Concrete footings in Costa Mesa CA - a solid base for your wall, post or slab
Building a wall, a patio cover or an addition? We match the footing to what it holds and your soil, so it fits the job.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What does a concrete footing do, and which one do I need?
A concrete footing is the concrete under a wall, post, column or slab that carries its weight down into the soil, and in Costa Mesa we pour footings sized for what they'll hold and the ground they sit on.
Most calls start with something new going up, like a block wall, a patio cover or a room addition, or with an old post or wall that's started to sink or lean. The price moves with how much footing you need, how deep it goes and what the site is like to dig, and the schedule mostly turns on the soil and on whether the city wants a permit for your job. Your estimate spells out each part, so you see your own number before you decide.
How do you know a footing isn't holding up?
A wall leaning or cracking
A block or garden wall that tips out or splits along its length usually sits on a footing that's too small or too shallow, or on ground that moved. The longer it goes, the more it leans, and a wall that has to come down costs more than one that's caught early.
Patio cover posts sinking
A post that drops or a beam that's gone out of level often means the post sits on a small pad or loose dirt instead of a real footing. Left alone, the cover racks and starts pulling its connections loose.
The same crack every year
A crack at a slab edge or a wall that opens again after you patch it usually means the ground underneath is still moving. Patching treats the crack and not the cause, so you keep paying for it every season.
How we plan and pour concrete footings
Before I pick a footing type, I want to know what the footing will hold and what the soil is like, and if you have a soils report, send it over, because it can change the plan. Footings carry fairly light loads, so ground that swells when it's wet and shrinks when it dries can push them around, and if it pushes up harder than the footing presses down, the first fix to look at is digging that soil out and replacing it or treating it in place, which changes the size of the job. From there our crew digs down to firm ground, cleans and packs the bottom, sets the forms and the rebar, the steel bars that hold the concrete together when it's bent or pulled, then pours and cleans up. Most of the concrete I tore out in my old job didn't fail because of the concrete, so if the budget has to give somewhere, it won't be the digging.
Footings rarely go in on their own. When a slab or footing has already sunk, foundation raising can bring it back up before we add new support, and when a new footing has to run under an existing patio or floor, concrete cutting gives us a clean opening to dig through.
Get a footing estimate for your Costa Mesa project
Tell us the address and what the footing will hold. We reply within one business day to set a visit, and I come out for a free on-site estimate with no obligation.
(949) 543-1664- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
- service@costamesaconcrete.com
- Costa Mesa, CA 92626
What happens when you call about footings in Costa Mesa?
Here's how a footing job runs from your first call to the day the concrete goes in, and what you'll have in hand before you decide.
Call or send your details
Call (949) 543-1664 or use the form and tell us the address and what you're building. We'll set a time to come out.
Walk the site with me
I come out and look at the ground, the access for digging and how you'll use what the footing holds. You get an estimate with each part of the job spelled out, so you can see what's driving the price.
Say go and we schedule
Once you approve it, we put the job on the calendar and take care of the city paperwork where your footing needs it. If the soil needs work first, that goes on the schedule ahead of the pour.
Dig, form and pour
Our crew digs, sets the forms and steel, and pours, and I'm there when the concrete goes in. We clean up the site before we leave.
Why Costa Mesa homeowners call Premier Costa Mesa Concrete for footings
A footing has to suit what it holds and the ground under it. Call (949) 543-1664 or send us your project details and I'll come take a look.
In business since 2017
I started this business in 2017 after years of upkeep for a property management company, patching walks, slabs and steps across a lot of rentals. Seeing what failed taught me where the effort on a new pour belongs.
Owner writes estimate, attends pours
I come out myself to look at the job and write the estimate, and our own crew does the work. I'm on site for the pours, so the person who planned your footing is there when it's filled.
Licensed and fully insured, as required
We're licensed and fully insured. California requires a license even for minor work under $1,000 when it falls under any permit or the person doing it hires a worker, so it's worth asking anyone who bids your footing.
A straight answer, even no
If your plan or budget points to a footing I'd be back fixing later, I'll tell you and suggest a change before anything's poured. Property managers and small building owners call us for that reason, because they want the work done once.
Footing and foundation work in Costa Mesa
The city of Costa Mesa decides whether a footing job needs a permit, and that turns on what you're building, so I won't tell you yours doesn't until it's been checked. When a job needs one, we pull it and handle the filing, and when it's unclear, we check with the city before we start. The city takes applications digitally, typed straight into its TESSA system instead of uploaded as scanned paper, and the city's building permit page explains how it works if you want to look.
Orange County's own foundation guidance, written for the county's permits, puts most of the county in Seismic Design Category D, the rating used for earthquake design, and notes swelling soil in some areas. We're based in Costa Mesa and work across the cities around it in Orange County, and the ground changes from one yard to the next on jobs in Newport Beach and Santa Ana just as it does here, so I don't assume anything about the soil until I've seen it.
Questions about concrete footings in Costa Mesa
(949) 543-1664What kind of footing do I need for a wall or patio cover?
For most home projects, a continuous strip footing or a spread footing gives enough support, because the loads from houses, walls and covers are fairly light. Which one, and how big, comes down to what it carries and the soil, so I settle that at the estimate after seeing the site.
How much do concrete footings cost in Costa Mesa?
Across the US, installed residential strip footings usually run about $5 to $19 per linear foot, including concrete, labor, excavation and forms, according to this footing cost guide. That's a national figure and not our price, and where your job lands depends on its size, its depth and the site, which is what we price at the estimate.
How deep do concrete footings need to be in Costa Mesa?
Your footing depth comes from the plans and the local code, and frost, the usual reason footings go deep in cold places, is mostly a design factor at higher elevations in the mountains. On most jobs around here, depth follows what the footing carries and where firm soil starts, and we dig to whatever the plans or the city call for.
How do I check if my Costa Mesa lot is in an earthquake hazard zone?
Type your address into the state's EQ Zapp tool, which shows whether the property lies in a mapped earthquake hazard zone and tells you when the state hasn't evaluated that area yet. Single family frame homes up to two stories, outside a development of four or more units, are exempt from the state's hazard zone requirements, though local agencies can set stricter rules.
What is liquefaction and does it matter for a new footing?
Liquefaction is when loose, water-soaked ground loses its strength and gives way during strong shaking. If your lot shows up in a mapped liquefaction zone, tell me at the estimate, because it's something I want to know before picking a footing.
What causes concrete footings to crack or sink?
Most of the time it's the ground or the hole and not the concrete, such as a footing too small or too shallow for its load, a bottom left loose instead of dug to firm soil, or soil that swells and shrinks under it. That's why I look at the soil and the digging before anything else.
Related concrete work for footing jobs
Foundation raising
When a slab or footing has already settled, lifting it back toward level is sometimes an option short of tearing it out, and we'll tell you which fits.
Concrete cutting
New footings often run under an existing patio or garage floor, so we saw a clean opening first instead of breaking out more slab than the job needs.
Footing work in Costa Mesa and nearby cities
Premier Costa Mesa Concrete is based in Costa Mesa, California, and pours footings across the cities around it in Orange County, including Irvine and Huntington Beach. The 12 cities below have their own pages, and they aren't the only places we work.
Costa Mesa, CA
Get your footing priced before you build
Once the concrete is in the ground, changing the footing means breaking it out, so it pays to sort the plan first.