We’ve been boggling some minds lately.  The confusion or disconnect usually occurs right after we tell potential customers about Postech Thermal Piles (insulated and galvanized steel screw piles) and how they are unsurpassed in quality and performance.  This claim (which we can back up) always sparks everyone’s favourite follow-up question, “what’s does it cost in comparison to the competition?” Our answer isn’t what most people generally expect; “they are usually cheaper upfront and certainly a huge savings in the long run.”

How could it be?  It just doesn’t make sense, if it’s better it should be more expensive, right?  Let us explain with a few short points:

• Our steel screw piles can be installed by one person using a modified mini-excavator.  Concrete piles require multiple crews and multiple machines, all of which cost money.
• We can install our steel screw piles in nearly all weather conditions; if it’s raining the other guys can’t work, your project gets pushed back and time is money.
• Buy yourself a minimum of 24 hours of productive building time; our piles don’t require curing and can be built upon instantly, again time is money.
• Traditional concrete piles require that a hole is bored in your yard, this brings up the soil and creates a mess known as “tailings”; removal of tailings is an additional cost and sometimes not included in quotes.
• Postech purchases an astronomical amount of steel every year and has excellent purchasing power which translates to savings on product cost.
• Our galvanized steel piles will last at least 200 years; longer than competitors steel piles which are typically painted or untreated and much longer than concrete piers which are expected to last 35-50 years.
• Our innovative insulated design provides unparallelled protection against frost heaving; in 20 years you won’t be calling expensive foundation repair contractors because your building has shifted.
• In the future if you want to remove or replace your structure, our piles can be easily removed, re-used or recycled; concrete requires heavy excavation and land restoration.

So please, don’t be quick to discount our foundation system based on a “the higher priced the foundation the better the foundation” philosophy.  NOT ALL FOUNDATION SYSTEMS ARE CREATED EQUAL!  And, yes with a premium Postech Thermal Pile foundation, you can live the champagne life on a beer budget.

Postech Winnipeg proudly serves Winnipeg and most other Manitoba communities and are considered Cottage Country specialists.  For a free quote for your residential, commercial, industrial or recreational building project, please call toll-free 1(855) 4-PILING (474-5464) or email stan@screwpiling.ca.

One question I get asked frequently is why we don’t carry screw piles with the double helix design.  Surely 2 helicals are better than 1 right?  The answer is not always my friends and in most cases, certainly not in Winnipeg.  Let me explain…

Winnipeg is known for it’s “gumbo” like soil, we live on what is considered “expansive clay”.  This means that the moisture in the soil combined with fluctuating temperatures creates soil movement; the area prone to movement is known as the “active zone”.  A reason helical screw piles are so effective against ground movement is that so long as the helical is anchored below the active zone, it will secure the slender pile shaft firmly in place.

If you use a double helix screw pile in expansive clay, it is imperative that BOTH helices be anchored below the active zone, otherwise the pressure created by expansive clay on the second helix could result in heaving.

Some might be quick to say, “no big deal, we will just get both helices below the active zone.”  This may be possible but most likely only through the use of extensions and sometimes even extensions won’t work.

The frost line in Winnipeg is as deep as 8 feet and the “active zone” should be considered at the same depth.  The minimum engineered design requirements of a double helix screw pile dictate that the distance between the helices be a minimum of 3 times the diameter of smaller bottom helix.  Assuming the bottom helix is small and only 8 inches in diameter, you just added 2 feet to your pile.  Since the bottom helix generally ends at or around  6 inches from the bottom of the pile and you need at least 6 inches of pile above grade to allow for heaving, you now require a pile at least 11 feet in length to guarantee that both helices are anchored below the active zone.

Most Winnipeg piling contractors carry a 7 to 8 foot helical screw pile (I don’t agree with this length0 but the odd contractor can order 10 foot piles; as an aside Postech Winnipeg only carries 10 foot piles, click this link to learn why:  http://screwpiling.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/8-foot-ground-anchors-in-winnipeg-why-one-piling-contractor-is-going-with-10-foot-screw-piles/.  I don’t know of any piling contractors in the area who carry 11 foot double helix screw piles.

Here’s more on why I indicated that only sometimes is it possible to anchor both helices on a double helix screw pile below the active zone.  Often very dense soil is found below the active zone.  If the soil is dense enough, the pile will reach “refusal” a short distance below the active zone; at refusal the pile has reached its ultimate depth and can not be screwed down any further.  If the pile reaches refusal before the second helix has passed the active zone, extensions won’t work and your foundation will be at great risk of heaving.

