Concrete footings in Covina CA - sized for what they carry and the ground under them
Adding a wall, room or patio cover that needs footings? We size each one for its load and ground and plan around the inspection.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
Do you need a concrete footing, and what does the job involve?
The short answer: A concrete footing is the wider band or pad of concrete at the bottom of a wall, column or post that spreads the weight over enough ground to keep it from settling. In Covina we dig, form, reinforce and pour footings for additions, garden walls, patio covers and decks, and most of the calendar goes to the permit and the inspection, not the pour.
Usually you're here because something new is going in, like a room addition, a concrete retaining wall or a heavy patio cover, and the plans call for footings under it. The price moves with how long and how deep the footing runs, what it carries, how much steel goes in it and how easy the ground is to dig. The schedule mostly turns on the permit and the inspection that has to happen before the footing gets covered up. I'll walk your site and give you a written estimate that lists what's included, so you know what you're paying for before anyone digs.
How do you know you need a new footing?
Cracks climbing a block wall
Stair-step cracks or a wall that's started to lean usually mean the footing under it was too small or has moved with the ground. A crack left alone keeps opening, and a wall that has to come down costs a lot more than one caught early.
Posts sinking into the dirt
Patio cover or deck posts set on a loose block or straight into the soil tend to sink unevenly, and you see it as a sagging beam or a gate that won't latch. Every wet season they drop a little more and pull on whatever is bolted to them.
Plans that show footings
Drawings for an addition, a wall or a heavy cover usually show footings sized and drawn under it. The footing is the first thing built and the hardest thing to fix later, so getting it priced early keeps the rest of the project from waiting on it.
How we build concrete footings
I start by asking what the footing is carrying, because a footing gets sized for what sits on it and the ground it bears on, and that decides the width, depth and steel before I put a number on it. On the job, we lay out the line, dig the trench to size, set forms where the dirt won't hold a clean edge and tie in rebar, the steel bars that hold the concrete together when the ground shifts or the load pulls on it. We plan the whole job around the inspection that has to happen before the footing gets covered, so the trench and steel are ready when the inspector shows up and nothing gets buried early. Then we pour, strike the top flat for what goes on it, let it cure, which is the wait while the concrete gains strength before any load goes on, and backfill. Nobody sees a footing once the wall is up, and that's exactly why the trench and the steel get our attention.
Footings often run into other work. When the trench has to cross a patio, walk or driveway, we use concrete cutting to saw out a clean strip so the rest of the slab stays in one piece. If an older footing has already settled and taken part of the house down with it, a new footing beside it usually isn't the fix, so we'd look at foundation raising first.
Footings for walls and additions
A long, continuous footing suits a room addition, a garage wall or a block garden wall, because the weight runs along the whole length. We dig and pour it as one run so the wall sits on the same footing end to end.
Pads for posts and columns
A single pad suits a patio cover, a carport, a deck or any post carrying its own load. Each pad gets sized for the weight on that one post, so you're not paying for concrete the post doesn't need.
Stepped footings on a slope
On a sloped yard, the footing steps down with the grade in level sections instead of running at an angle. That keeps each section sitting flat on firm ground, which matters for a wall built across a hillside lot.
What happens after you call about a footing in Covina?
Here's how a footing job runs with us, from the first call to the walk-through. The longest wait is usually the permit side, so we plan everything else around it.
- Step 01
Call and talk it through
You call or send the form, and we talk through what the footing will hold up and where it goes. That conversation tells me what to look for when I come out.
- Step 02
I visit, measure and estimate
I come out myself to look at the ground and measure the run. You get a written estimate that lists what's included, so the trench, the steel and the concrete are spelled out before you decide.
- Step 03
Permit and plan check first
If the job needs a permit, we take care of it before anything gets scheduled. When the work goes to plan check, the city says the first submittal can take 4 to 6 weeks, so that wait sets your earliest start date.
- Step 04
Pour day and final walk
I'm on site for the pour, and inside Covina we keep loud work out of the hours the city doesn't allow, which are before 7 a.m., after 8 p.m., Sundays and public holidays. When it's done, we walk the finished job with you before we call it done.
