American Ground Screw distributor · Stocked in metro Atlanta · Serving all Georgia
Galvanized ground screws set without excavation, wherever a structure needs to meet the ground. Code-listed under ICC-ES ESR-4226 and load-ready the same day. Stocked in metro Atlanta, supplied and installed across Georgia.
The argument is different depending on which one you are, so start where it fits.
What it sets
The same screw and the same equipment across all of them. The advantage grows with a hard site, a high footing count, or a schedule that cannot absorb a cure.
Set to plan without altering soils inside a tree's critical root zone — the situation metro Atlanta's tree ordinances are written around, and the one a poured footing struggles with.
Footings set to plan without tearing up the yard, then framed the same day. Ideal for the tighter, tree-covered lots common across intown Atlanta.
A level, load-rated platform on grade for accessory dwellings and outbuildings — including sloped and wooded lots where a slab is impractical.
Dozens of footings driven fast and to spec, with embedment verified on every screw. Consistent reveal and racking geometry across the whole array.
Contractors source American Ground Screw screws, brackets, and drive accessories from us — code-rated stock held in metro Atlanta, on hand for pickup and shipped anywhere in Georgia, with sizing help.
Want a pergola or patio cover where an old concrete patio already sits? We bore through the slab at a diameter that clears the shaft, then drive into the soil beneath it. The patio stays where it is, the demolition bill disappears, and there is nothing to re-pour.
A delivered building needs a level, load-rated base before the truck arrives. Screws give one on a sloped or wooded lot in a morning, with no pad to pour and no waiting on a cure. We work with dealers as well as owners.
No bags, no mixing, no water, no cure. A driven post foundation is set and loaded the same hour, which matters most when there are dozens of them and a schedule.
Narrow intown lots, no side access, a finished lawn nobody wants rutted. The equipment is handheld, so the footing arrives where a mixer never could — and there is no spoil pile to haul out afterwards.
When the schedule cannot absorb a concrete cure, driven footings keep trades moving. Signage, canopies, modular units, and phased site work stay on the critical path.
A container needs level, load-rated bearing at its corner castings and nothing else. Screws give that on ground a slab would have to be poured across, and they come back out if the container ever moves on.
Enclosures and inverter gear need a stable, level base near the array rather than a poured pad. Screws set one in the same visit as the mounts, on the same equipment.
Sign work is many small foundations on a schedule, often on finished sites where digging means restoring landscaping afterwards. Driven posts avoid both, and breakaway and campus pole work follows the same pattern.
Walkways along lakes and waterways where a concrete pour is impractical to get to and unwelcome next to the water. Screws are driven from the walkway as it advances.
Post-frame construction already sets its loads on discrete points, which is exactly what a screw is. It replaces the augured-and-poured pier at every post without changing how the building goes up.
How it works
The screw is a hot-dip galvanized shaft with a conical thread that displaces soil outward as it turns, compacting it rather than removing it. Capacity comes from the screw's diameter and the soil it sits in; length is chosen for the site. Nothing is excavated, nothing is formed, and nothing has to cure, so the footing takes its load as soon as it is set.
Screw diameter, length and count come from the loads and the soil. We work these out with you, and per-job foundation design is available through an engineering house licensed in Georgia when a reviewer wants a stamp.
A low-speed, high-torque drive head turns each screw to its specified embedment. The handheld equipment reaches sites a mixer cannot, and the embedment is logged screw by screw.
An insertable flange or bracket sets the structure on the screw at the height you need. Because there is no cure, the next trade starts the same day.
Ground screws vs. poured concrete
A ground screw is a galvanized steel shaft driven into undisturbed soil to a rated depth. Here is how that changes a footing job.
| Criteria | Ground screw | Poured concrete |
|---|---|---|
| Site work | No excavation | Dig, spoil, haul-off |
| Tree critical root zone | Driven, not dug — often proceeds without altering the CRZ | Digging inside the CRZ can trigger a Tree Conservation Plan, or be barred outright |
| Schedule to load | Same-day, load-ready | Days of cure time |
| Sloped, wet, or rocky sites | Works | Difficult |
| Tight or limited access | Handheld or compact drive | Needs truck access |
| Code capacity | ICC-ES ESR-4226 rated | Prescriptive / engineered |
| Removable & reusable | Yes — unthread and relocate | No — demolition |
Digging a footing means altering soil inside a tree's critical root zone, which is what a city's tree ordinance exists to restrict. A driven screw does not require that excavation, so it is often the shorter path back to a permitted project. The rule is different in every city, and the formula, the encroachment cap and the permit trigger all vary.
We have read Decatur, Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Brookhaven and Avondale Estates against their own ordinance text and set out what each requires.
Common questions
Most of these arrive from someone mid-permit, mid-quote, or mid-argument with a site that will not cooperate.
Yes. A galvanized ground screw is a code-listed footing carrying the same design loads as a poured pier. Every screw is driven to a rated depth in undisturbed soil, and because nothing has to cure, the deck can be framed the same day the footings go in.
This is the situation we see most. A dug footing removes soil from inside the critical root zone; a driven screw displaces it instead, without trenching or auguring through the root plate. Whether that satisfies your reviewer depends on the ordinance and the arborist, and those differ across metro Atlanta. Our tree and root-zone page sets out what each jurisdiction requires.
Yes. We bore through the slab at a diameter that clears the shaft and drive into the soil beneath. The patio stays, which is usually the point: a pergola or cover can go up over a slab nobody wants to demolish and re-pour.
Then this is a straightforward job rather than a difficult one. The drive equipment is handheld, so it goes down a side yard, through a gate, or across a finished lawn. Nothing is excavated, so there is no spoil pile to barrow out afterwards.
A typical ten-screw residential job is a single morning. There is no cure period, so your framing crew is not waiting on us and does not lose a day to the calendar.
Pricing is per screw and turns on size, count, and how hard the site is to reach. Send us the site and the load and we will tell you whether screws are the right call — including when they are not, which happens on open, easily dug lots where a poured footing is simply cheaper.
Why it holds
Each screw is driven to an embedment depth that corresponds to a rated bearing capacity for the soil it sits in. There is no forming, no rebar, no waiting on a pour — and no excavation to account for on a Tree Conservation Plan. The listing under ICC-ES ESR-4226 gives your plan reviewer and engineer a documented capacity to design against.
Plans, a sketch, or a few site photos are enough for a first-pass quote. Straight answer either way — including when concrete is the better call.