There are additional reasons we do not generally carry double helix screw piles, however under certain circumstances where soil tests have been preformed and the engineers are certain a double helix design will not jeopardize a foundation’s stability, we can custom order double helix screw piles.  Note that load tests have proven that a double helix screw pile and a single helix screw pile both carry equivalent capacity should they reach equivalent torque.

If you are looking for a high quality heave proof foundation, call Postech Winnipeg toll free at 1 (855) 4-PILING (474-5464) or locally (204) 793-0653 or email stan@screwpiling.ca.

Do you have a cottage / cabin in Manitoba’s Interlake region which requires lifting / raising to a high and dry foundation?

Postech Winnipeg is proud to help cabin owners in our Interlake region (St. Laurent, Gimli, Winnipeg Beach or Grand Beach) with cottage raising / lifting services.

We will replace your existing foundation with a high and dry screw pile foundation.  Your cottage will sit at the required height on galvanized screw piles which are not only affordable but extremely effective.

Our professional installation team includes a 30 year experienced foundation expert skilled in foundation repair, replacement, raising, leveling, and construction.

Postech Winnipeg can also provide and install retaining walls which will protect your property from deterioration caused by increasing water levels.

For a fast, free, no-obligation quote on a raised / lifted cottage or cabin foundation, contact Postech Winnipeg at 1 (855) 474-5464 (4-PILING) or (204) 793-0653 or email stan@screwpiling.ca.

Want to learn more about Postech Winnipeg?  Check out our new website:  www.manitobascrewpiles.ca

So you are building a deck and for now it’s just a deck you are building.  What you might not realize is that in just a few short years your backyard ambitions will have grown and you’ll soon be planning to add a screened room, four season sunroom, gazebo or pergola or even a monsterously heavy hot tub to your little old deck.

You’re in luck!  Because you chose a Postech Thermal Pile foundation, your professional and friendly installed provided you with a piling report which looks a little like the one below.

Monitoring our hydraulic pressure during the last few inches of installation, we can consult our engineered allowable loads chart to determine the capacity of each pile.

Our piling reports come in particularly handy when you’re speaking with your permitting office to determine if you can build on your existing deck.

Although our piles are typically over capacity for most decks, if you do still require additional support – not a problem!  Just give us a call and with the temporary removal of a couple deck boards and one or two sections of railing, we can reach over and install additional piles right under your existing deck.

For a superior customer experience, please call Postech Winnipeg at 793-0653 or visit us at www.manitobascrewpiles.ca.  We proudly serve Winnipeg, rural Manitoba and Cottage Country.

As a contractor or DIY (do it yourselfer) you can appreciate anything that makes the building process faster and more efficient.

One minor difference but significant difference between Postech Thermal Piles and Groundhog style anchors is that your typical ground anchor is designed to be installed to grade.  The problem is that grade varies in height according to slope – this translates to a requirement to cut posts at varying heights to level your foundation.

Postech Thermal Piles feature a larger diameter shaft and a longer 10′ pile, this means we can install piles up to 18″ above grade without compromising lateral support or risking that the helical is above the frost line (note: the frost line is up to 8′ in Winnipeg).  Using a laser level Postech’s professional installers can install each pile to the exact height you require or at minimum to the exact same height – this means you can cut each post the exact same height or even put your beam directly on the piles.

Like some other ground anchors on the market, Postech Thermal Piles feature adjustable head adapters to help you further fine tune your foundation’s level.

For a professional grade foundation for your building project, please contact Postech Winnipeg at 204.793.0653 or at stan@screwpiling.ca.  Proudly serving Winnipeg, rural Manitoba and cottage country.

Are you looking at a renovation but you don’t have the cash?  Perhaps you are addicted to collecting credit card reward points?  Whatever your situation, Postech Winnipeg is offering a quick and convenient way to purchase piling services.

The choice is yours, we accept Visa, Mastercard, Interac, cheque and cash. 

For a fast and professional screw piling contractor in the Winnipeg, rural Manitoba or cottage country areas, call Postech Winnipeg at 793-0653 or visit www.manitobascrewpiles.ca.

