Planning a wall, an addition or a heavy post and need something solid under it? We set footings that hold their place.
Concrete footings are concrete reinforced with rebar, the steel bars that carry the load, set in a trench under a wall, a post or a foundation. Here in Irvine we size each one for what it will carry and the ground it sits on, so the structure above stays put instead of settling.
Most people call us when they're planning a room addition, a block wall or a heavy patio cover and need something solid under it. We're based in Irvine and work across Orange County, and the work is the same everywhere. We dig the trench, set the forms and steel, and pour. What changes is the ground and the load, and that's where the care goes.
The price moves with how many footings you need, how deep and wide they go and how hard the site is to dig, and the schedule mostly turns on whether a permit, an engineer's design or HOA approval comes first. If an existing foundation has already sunk, that's foundation raising, and when a new footing has to go through an old slab, we start with concrete cutting.
Call (949) 518-3401 or use the form, and tell us your address and what the footings will carry. We'll set a time for me to come out.
I walk the site, take measurements, ask how you'll use what goes on top and look over any soil report or engineer's plans. You get a written estimate that shows what's included, so you know exactly what you're paying for.
If the job needs a city permit, we prepare and file it and keep you posted on where it stands, and if you're in an HOA we give you the drawings their approval needs. Then our crew digs the trenches and sets the forms and rebar to the design.
Our own crew does the pour, with me or my foreman running it on site. Before we leave, we walk the finished work with you and clean up after ourselves.
Before we dig, I ask what the footings will carry, because a wall and a single post call for very different footings. Where you have a soil report or an engineer's design, we build to it, depth, width and steel included. When a project needs that soil report, the city requires a qualified civil or geotechnical engineer to prepare and sign it, and it tells us what foundation to build and how to handle swelling soil.
That matters here because the ground isn't the same from lot to lot. Building guidance from a neighboring city, written a few code updates back, notes that most Orange County cities share the same earthquake design rating and that expansive soil turns up in some areas. So I don't treat any two yards as alike until I've seen them.
What a footing job with us covers:
A footing that has cracked or sunk usually can't be patched in place, since the trouble is often the soil under it, not the concrete. If the structure above is sound and just out of level, raising it may be the better fix, and I'll tell you so. If the footing was too small for its load from the start, I'd sooner replace it than dress it up, because a patch on a weak footing only buys time.
The design sets most of it, since deeper, wider footings with more steel take more concrete and more labor. Access counts too, because a tight side yard, hard ground or an old slab in the way slows the digging. If a budget has to give somewhere, I'd rather you trim a finish above ground than the trench or the steel, because nobody sees those once the pour is done, and they decide how everything above holds up.
I learned this trade under an old-school boss who made me tear out forms and set them again until they were right, and I've run United Irvine Concrete that way since 2013. He taught me that what's under the concrete matters more than what's on top, and on a footing job that's nearly the whole job.
We do what the written estimate says, and if something changes once the ground is open, I'll explain it to you before we carry on. Our crew keeps the mess to the work area and leaves your property as tidy as we found it. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Call (949) 518-3401 with your address, what the footings will carry and any HOA plans, and I'll come out and measure.
Tell us your address, what the footings will carry and whether you have a soil report or HOA plans. We'll reply within one business day to set a free on-site estimate, with no obligation.
A continuous footing runs the full length of a foundation or wall to spread its weight into the soil, while a pad footing sits under one concentrated load, such as a pier, post or column. The choice follows what the footing carries, which is why that's the first thing I ask about on an estimate.
Expansive soil is a common cause, because it swells when it's wet and shrinks when it dries, and that movement often goes beyond what a house can tolerate. That's why I bring up the soil early on any footing job, and why we follow the soil report when there is one.
Usually yes, because the Contractors State License Board requires a license for minor work that needs a permit of any kind, or where the person doing it hires workers, even when the job is under $1,000. The board lists a C-8 Concrete Contractor class for those who form, pour and finish concrete, so it's fair to ask any bidder about their license. For our part, we're licensed and insured.
Don't assume you can skip one, because the city's list of minor projects that need no permit names fences under 6 feet and some low retaining walls, but not footings. You can ask Irvine's Building & Safety office about your project. If you're in an HOA, plan on their approval as well, since the city asks for a copy of the HOA-approved plans with the application.
Type your address into the state's EQ Zapp tool, which shows whether the property sits in a mapped earthquake hazard zone and whether the state has evaluated that area yet. The state's hazard zone rules exempt single-family frame homes up to two stories that aren't part of a development of four or more units, though the city can set stricter rules than the state does.
It depends on the footing design, how many you need and how hard the site is to dig, so I give you a written figure after I've measured instead of a guess over the phone. A soil report or an engineer's plans let me price the job closely, so have them ready if you've got them.
We're based in Irvine and build footings in Tustin, Costa Mesa and the cities around them. Pick your city below, or call (949) 518-3401 if yours isn't listed.