Building concrete footings in Covina
Who reviews and inspects your footing depends on your address, so that's the first thing we check. Some Covina addresses actually fall under LA County, and then we work with the county instead of the city's Building & Safety office. The city takes permit applications for new structures, walls and fences once Planning has approved them, but its list doesn't name footings by themselves, so whether your footing needs its own permit is a question we take to that office. The city also wants a site plan with every project no matter the size, so a simple drawing of your lot helps. When a permit is needed, we pull it as the licensed contractor and set up the inspections.
The ground matters too. The state has found that some California properties likely sit on weak soil or rock that can fail in an earthquake, and that can damage what's built on top if grading and construction don't account for it. That's one more reason I ask about the ground before I size anything. We're based in Covina and work in the cities around it across the San Gabriel Valley, and we size footings the same way on jobs in West Covina and Glendora.
Get a written estimate for your footing
We get back to you within one business day to talk through the job, then I come out, look at it and measure. The estimate is free and in writing, and there's no obligation to go ahead.
Why Covina homeowners call Covina Concrete
I'm on site for pour day
I come out to look at the job and write the estimate myself, and a crew I've worked with for years does the forming, pouring and finishing with me there. The person who sized your footing is standing beside it when the concrete goes in.
Concrete full time since 2013
I ran a landscape installation business, kept hiring out the concrete and learned it from the finishers I was paying, then switched over full time in 2013. That's 13 years of pouring, and I'll still tell you straight what your job doesn't need.
Fully licensed and insured contractor
We're fully licensed and insured. California's licensing board defines a concrete contractor as one who forms, pours, places, finishes and installs concrete, and on a footing that's the whole job, from the trench to the pour.
A footing gets buried and built on, so it has to be right before anyone pours. Tell us what yours will carry and I'll come out and measure.
Concrete footing questions from Covina homeowners
How much do concrete footings cost per linear foot?
Installed residential strip footings across the US usually run about $5 to $19 per linear foot. That bundles the concrete, the labor to place and finish it, digging the trench, forms where needed, any rebar and the contractor's overhead and profit, and it moves with the size of the job, the depth and the site. It's a national range, so I'll measure yours and put your number in a written estimate.
What kind of footing do I need for a wall versus a column?
A wall sits on a continuous footing, a strip that runs the full length under it, while a column or pier sits on an isolated footing, a single pad sized for that one load. There are also combined and stepped footings for cases that fit neither, so tell us what will sit on it and we'll start there.
What determines how big a concrete footing needs to be?
A footing's width, thickness, depth and steel come from the load it carries, how much the soil can bear, the seismic design category the code assigns and the building code itself, not from the size of the building alone. That's why no single standard footing works for every house, deck or wall. Ask any contractor what load and soil their size is based on, and I'll tell you mine.
What causes a concrete footing to crack or settle?
Usually it's a footing that was too small for what it carries, or one sitting on ground that softened, moved or washed out underneath. Water running toward it and steel that got left out make it worse. Once a footing has settled, the fix is about the ground and the load, not a patch over the crack.
How long does a concrete footing job take in Covina?
Most of the time goes to the paperwork, not the digging and pouring. If the job goes to plan check, the city's wait for a first submittal that we covered above sets the earliest start, and then the pour gets scheduled around the inspection before the footing is covered.
How do I know if my Covina address is under the city or LA County?
The city says any address over 2999, or any property south of the 10 freeway with a Covina address, is actually in LA County, and those owners deal with the county instead of the city. If you're not sure, send us the address and we'll check it before anything else.
Other concrete work that comes with footings
Concrete cutting
When a new footing has to pass under a patio, walkway or driveway, a clean saw cut opens the strip we need and leaves the rest alone.
Foundation raising
If doors stick, floors slope or cracks keep showing up because an old footing has dropped, lifting the house back up usually comes before any new concrete.
Get your footing measured and priced
Call (626) 412-8840 or use the contact form with your address, what the footing will hold up and its rough length, and the first conversation goes a lot quicker.