In the spring of 2011 I was building a deck which was to be supported by sonotube® style piles.  I picked up the phone and started calling piling contractors.  I called 13 contractors listed in Winnipeg’s Yellow Pages and what do you think was the result?  Two contractors answered the phone, one was professional (quoted a very high amount and long waiting period) and the other seemed annoyed that I phoned and got him out of bed at 11:00am.  Of the remaining 11 calls made, six had answering machines and five just rang and rang.  I left six messages and did not receive one call back.  At the time I was a partner in an executive search firm thinking, “This would never fly in my industry.”

A true entrepreneur at heart, I saw this out right lack of professionalism as a huge opportunity, thinking “what if I brought the level of professionalism expected in executive search to the piling industry?”  Now, I just needed a product that demonstrated a level of quality and performance that would complement the idea of a superior customer experience.  In my research I came across Postech Metal Foundations; their Thermal Pile product blew me away.

In all aspects, the Postech system screamed quality and performance.  In an industry where most companies are trying to shave dollars, I learned that Postech buys Canadian cold-rolled steel from a single mill, maximizing quality control and assurance.  I then started to understand the benefits of Postech Thermal Pile’s insulated design, additional insurance for a product inherently designed for extreme climate performance.

What got me even more excited was that, until recently, this company and their product has been eastern Canada’s best kept secret (Winnipeg still hadn’t caught on)!  Postech started in 1995 and since that time has taken over the Quebec market; traditional concrete piling companies are now on Quebec’s endangered species list and have nearly been wiped off the map entirely.  Why?  Evolution of course!  The benefits of the insulated steel augured pile far surpass those of the sonotube® style concrete piles.  .

As a partner in an executive search firm with admittedly limited experience in heavy construction (I did flip homes and fix up properties for rent), I could appreciate that Postech insists on putting every dealer through an intense certification process where they learn to install piles professionally each and every time.  As the leading screw pile company in Canada, Postech has their system down to a science and have systematized everything so that new dealers can provide the same quality of installation as a seasoned veteran.

My last reason for choosing Postech was that their commitment to professionalism mirrored my own.  In comparing all of my options, I found Postech to have the deepest commitment to research and development and an insatiable desire to maintain their leading position within the industry.

From all this, VersaPile Premium Foundations, Inc. (operating as Postech Winnipeg) was born with the mission of changing the game in the local piling industry.  VersaPile raises the bar, not by a notch or two, but by leaps and bounds so that Manitobans no longer need to deal with typical contractors or cheap products.  Our promise is to delight you with a customer experience and quality product never before seen.

To learn more about Postech Winnipeg, please visit our website:  www.manitobascrewpiles.ca.

To contact Stan Higgins, Owner of VersaPile Premium Foundations, Inc., call 204.793.0653.

A local home builder called in a pinch.  They had arranged for our competitors to install 16 Groundhog style ground anchors for a deck in Birds Hill, Manitoba.  The installers tried to turn in three piles and failed each time to get any further than a couple feet.

Problem is our competitors are only equipped to install piles in ideal soil conditions, they are unable to install screw piles when there are rocks or when the soil is tightly packed gravel.  Using our excavator and our carbide drilling bit, we were able to install 12 heavy duty screw piles to support the deck.  Did you catch that?  That’s right, we were able to save our customer the cost of four screw piles by using Postech’s higher capacity Thermal Piles.

Do you have a tough to complete piling job where other piling contractors have failed?  Give Postech Winnipeg a call, we are equipped to tackle nearly any piling project you might require and are excited by a challenge.

For a fast, free, no-obligation quote on a premium Postech Thermal Pile foundation, please call Stan at 204.793.0653 or email stan@screwpiling.ca.  For more information check out www.manitobascrewpiles.ca.

Are you building a garage?  Want a cost effective, fast and efficient foundation solution?  Heavy duty professional grade screw piles are the answer!

Below are before and after pictures of a garage project Postech Winnipeg completed just outside of Beausejour, Manitoba.

For a fast, free and no-obligation quote on screw piles for your garage project, please call Stan at Postech Winnipeg – 204.793.0653.

Proudly serving Winnipeg, rural Manitoba and cottage country!

Want to learn more about Postech Winnipeg’s approach to screw piling?  Check out this video and learn more about how Postech Winnipeg is dollar for dollar Manitoba’s best choice for a solid foundation.

Postech Winnipeg proudly installs the country’s best helical screw pile foundations in Winnipeg, rural Manitoba and cottage country.

For a fast, free, no-obligation quote, please contact Stan Higgins, Independent Owner of Postech Winnipeg at 204-793-0653 or via email at stan@versapile.com.

