Excavation & Footings



The foundation begins with the hole our excavator digs. We make sure our excavator digs to the proper width and depth for the footprint of your home. Digging to the proper depth is crucial, because the depth of the excavation will affect critical structural issues such as the height and placement of water lines, steps, and basement doors & windows.

Once the excavator is done, then it's time for the first step of construction: the footer.
The footer is the foundation of your home; its what anchors your home to the ground. As you can see from the accompanying picture, the footer is simply a rectangular mass of concrete that runs under the entire perimeter of your basement walls. The footer's job is to help distribute the load carried by the basement walls, and to give those basement walls a strong anchor in the ground.

We usually will form up the footers 18" wide and 8" deep in most cases. We always put at least one row of rebar around all footers in the center. The rebar is a strip of steel which helps reinforce the concrete. The depth and the width of the footings will ultimately depend on the frost line of the area, the expected load of the structure, and the design of the foundation. Footings must extend at least a foot below the frost line and must also, for obvious reasons, avoid the water table.


Chimneys, weight-bearing (not decorative) columns, and other structural elements also need their own footings.

We take the time to ensure that the footers in your home are done right. The steps we take to ensure quality footers include:
  • Pouring quickly. Concrete dries very quickly. Therefore, to avoid problems with the curing, the concrete must be poured very quickly. Uneven pouring will result in uneven curing, which leads to structurally unsound footings. The sections of concrete poured from two different stages will have poor adhesion to each other. So we always make sure to pour concrete correctly.
  • Pouring footers to specifications. We strictly adhere to the specifications called for.
  • Proper agitation. Concrete must be agitated properly, as it is poured, in order to promote a final product that cures consistently.
  • Footers & walls are done in 2 steps. We always pour the footers & walls in 2 separate steps; this ensures that both the footers and walls have the time they need to cure properly.
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