Concrete footings in Glendale CA - sized to carry what you're building on them
Plans calling for footings, or a wall or post with nothing solid under it? We dig, form and pour footings sized to what they'll carry.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What does it take to put in a concrete footing in Glendale?
Concrete footings carry the weight of a wall, a room addition, a garage or a patio cover down into the soil, and on jobs in Glendale, CA, we do the whole thing, including the digging, the forms, the steel and the pour.
Usually you're here because a set of plans calls for footings, or because something you already have, like a block wall or a retaining wall, needs a real base under it. The price mostly comes down to how big the footing has to be and how far it runs, which the plans and the ground decide, plus how hard the digging is and how close we can get a concrete truck. The schedule turns more on paperwork than on the pour, because a footing that needs a permit waits on the city's review, and we pull that permit and book the inspections as part of the job. My written estimate spells out what's included, so you see the figure for your own job before anything starts.
How do you know you need a new concrete footing?
Plans that show footings
If your drawings for an addition, a garage or a patio cover show footings, whoever drew them has already set the size and depth. Leaving the question of who builds them until late usually holds up everything else, since nothing goes up until the footings are in and inspected.
A wall leaning or cracking
A block or garden wall that tips, or a crack that steps up through the mortar joints, usually means the footing under it is too small, too shallow or sitting on ground that moved. Waiting lets it lean further, and a wall that comes down is a bigger and messier job than one you catch early.
Posts on blocks or bare dirt
Patio cover and deck posts set on loose blocks or straight on the dirt have nothing carrying their weight into firm ground. They tend to sink a little at a time, so the roof starts to sag and the fix gets bigger the longer it goes.
How we build concrete footings
A footing's size depends on the plans and the site, so I read the drawings and any soil report before we dig. The sizes in code tables are only minimums, and if an engineer has called for something bigger because of the soil or the loads, that's what we build. Then we lay it out, dig the trench to that size, clean the loose dirt out of the bottom and set the forms and the rebar, the steel bars that keep the concrete from pulling apart. When the job is permitted, the inspector sees the trench first, and then we pour, level the top and let it cure, which is the wait while concrete gains strength before anything heavy goes on it. The digging nobody will ever see is where people want to save money, and I won't cut it, because a footing sitting on loose dirt settles no matter how good the wall on top looks.
Footings often run into other work. If a post or wall has to go where a slab or driveway already sits, we open a clean hole with our concrete cutting work instead of breaking it out by hand. If the real problem is a house that has already settled, new footings for an addition won't fix that, and foundation raising is the job I'd look at first, once we've worked out why it sank.
Get a written estimate for your concrete footing
Send the address, what the footing will hold up and any drawings or soil report, and we'll reply within one business day to set up a free on-site estimate. There's no obligation to go ahead.
- team@glendaleconcretecompany.com
- Based in
- Glendale, CA 91205
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 6 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call us about a footing in Glendale?
Here's how a footing job goes from your first call to the walk at the end, including the city's review if your project needs one.
Call or send a request
Phone (747) 372-8605 or use the form, and we'll get back to you to set a time for me to come out. Have the address handy and tell us what the footing will hold up.
I walk the site with you
I look at the ground, read your drawings and any soil report, and ask a lot of questions about what's going on top. You get a written estimate that spells out what's included, so you know what you're paying for.
We handle permits and inspections
Once you say go, we pull any permit the job needs and line up the inspections. If your project goes through the city's regular plan check, the city says that takes about 8 to 10 weeks from when the plan check fees are paid, so we set the pour date after it clears.
We dig, pour and walk it
Our crew digs, forms, sets the steel and pours, with me running the job. When it's done we walk it together so you see the finished footing and know what's under your wall or posts.
Why Glendale homeowners call Masterwork Glendale Concrete Company for footings
I price it and run it
I come out myself to look at the job and write the estimate, and our own crew does the work with me running it. The person who heard what you need is the one standing at the trench on pour day.
Footings are our kind of puzzle
I started this company in 2020 after years as the right-hand person on another contractor's crew, and we're known for jobs with a puzzle in them, like footings, walls and houses that have settled. I'd rather work out why something sank before we pour than pour right over the problem.
