How a steel press pier works
A press pier is a column of steel sections hydraulically pressed into the ground beneath a load-bearing point, using the weight of the structure itself as the reaction force. Sections are added until the pier stops advancing — refusal — which means it has reached soil capable of carrying the load.
The important property is that the soil determines the depth. Nobody has to predict how deep competent strata sits, because the pier keeps going until it finds it. On East Texas sites where fill depth and clay layers vary from one corner of a house to the other, that is a real advantage.
Once every pier is at refusal, the lift is done across many piers simultaneously in small increments, so the structure comes back to elevation as one piece rather than being jacked up corner by corner.
How a drilled and poured concrete pier works
A drilled pier is a hole bored to a designed depth, reinforced with steel and filled with concrete, which then cures before it takes any load. Depth comes from the design rather than from refusal, so the quality of the site assessment matters more.
Poured piers have real advantages: a large bearing area at the base, good performance in stable soils, and no dependence on the structure's own weight during installation. They also need cure time before the lift, which lengthens the job.
What actually decides which one
Soil profile first. Where competent strata sits at an unpredictable depth — deep or variable fill, creek bottoms, made ground — a pier driven to refusal removes the guesswork. Where soils are consistent and well understood, a designed poured pier performs excellently.
Then the structure and access. Press piers need enough structural weight to react against, which is not an issue on a typical brick-veneer house but can be on a light structure. Drilled piers need equipment access to the pier locations, which tight side yards and mature landscaping sometimes rule out.
Then schedule. Press piers are loaded the same day; poured piers need to cure. On an occupied house that difference is worth considering.
The question to actually ask
Ask what the contractor installs when the answer is not the system they just quoted you, and why they chose this one for your house specifically. A contractor who works with both should be able to explain the soil reasoning in a couple of sentences.
We use both, chosen by soil and access rather than by what we would rather sell. On most East Texas slab work that means steel press piers driven to refusal, and we will tell you plainly when your site is better served by poured concrete.
Side by side
| Steel Press Piers | Drilled Concrete Piers | |
|---|---|---|
| Depth determined by | Refusal — the soil decides | Design — the engineer or contractor decides |
| Installation force | Hydraulic, reacting against the structure | Augered hole, poured and cured |
| Load transfer | Same day | After the concrete cures |
| Best suited to | Variable or deep fill, unpredictable strata | Consistent, well-characterised soils |
| Access needs | Modest — works in tight side yards | Drilling equipment must reach each location |
| Bearing area | Smaller, but at depth on competent soil | Larger base area |
| Structure weight | Needs enough weight to react against | Independent of structure weight |
| Job duration | Shorter — no cure time | Longer — cure time before lifting |