Concrete footings in Waltham MA - a firm base under your deck or addition
Planning a deck, porch or addition and worried it'll sink or lean? We set footings on undisturbed ground, at the depth your site needs.
Concrete footings carry the weight. Everything else rests on them.
A concrete footing is a pier or pad of concrete in the ground under a post, column or wall. It sits on undisturbed soil, ground that's never been dug up or filled, and spreads the weight above it over that soil so the structure resists settling.
Most people call about footings when they're adding a deck, porch or sunroom, or when an old deck has started to lean and a post has dropped. If it's the house itself that has settled, that's a bigger job, and our foundation raising work is where we'd start.
Price moves with how many footings you need, how deep they go and how hard the holes are to reach. The schedule turns mostly on the permit and the soil check, and your written estimate lays out what's included.
Concrete footings start with a plan. The digging comes second.
Before anyone picks up a shovel, I walk the yard and mark where the septic tank and leach field, the meters and the utility lines run, because a footing has to stay clear of all of them. Then we call 811 so the utilities come out and mark their lines too.
Then I check with the city's building office on how deep your site has to go. Our crew lead runs the dig, and I'm back on site to look at the holes before concrete goes in, because once it's poured nobody sees the bottom again.
Concrete footings take more than a hole. Here's the full job.
Layout to match the framing
We stake each footing to line up with the posts or wall it will carry, so the load goes straight down into the ground.
Digging to firm soil
We dig by hand or machine, depending on access, and clean loose dirt out of the bottom so the concrete bears on undisturbed ground.
Forms and tubes
We set round tubes or wider bell-bottom forms plumb and to height, so each pier comes out the right size in the right spot.
Rebar and anchors
Where the design calls for it, we add rebar, steel bars that help concrete resist bending and pulling, and set bolts or post anchors while it's wet.
Footings through a slab
When a new post has to land inside a garage or basement floor, we open the slab first with our concrete cutting work.
Pouring and curing
We fill each form, work out air pockets and leave the concrete to cure, the slow hardening that gives it strength, before anything goes on top.
Solid footings keep decks and additions level. Weak ones show up later.
A footing that's too shallow, sits on loose dirt left in the hole or catches roof runoff will move. Frost can push a shallow one up and soft ground lets a loaded one sink, so you end up with a deck that tilts or a post lifted off its base.
If a budget gets tight, I'd rather cut somewhere you can see. A railing or a fancier finish can be changed later, but nobody gets back under a finished deck without tearing into it, so we spend the time on depth, firm soil and where the water runs off around each post.
It starts with a call. Here's how a footing job runs.
Call or send a message
Call (781) 622-9470 or use the form, tell us what you're building, and we'll set a time for me to come see the site.
I visit the site
I come out myself to look at access and how the ground lies, and to ask what the footings will carry and how you'll use it.
Your written estimate
You get a written estimate showing what's included, then we line up the permit and any surveyor or engineer and tell you early if we need you.
Dig, pour and clean up
Our crew digs and pours within Waltham's hours, 7 to 5 weekdays and 8 to 4 Saturdays, then we clean up and walk the job with you.
Tell us about your footings. We'll come out and look.
Tell us what you're building, whether you live there and where septic, meters and utility lines sit. We reply within one business day to book a free, no-obligation on-site estimate.
(781) 622-9470Home base is Waltham. We pour across the cities around it.
- Waltham, MA
- Newton, MA
- Cambridge, MA
- Weston, MA
- Watertown, MA
- Belmont, MA
- Lexington, MA
- Wellesley, MA
- Arlington, MA
- Needham, MA
- Burlington, MA
- Sudbury, MA
Besides Waltham, we build footings in Newton, Weston and many other cities nearby. If yours isn't on the list, call and ask.
Mon–Fri: 7 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–11 PM
Your footing questions, answered. Call us if we missed one.
Read through the answers below on depth, soil, permits and who can do the work. If your question isn't here, give us a call.
How deep do concrete footings need to go in Waltham?
A national deck building guide says footings should reach undisturbed soil at least 12 inches down, or below the frost line if that's deeper. The frost line is set locally, so we confirm it with the Waltham Building Department before we dig.
Does the soil need to be checked before footings are poured?
Plan on a soil check before the concrete goes in. The same deck guide has the building official look at soil conditions on site, with a soils investigation where weak soil is likely, and the state's soil maps don't replace an on-site look at your lot.
Who is allowed to build footings on my house in Massachusetts?
On a one- or two-family home, the state requires a licensed construction supervisor or a registered design professional to oversee the construction, though the code has homeowner exemption language. If it's an existing home you live in with one to four units, the contractor also has to be a registered home improvement contractor. We're licensed and fully insured.
Who pulls the building permit for footings in Waltham?
We do, for our part of the job, and state guidance says a registered contractor agrees to pull the building permit and any others needed. It goes through the city's building department, which enforces city and state codes. An owner who applies may not be eligible for compensation from the state's Guaranty Fund.
Which footing form works best in soft soil?
One maker's guide points to a bell-bottom form, because its wider base spreads the load and reduces settlement in softer soils, which can also cut the number of piers a job needs. A straight tube suits standard piers. We choose once we've seen your ground.
Footings are one part. See the rest of our concrete work.
- Concrete driveway building
- Concrete patio construction
- Stamped concrete services
- Concrete sidewalk building
- Garage floor concrete
- Decorative concrete
- Concrete retaining walls
- Concrete floor installation
- Concrete pool decks
- Concrete steps construction
- Slab foundation building
- Foundation installation
- Concrete parking lot building
- Foundation raising
- Concrete cutting
Planning a deck or addition? Call about the footings first.
Tell us what's going on top and when your builder wants to start, and we'll set a time to come look before the framing's booked.
(781) 622-9470