Planning a patio cover, a block wall or a heavy fence? We find out what it will carry, then pour footings that hold it level.
Concrete footings in Murrieta are the concrete we pour under a wall, a post or a column so its weight spreads over enough soil that the ground is never pushed past what it can safely carry.
Most calls start with something new going up, like a patio cover, a block wall or a heavy fence, and a question about what has to go under it. The footing is the part nobody sees once the job is done, which is exactly why it gets rushed. If it's too small for the load, the thing on top is where the problem shows.
The price moves mostly with the soil and the load. Weaker soil needs wider footings, and wider means more digging and more concrete, so it costs more. How many footings, how long the wall run is and whether we cut through an existing slab add to it. The schedule usually turns on any permit review and the cure time. After I measure, your written estimate gives the figure for your job.
Three things settle most footing jobs before we dig: what sits on top, whether the soil near the surface can carry it, and what a soils report says when the work is structural.
A pad footing, also called a spread footing, is a single block of concrete under one post or column. A strip footing is a long, continuous run under a wall or a row of closely spaced posts. The type follows what the footing holds up, so the first thing I'll ask is what you're building on it.
Deep foundations cost more and bring drilling rigs and specialty crews, so the usual rule is to stay shallow when the soil near the surface can carry the load. That call comes from the ground on your lot more than from anyone's preference, which is why we don't settle it before we know the soil.
On anything structural, the load your soil can safely carry comes from a soils report. A geotechnical engineer bores the site, tests the soil and sets how much pressure it can take and how much it may settle. If you're not sure your project is structural enough to need one, ask me at the estimate.
Here's how a footing job runs with us, from the first call to the last look at the finished work, and where the city's timing fits in.
Call (951) 477-4538 or send the form with a line about what you're building. Knowing whether it's a patio cover, a wall or something heavier helps me plan the visit.
I come out, measure the job, look at where water will run and ask how you plan to use what goes on top. Then you get a written estimate, so the scope and the figure are on paper.
Our crew digs, builds the forms and pours. If the job has a permit, the city currently lists processing at 15 business days, so we set the pour date around that.
I walk the finished footings with you. Keep heavy loads off them until the concrete has cured, the slow hardening that gives it strength, and I'll tell you when they're ready for the build.
Every footing job starts with one question from me: what's going to sit on it? A shade post, a block wall and a room addition put very different loads on the ground, and that answer decides the type and size before I measure anything. On anything structural, we build to the engineer's soil numbers instead of a rule of thumb, because those numbers are the real word on what your ground can take.
We dig to the size the plan calls for, keep loose dirt out of the bottom and set rebar, the steel bars inside that help the concrete carry weight without cracking apart. Then we plan where water goes around the footing, because water left standing against it is where the trouble usually starts.
Here's where I'll push back if the budget gets tight. A footing is buried on day one, so it's the easy place to save by going a little narrower or skipping the soils work. I'd rather you trim the finish on what goes above it, because a nice cover on an undersized footing is the job you end up paying for twice.
If an older footing has already settled and pulled a wall or a slab out of level, foundation raising may get it back without starting over. When the new footing has to go through concrete you already have, we handle the concrete cutting so the opening is clean and square.
When the spot is bare dirt or lawn, we dig straight to the size the plan calls for, set the steel and pour. It's the simpler route and usually the quicker one.
When a patio cover or wall lands on concrete you already have, we cut out a section, dig and pour a proper footing, so the old slab isn't asked to carry a load it wasn't built for.
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up a visit. The estimate is free and done at your property, where I measure the job and check where the water goes. You get it in writing, with no obligation.
(951) 477-4538In Murrieta, the city's inspection list puts the footing first for patio covers, awnings and canopies, and for residential walls and fences. On walls, that first visit also covers the pre-grout check, before the block cells get filled. So the inspector sees the footing before anything goes on top, and we have it dug, formed and ready when they arrive.
Whether your particular footing job needs a permit is a question for the city, so we don't guess at it. If we aren't sure, we check with the city before we start, and when a permit is needed, we handle the application and meet the inspector on site. Anything submitted to the city now is held to the current California building codes.
Most of our footing calls come from homeowners adding a patio cover, a backyard wall or a fence, along with some small property owners planning bigger work. We do the same work in Temecula and Menifee, and the way we start a job doesn't change from one city to the next.
The person who measures your job is the person who checks the forms before we pour, and that's me. Our own crew does the work in between. I look over the forms, the wood frames that hold the concrete to shape, because once concrete sets there's no easy way to move a footing even an inch.
I first mixed concrete patching barn floors and setting posts on my family's farm, then learned the trade on other people's crews before starting this business in 2020. That's six years running our own jobs, and careful prep is what we're known for. We're licensed and insured. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
When you're ready, call (951) 477-4538 or send us the form with a line about the project, whether it's a cover, a wall or something heavier. I'll come look at the spot where the footing goes, and we'll talk it through right there.
When an older post, wall or slab has sunk and tilted, lifting it back to level can be the right fix before anything new gets built beside it.
If a new cover post or wall has to land on an existing patio, a clean cut opens the slab so a proper footing can go underneath.
We're based in Murrieta, CA and pour footings across the cities around it, including Temecula, Menifee and Fallbrook. If your city isn't named on the site, give us a call and ask.
We can't give you a fair number until the job's been measured, because the size of each footing comes from your soil and what it has to carry. I write up the estimate after the site visit, so you have a real figure to compare instead of a phone guess. Call (951) 477-4538 to set up a visit.
Concrete footings typically last decades when they're designed for their conditions and built to standard. The ones that fail usually come down to poor drainage, soil that swells when it gets wet, or rusting steel inside them. That's why drainage is part of our plan on every footing job, not something we think about after the pour.
Yes, whenever the job needs a building permit, uses any additional workers or costs $1,000 or more in labor and materials. That's the rule from the California Contractors State License Board, which licenses anyone who builds or alters a structure in the state. Ask whoever you hire for their license before any digging starts.
The longest wait is usually the paperwork, not the digging. If your job needs a permit, the city's processing time comes first, as noted in the steps above, and after the pour the concrete has to cure before the post or wall goes on. I'll go over the dates with you at the estimate.
Know what the footing will hold up, whether that's a patio cover, a wall or something heavier, because that decides the type. Have any drawings or a soils report where I can see them. If the project is structural and you don't have a soils report yet, we'll talk about whether you need one.
Call (951) 477-4538 before you buy a patio cover or order block, so the footing gets sized first and the rest of the job is planned around it.