Postech Winnipeg would like to extend a huge thanks to Winnipeg and its surrounding communities as well as Manitoba’s cottage country for what has been a fantastic first year in the area.

It’s clear that Manitobans are interested in an innovative technology that not only makes the building process quicker and easier but that is 100% effective against ground movement due to frost.

Already this year, Postech Winnipeg has installed nearly 1,000 Thermal Piles with interest in our services growing all the time.  We have earned repeat business from contractors who previously used the same concrete or ground anchor piling companies for years and years.

Thank you and cheers to a promising 2013!

Late October 2012 we posted an article regarding piles we had installed for a home foundation in East St. Paul – http://winnipegscrewpiles.com/2012/10/30/another-new-build-home-foundation-on-postech-thermal-piles/

This post is an update on the same project.

Now that the basement walls are in place and the site has been back-filled, Postech Winnipeg returned to the now frozen site to complete the piling required for the attached garage.

Each of Postech Winnipeg’s heavy duty screw piles were installed to depths of 30 feet to 33 feet and feature cement head adapters.  The next step in the building process is to complete the form work and pour a grade beam so that the garage can be framed.

Stay tuned for more updates regarding this exciting screw piling project!

Are you building a home and want to consider this innovative and effective piling system which can be installed quickly in any weather conditions and that requires zero curing?  Call Stan Higgins, Independent Owner of Postech Winnipeg directly at 204.793.0653 for a fast, free, no-obligation estimate.

What to know more about Postech Winnipeg Screw Piles? Check out this 8 page information package…

The Solid Choice – Postech Winnipeg Advantage

Let’s have coffee! Give Stan Higgins, Independent Owner of Postech Winnipeg Screw Piles a call at 204.793.0653; he’d love to meet with you over coffee to discuss your building project(s).

Recently we received a call from a customer, Patrick, looking to rebuild a deck.  The deck was originally built, like many low decks, on cement pads and posts that supported joists.  The deck served it’s purpose for approx. 5 years but gradually lost it’s shape and required an overhaul.

Determined to rebuild a solid deck that would last for many years to come, Patrick came across Postech Screw Piles and decided to give us a call.  We consulted with him regarding the best practice of either using a flush beam or trenched beam design.  Preferring the ever solid and great looking joists on top of beam design, Patrick opted to trench and use void form as we suggested.  Below is a series of pictures which show just how a beam can be set low the ground without the fear that the ground will heave and push up on the underside.

If you are building a low deck (under 2ft from ground to underside of joists) then you don’t have to build on piles and you have the choice to build on concrete pads / deck blocks.  But, if you’re like Patrick and want a rock solid deck that will last for years and years without any movement, then consider building Postech Winnipeg Screw Piles; you won’t be sorry you built on our guaranteed 10.5foot premium quality screw piles!

For more information about Postech Screw Piles Winnipeg, visit http://www.screwpiling.ca or to call us to talk about your low deck project at (204) 793.0653 or email stan@screwpiling.ca.

We would like to sincerely thank Patrick for sharing his project with us to help other DIY customers build their decks right.

Retiring at the lake, the Silvari’s wanted to replace their cottage with something newer, larger and that wasn’t going to require yearly re-leveling.

In September 2014 the Postech Screw Piles Winnipeg crew ventured out to the Lac Du Bonnet area to install a screw pile foundation for the new mobile home / cottage that would be delivered within a few weeks.

The building site had a sharp slope with one row of piles being a foot or so from grade and the other six feet. Postech’s versatile piling equipment was able to access the site and perform the installation without issue.

Each of the piles were installed perfectly but the crew left without setting the final height of the adjustable adapters with the laser level. This was unacceptable because the customer deserved a foundation that was perfectly level and ready for their mobile home delivery. The customer was willing to take a 6 foot level and spend an hour to get the adapters as level as he could but we refused his offer and the crew made a special trip with their laser level to make it right.

Postech Screw Piles Winnipeg is proud to earn many 10 out of 10 feedback scores from its customers and a long list of testimonials. Yes, the overwhelming majority of our customers experience zero issues and the job is done 100% the first time. However, we are especially proud of the 10 out of 10’s we earn by making things right even if it means spending the money and time to return to an out of town project to complete a simple 15 minute task.

