Concrete footings in Walnut Creek CA - solid support under every deck post and wall
Planning a deck or a wall, or watching old posts lean? We set footings planned around your house, your trees and what's underground.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We reply within 1 business day.
What do concrete footings do, and what goes into the price?
Concrete footings are the pads and strips of concrete that carry the weight of a deck, porch, wall or addition down into the ground, and we dig, form and pour them for homeowners in Walnut Creek, CA, so whatever you build on top has something solid under it.
Most people call us when they're planning a deck, a pergola or a wall, or when the posts on an old one have started to lean. The price mostly turns on how many footings you need, how big and deep each one is, how easy the spots are to dig, and whether old concrete has to come out first. The schedule turns on getting the utilities marked, any permit the job needs, and curing, the time the concrete needs to gain strength before anything gets built on it. Your written estimate shows each of those parts for your job.
How do you know your posts or wall need new footings?
Deck posts leaning or sinking
If a post has tipped, dropped or pulled away from the beam, the footing under it usually wasn't sized or set for the load, or there never was a real footing. Waiting lets the deck rack, so railings loosen and boards start splitting at the fasteners.
Cracked concrete at the post
Concrete broken up around a post base usually means a thin pour, or a post set straight into concrete that now holds water against the wood. Once it starts cracking it keeps going, and the post rots or shifts along with it.
A new project on paper
If you're planning a deck, a patio cover, a shed or a wall, the footings are the first thing built and the part nobody can get to later. Getting them right before framing starts costs far less than lifting a finished deck to fix them.
How we build concrete footings
Before we dig, we get the utilities marked and check how close each footing sits to the house, because both decide where a hole can go and how deep it runs. Then we lay out the holes, dig them, set forms where a footing needs a shape, and tie in rebar, the steel bars that hold the concrete together when it's pulled or bent. We pour, set any post bases or anchors while the concrete is still workable, and leave it to cure before anything goes on top. We haul off the dug-out dirt and clean up before we leave.
Footings often sit right next to other work. If part of your house has already dropped, foundation raising brings it back up before new supports go in. When a footing has to go through an existing patio or walkway, concrete cutting opens a clean square so the slab around it stays in one piece.
Pad footings
Square or round blocks under single posts or columns, which suits decks, patio covers and pergolas. Each one carries its own post, so we size and place them one at a time.
Continuous footings
A long strip of concrete under a wall or the edge of a structure, which suits garden walls, steps and additions. The weight spreads along the whole run instead of resting on a few points.
Get a written estimate for your footings
We reply within one business day. Then I come out, look at the spot and give you a free written estimate that breaks out each part of the job, with no obligation to go ahead.
- Based in
- Walnut Creek, CA 94596
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 7 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–10 PM
What happens after you call about footings in Walnut Creek?
Here's how a footing job runs on your end, from the first call to the walk-through once the concrete is in.
Call or send the form
You tell us what you're building and where, and we set a time for me to come out. It helps to know roughly how far the structure sits from your house and whether any big trees are close.
Walk the site with me
I look at where the footings would go, ask how you'll use what's going on top, and write up the estimate. You see the digging, the concrete and any extra work priced out separately, so nothing is lumped together.
Line up the permit first
If the job needs a permit or a designer, we get that lined up before we put you on the schedule. A Saturday pour in Walnut Creek also needs an after-hours permit from the city, so we plan pour day with that in mind.
We dig, pour and walk it
My crew and I dig, set the steel and pour. When it's done, we walk the footings with you before anything gets built on them.
Why Walnut Creek homeowners call us for footings
I look at every job myself
I come out to every site, and my crew does the work with me there. The person who measured your footings is the one standing over the holes on pour day.
Building here since 2023
I learned concrete on my own small jobs and on crews around the East Bay, then started this business in Walnut Creek in 2023. Three years in, I still answer my own phone, so you get straight answers from the person doing the work.
Fully licensed and insured
We're fully licensed and insured. You're not taking a chance on an uncovered crew digging in your yard.
On footings, what counts is where each hole goes and how deep, because nobody sees it once the deck is on. Send us a few details or call (925) 532-0140 and I'll come take a look.
Footings, grading and trees in Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek requires a Site Development Permit for grading over 50 cubic yards or any cut more than 3 feet tall, and for retaining walls over 3 feet above the lowest ground beside them. A few post holes won't come near that, but footings for a hillside deck or a wall can be part of a bigger dig, so we flag it at the estimate before anyone picks up a shovel.
Trees 9 inches in diameter or more fall under the city's tree preservation rules, and plenty of yards here have one right where a deck wants to go. When there's a big tree nearby, we plan the holes around it from the start instead of finding the problem halfway down. We see the same mature trees and sloped yards on jobs in Lafayette and Orinda.
Questions about concrete footings in Walnut Creek
How much do concrete footings cost in Walnut Creek?
Concrete foundation work in the San Francisco metro area usually costs about $8.50 to $15.50 per square foot, which is the going rate for foundation work in the region, not our price. Footings get priced by the job, based on how many you need, their size and depth, and how hard the spots are to reach. Your estimate breaks that out part by part.
Do I need a permit for concrete footings in Walnut Creek?
Walnut Creek requires a building permit to add a structure or change your property, and its permit list names decks, though not footings on their own. Small sheds may need no permit at all. If your job needs one, we tell you at the estimate and handle the application, which goes through the city's online permit portal.
How do I get utilities marked before digging footings?
Call 811 before you dig, and it reaches the local utilities so they can mark their lines. A national deck guide also keeps footings off septic systems, leach fields, utility lines and enclosed meters, so that call belongs at the very start, before any hole goes in. If you're digging any of it yourself, make that call first.
How deep do deck footings need to be next to the house?
A national deck guide says deck footings closer than 5 feet to the house's foundation wall should sit as deep as the house's own footing. That can mean deeper holes for the posts nearest the house than for the ones out in the yard. Tell us how close the deck comes to the house when you call, because it changes the dig.
How do I know if I can pour my own footings in California?
California's small-job exemption from licensing goes up to $1,000, and it only applies when the work needs no permit and the person doing it employs no one on the project. Past that, it takes a licensed contractor, and the state's contractor licensing board describes a concrete contractor as one who forms, pours, places, finishes and installs concrete work.
Can you replace failed footings under an existing deck?
Usually, yes. We hold the deck up on temporary supports, take out the old footing and pour a new one in its place. Sometimes the honest answer is that the deck is too far gone to be worth new footings, and I'll tell you that at the estimate.
Other concrete work around your footings
Foundation raising
If floors slope or doors stick because part of the house has dropped, raising it comes before any new footing work so everything lines back up.
Concrete cutting
Need a footing where a patio or garage slab already sits? A clean saw cut opens just that spot and leaves the rest of the slab whole.
Cities we serve around Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek Concrete Works is based in Walnut Creek, CA, and works across the cities around it in the East Bay. Below are 12 cities with their own page, from Concord to San Ramon, each with what we see on jobs there.
Get your footings planned before you build
A call to (925) 532-0140 now lets the permit and the utility marking get moving while you're still picking out deck boards.