

If the fence is not very heavy, for example, from corrugated board, then at its base it is enough to install pile supports of a small diameter: about a hundred millimeters. The reviews of the builders confirm that even not very skilled performers are able to cope with this task. Larger piles may require special tools or techniques. From the ground on the piles, square footings are usually welded, allowing the installation of framing elements or racks.

The installation of the fence post allows the protruding part to be treated with anti-corrosion materials. When factory-applied protective coating, you need to make sure its integrity. Now the support is ready for installation of the enclosing structures of the fence. Pay attention to the verticality of the elements and the horizontalness of the planes. Correct deviations if necessary, eliminating any distortions or gaps.

Screw Pile Fence Prices

The cost of fencing on fence piles depends mainly on the same criteria as in the usual versions - on the main material, the length of the perimeter line and height. In the table below you can find indicative prices for fences from the most common materials.

For more detailed information, contact our specialists who will help you determine the choice and design of the fence for your site, as well as its installation as soon as possible and with the appropriate level of quality.