“Your customer service is second to none! We have never dealt with anyone that provides better customer service than Stan. He is so friendly and can be counted on. That goes a long way. Keep up what you are doing and you will forever be successful. Thanks!” – The Silvari’s

Postech Screw Piles Winnipeg strives to deliver a perfect customer experience each and every time but being humans in an imperfect world, we don’t always meet our goal on the first try. However, we continually make changes to our business system and processes based on the lessons we learn in the field and from the valued feedback we receive from customers. We own mistakes and oversights and make it right.

If you have a building project and want a foundation that is installed by professionals who stand behind their work, contact Stan Higgins at 204.793.0653 or visit http://www.screwpiling.ca.

Imagine heading to school to learn and grow but your basic survival instincts consumed your thoughts with a need for food you weren’t likely to eat until much later in the day.

Postech Winnipeg Screw Piles would like to thank its customers for the ability to found and continually support the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre’s Fuel 4 School program.

Fuel 4 School piggybacks on the Centre’s very successful Kids Cooking and dinner programs. Youth participating in Fuel 4 School may not regularly have a healthy and filling breakfast or lunch; sometimes dinner at Broadway is the only meal they eat that day. Now, with proceeds donated by Postech Winnipeg and a funding agency grant, youth can not only prepare a healthy and filling dinner but also a bagged breakfast, lunch and snack for the next day.

November 18th, 2014 was the official kick off for Fuel 4 School with 20 jumbo bags full of healthy food to fuel the next school day.

Check out http://www.thebnc.ca for more about the great things happening everyday at the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre or contact Lawrence Mulhall, Executive Director, at 204.772.9253 to find out how to get involved.

In August of 2014 Postech Screw Piles undertook extensive third-party engineer led and supervised testing in Winnipeg’s famous gumbo / clay soils.

The testing site was not ideal, in fact the soil was downright terrible at ~30kPa, highly moist and plastic soft clay soil. The soil content was 83% clay, 15% silt and 2% sand.

Some companies might have chosen another test site to ensure their products performed at an optimal level, however, we were thrilled to have found less than desirable soil for our testing. It’s one thing to prove your product works in ideal conditions, it’s another to ensure your data remains true when the soil is less than ideal.

One of our goals was to determine the relationship between the torque applied during installation and the overall capacity of the piles. The result was that torque was a reliable indication of capacity to a certain point. Once torque exceeded 4,000lbs-ft it the relationship was less predictable.

Once all the data was crunched by another ISO certified third party engineering firm, it was submitted to the National Research Council for review and consideration in revising the Postech Screw Piles CCMC report 13102-R.

In March 2015 we received our revised CCMC report 13102-R which now includes the data collected, reviewed and verified from the testing conducted in Winnipeg, MB as well as other testing conducted in Eastern Canada. Below are some key points from our new CCMC report:

– New torque installation chart for clay soils up to 9,500lbs; we involve geotechnical investigations when capacities exceed 9,500lbs.
– Expanded torque installation chart for cohesionless soils (sand, silt, granular, etc.) over 28,000lbs.
– 45% more torque is applied when installing in clay vs. cohesionless soils.
– A need for engineering of buildings only, other structures such as decks, sunrooms, gazebos, sheds, docks, etc. do not require an engineer to determine spacing, capacities, etc. unless specifically required by the building officials in the area.
– No need for an engineer stamped piling report on most projects; a certificate of conformity from a Certified Postech Screw Piles Installer is all that is needed.
– Inclusion of piles with shaft sizes ranging from 1-7/8″ to 6-5/8″.
– The addition of double as well as triple helical designs.
– Inclusion of helical sizes from 8″ to 26″.

Postech Screw Piles do not offer the highest capacity screw piles in clay but we do offer a screw pile and installation process that will perform even in the worst clay Winnipeg, MB has to offer. If you don’t want to leave your clay soils project to chance, Postech Screw Piles are an excellent investment.

Locally tested and nationally approved, Postech Screw Piles Manitoba – 1-855-4-PILING or 204-793-0653. Visit http://www.screwpiling.ca for more information or for a copy of our new CCMC report 13102-R email stan@screwpiling.ca.

Is it true?  Does Postech Screw Piles Manitoba and NW Ontario use hovercraft excavators?

One might think this is the case, however the pictures in the slideshow below show Postech’s installers working hard to make it look like an excavator never crossed over the freshly laid paver patio walkway.

There are many reasons to choose Postech Screw Piles for your project, our attention to ensuring as little to no impact to your landscape / property is simply one.

For a fast, free and no-obligation estimate call 204.793.0653 or visit http://www.screwpiling.ca.