Questions about the ground first
Before I price a Glendale footing, I ask about the drawings, any soil report and whether the lot sits in one of the state's seismic hazard zones covered below. Those answers can change the footing's size, so it's cheaper to learn them at the estimate than in the trench.
Licensed and insured for footing work
Masterwork Glendale Concrete Company is fully licensed and insured. A footing means digging, forms and a concrete truck on your property, so you want whoever's doing it to be covered.
On a footing, the part you can't see matters most, so send us your plans and the address and I'll come take a look.
Footings, soil and permits in Glendale
Footing work in Glendale that needs a permit goes through the city's Development Services Division, and every city permit is filed, reviewed and issued online through the Glendale Permits Portal. When a job needs one, we pull it and book the inspections, and if we're not sure whether it does, I check with the city before we start. The city also goes by the date plans are submitted to decide which version of the California building code a design has to meet, which is worth knowing if your drawings were done a while back.
If your property is in one of the state's Seismic Hazard Zones, the state says the soil or rock under it is likely weak and can fail in an earthquake unless grading and construction account for it. That's one reason the soil report and the engineer's footing size matter, and an empty lot in one of those zones may need a site-specific study by a licensed engineering geologist or civil engineer before most structures can be permitted, so tell me at the estimate if that's you. A lot of footings here go in on sloped lots or in tight side yards, where we dig more by hand and plan the pour around where the truck can reach, and we work through the same questions on jobs in Burbank and La Crescenta-Montrose.
Questions about concrete footings in Glendale
How much does a concrete footing cost in Glendale?
Across the US, an installed residential strip footing usually costs about $5 to $19 per linear foot, counting the concrete, labor, digging and forms. That's a national guide figure, not our price, and where your job lands depends on the size the plans call for, how much digging there is and how easy the site is to reach. Your written estimate gives you the number for your own job.
Will my Glendale project need a soil report?
The city of Glendale answers that through its latest informational bulletin, which tells applicants whether a project needs a soil report, also called a geotechnical report. For projects with limited geotechnical hazard, the city may allow a Modified Soil Report, written by a private geotechnical firm from its experience with local soil instead of sampling your lot, if you apply through a Building Code Modification Request and the city approves it case by case. I'll ask about it at the estimate, because it's better to know before the footing is sized.
How long does a concrete footing project take in Glendale?
Usually the paperwork takes far longer than the concrete, because a footing that goes through regular plan check waits on the city's review described in the steps above. The digging, forming and pour come once the permit is in hand, and a soil report, if you need one, adds its own wait before the design is final. I'll lay out our schedule for the work when I write the estimate.
Who can pour a footing in California?
In most cases, a licensed contractor, and the state's contractor license board describes a concrete contractor as one who forms, pours, places and finishes concrete work. The state's exception for unlicensed workers covers only small jobs within its $1,000 limit that need no permit, done by someone who employs no one on the project. A footing that's part of permitted work doesn't qualify.
What causes a concrete footing to crack or sink?
Usually it's the ground under the footing rather than the concrete itself. A footing poured on loose fill, on soil that stays wet, or too small for what it carries will settle unevenly, and the wall or post on top cracks along with it. When I look at an old one, I try to work out which of those it was before we pour a new one.
What is the difference between a footing and a foundation?
The footing is the bottom part, the wide strip or pad of concrete in the ground that spreads the weight into the soil, and the foundation is everything that carries the building down to it. On a small job like a garden wall or a patio cover, the footing may be the whole foundation.
Related concrete work that often comes with footings
Foundation raising
When a house has already sunk and floors slope or doors stick, raising the foundation back toward level is usually the first job to look at.
See the service Foundation raisingConcrete cutting
If a post or wall has to land where a driveway or patio already sits, a clean saw cut opens the spot without wrecking the slab around it.
See the service Concrete cutting
Service areas for footing work around Glendale
Masterwork Glendale Concrete Company is based in Glendale, California, and builds footings in all 12 areas listed below, Pasadena and Arcadia among them. These are the cities with their own page, and we work in others around them too.
Glendale, CA
Send us your plans for a footing estimate
Footings usually go in before anything else on the job, so getting yours priced early keeps the rest of the build from waiting on it.