Adding a room, a wall or a post that needs a base? We size it from your plans and dig to firm ground.
A concrete footing is the wider base under a wall, post or column that spreads its weight into the soil, and in East Los Angeles we dig, form and pour them for additions, block walls, porches and patio covers.
Most people call us because something new has to stand on the ground. A room addition, a garden wall, a carport post. Sometimes it's an old wall that's cracking because the footing under it was too small or sat on loose fill. Either way, a footing is buried the day it's poured, so whatever goes wrong stays wrong as long as the wall stands.
The price moves with the size of the footing, which your plans and the loads set, plus how much digging there is and how hard your yard is to reach. A footing along an open side yard is a different job than one dug behind a garage. When I come out, I measure it and give you a written quote that spells out what's included.
The calendar usually turns on the permit and the inspection more than on the dig, and we check with the right office for your address before we set a date, then handle the permit and inspections when your job needs one. Rain or a soft spot in the trench can push the pour back, because we won't pour into mud.
Beyond the size and the dig, a few things decide how a footing job goes and what it costs. These are the ones I look at on every visit.
The steel inside a footing, called rebar, keeps the concrete from cracking apart under the weight. It sits on supports so concrete wraps it on every side, and any anchor bolts or dowels that tie your wall to the footing get set with that steel, because they're hard to add right once the concrete hardens.
Tight side yards, fences and back lots change how the trench gets dug and how the concrete gets to it. Where a machine fits, the dig goes faster. Where it doesn't, our crew digs by hand and the concrete may have to be pumped or wheeled in, and that shows up in the price and the timing.
We look at where water runs on your lot before we dig, because a trench that collects runoff turns soft and a wall that sits in a wet spot keeps taking water against it. Sometimes that means changing the grade along the wall or planning a drain line in with the footing.
From the first call to the final walk, you deal with me on the quote and our crew lead on the work. Here's how it goes.
Call (213) 338-1030 or send the form on this page with your address and what the footing will hold up. We get back to you to set up a visit, and we pick up seven days a week, 7 AM to 11 PM.
I come out myself, measure, look at any plans you have and ask how you'll use what goes on top. I also find out which office handles your address, then you get a written quote.
Our crew lead runs the job with our own crew. We dig to firm ground, set the forms and steel, and check the trench sizes and any required inspection before the concrete goes in.
Our crew lead cleans up the site, and I walk the finished footing with you before we pack up. I'll also tell you what to watch for while the concrete cures.
Footing size comes from the plans and the loads, so we don't guess at it. Once we know the size, our crew digs to firm ground, and if a spot turns soft or we go past the line, we fix it the approved way instead of tossing loose dirt back in. If the new footing ties into an older foundation that's dropped, foundation raising may need to come first.
We keep the trench clean and dry, because mud on the steel or water sitting in the bottom can mess up both the pour and the inspection, and the trench is ready for inspection before the truck shows up. If a driveway or patio is in the way, we use concrete cutting to open a clean line instead of hammering it out.
The footing is the part nobody sees after day one, which makes it the first place a low bid saves money, with a shallower trench, less steel or a pour into mud. I'd rather lose a job by quoting it right than win it by skipping steps, because a wall that cracks later costs a lot more than the footing did.
We pour the footing first, get it inspected, then come back for the slab or wall. It takes an extra trip, but each part gets checked by itself before the next one goes on.
Where the plans call for it, the footing and slab go in as one pour. That saves a truck day, but forms, steel and the inspection all have to be ready at once, so prep runs longer.
We respond within 1 business day to set up a visit. The estimate is free, done at your property and obligation-free. After I measure and look at your plans, you get a written quote that spells out what's included.
(213) 338-1030East Los Angeles goes through the county for building permits, and county Public Works has an East Los Angeles office that handles them. The county requires permits for new building, additions and repairs, and its permit pages are where you can look things up. We find out what your footing needs before we set a date, and when it needs a permit, we take care of it and the inspections.
County inspectors check that the work matches the permit, with checks along the way and a final inspection that closes out the job, and owners or crews request them through the county's EPIC-LA system. If you want to know whether your lot sits in a mapped earthquake hazard zone, or in an area the state hasn't evaluated yet, type your address into the state's EQ Zapp map.
Most of the cities around us run their own permit counters, so a footing in Montebello or Monterey Park starts with that city's office instead of the county. Most of the footing calls we get are for room additions behind older houses, block walls along a property line and posts for patio covers, often on narrow lots with a driveway down one side.
I worked concrete every summer through school, hauling forms and finishing next to guys who'd done it for decades, and I started this business in 2013. That's 13 years of footings, foundations and flatwork, and I still do the estimates myself, so the person who measured your trench line is the one who answers for the price.
Our crew lead runs every footing job on site with our own crew, from the first shovel to cleanup, so the people who set the steel are the ones there for the inspection. We're fully licensed and insured. Every job is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
If you've got plans, or just an idea of what the footing will carry, call (213) 338-1030 or send us the form and I'll come take a look.
When the old foundation next to your new work has settled, raising it back to level first gives the new footing something true to tie into.
Clean saw cuts through an existing driveway, patio or slab let us open a trench where the footing has to go without cracking the concrete you're keeping.
We're based in East Los Angeles and pour footings in the cities around it, like Montebello, Downey and Monterey Park, plus plenty of others nearby. If your city isn't listed, call anyway.
A continuous footing fits a load spread along a whole wall, and a pad footing fits a load at one point, like a single pier or column. An addition or block wall usually sits on continuous footings, while a porch post or patio cover post sits on pads. Your plans show which one goes where.
The building's loads, the soil and the adopted code decide a footing's width, thickness, depth and steel, so every project gets its own size. An online calculator only helps once those sizes are known, to estimate how much concrete to order. We build to the sizes on your plans.
Not always, because the county exempts retaining walls up to 4 feet, footing included, as long as nothing is loaded on the ground above them. A wall holding back a driveway, a slope with a house on it or anything else pressing from above doesn't get that exemption. We check with the county for your address before we set a date.
A contractor with the state's concrete classification can form, pour, place and finish concrete, but a firm whose only business is setting reinforcing steel isn't covered by that class. The state license board's guide says minor work under $500 total, labor and materials included, needs no contractor license unless it's part of a bigger project.
The cost comes from your footing's size, the depth of the dig, how easy your yard is to reach and what the permit requires, so I price each job after seeing it. I come out, measure and give you a written quote that spells out what's included, so you're looking at a real number before anyone digs.
Have your plans ready and clear a path to the dig, moving cars, planters and anything stacked along the wall line. Tell us about any sprinkler, gas or electric lines you know of, and keep kids and pets out of the work area while the trench is open.
You wait for the concrete to cure, the slow hardening that keeps going for days after the pour, before walls or posts go on top. The weather and the plans affect that wait, so I'll tell you when the next trade can start.
Call (213) 338-1030 or send the form with your address and any plans, so your footing is in and curing before the framers or the wall crew show up.
