Concrete Footings in Yakima WA - Dug below frost depth so what you build stays put
Planning an addition, garage, shop or deck and need a base that won't heave in a Yakima winter? We dig, form and pour footings that hold.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What do concrete footings do, and does my project need them?
Concrete footings are the wide base of concrete under a foundation, a wall or a post, and in Yakima, WA we set them deep enough that freezing ground below can't heave and push unevenly on whatever's built on top.
Most footing calls I get come from people adding a room, a garage, a shop or a deck, and some from folks whose old footings were too shallow to begin with. The price moves with how many footings you need, how big and how deep they are, and how much rebar, the steel that keeps the concrete from pulling apart, goes inside them. The schedule turns on the permit, the inspection and the weather, so I'll tell you where each one stands before we pick a pour date. Your written estimate spells out the prep, the mix and what's included, and if the footings are part of a full foundation, we can pour the walls too through our foundation installation work.
How do you know your footings need work?
Cracks climbing the foundation
Stair-step or diagonal cracks in the wall or block above the footing usually mean part of the base has moved. Left alone, a crack like that tends to open a little more each winter, and a footing repair can turn into lifting the house.
Doors and windows sticking
When a door that used to close clean starts rubbing or a window jams, the frame has often been pulled out of square by a foundation that settled or heaved. It can be other things, so I look before I guess, but waiting lets the wall above keep shifting.
Posts rising or sinking
Deck, porch and carport posts set on shallow pads or straight in the dirt tend to lift in winter and drop in spring. Every cycle loosens the framing, and a beam or railing that pulls loose is a safety problem, not just a looks problem.
How we build concrete footings that stay put
Footings are the part nobody sees again, so I'd rather dig and form them right than fast. We mark out the footprint, dig past the frost line to firm, undisturbed ground, and clean out the bottom so the concrete isn't sitting on loose dirt that can settle later. Then we set the forms and the steel the plans call for, line up the inspection once the holes and forms are set, and keep an eye on the forecast before we call the truck. If a budget gets tight, I'd cut somewhere else before I'd cut the digging, because you can't get back under a wall once it's built.
Footings often tie into other work. If an older house has already dropped on footings that were too shallow, foundation raising brings it back up before new support goes in under it. When a footing has to go where there's already a slab or a patio, concrete cutting lets us open a clean trench with a saw instead of breaking up more than we need.
Continuous wall footings
A strip of concrete that runs under the whole wall line. It suits additions, garages and shops, where the walls need support along their full length.
Pad footings for posts
Square or round pads poured under single posts or columns. They suit decks, porches, carports and pergolas, where the weight comes down in a few spots instead of along a wall.
Get a written estimate for your footings
We respond within 1 business day to set up a visit. I come out, measure and look over the site, then you get a free written estimate. It's obligation-free, so take your time deciding.
Call (509) 452-5002- Based in
- Yakima, WA 98901
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–10 PM
What happens when you call about footings in Yakima?
Here's how a footing job runs from your first call to the cleanup, and who's doing what at each step along the way.
Call or send a message
Call (509) 452-5002 or use the form, and we'll get back to you to set up a visit. Have the size of the project and when you'd like to start handy, because both shape the schedule.
I measure and walk the site
I come out myself, measure, check how we'll get a digger in and ask what's going on top of the footings. Your estimate lists the prep, the mix and what's included, so you can compare it line by line and know what you're paying for.
We dig, form and get inspected
Once you say go, we sort out the permit side, dig the holes and set the forms and steel. On county jobs, Yakima County's footing inspection comes after the holes are dug and any required steel and forms are in place, so the pour waits on that visit.
I'm on site for the pour
When the forecast looks right, the truck comes and I'm there for the pour and the cleanup. Then the forms come off and the site is ready for whoever builds on top.
Why Yakima homeowners call United Yakima Concrete for footings
I come out to every estimate
There's no salesperson. I measure and write the estimate myself, our crew does the digging, forming and pouring, and I'm on site for the pours, so the person who wrote your estimate is standing there when the concrete goes in.
Learned the trade on crews here
I quit an office job to learn concrete on a flatwork crew here in the valley, and after a few seasons pouring for other outfits I started this business in 2013. Foundation work has been one of the things we're best known for ever since.
Licensed and insured, easy to check
We're licensed and fully insured. Washington requires every construction contractor to register with L&I, the state's labor and industries department, and you can look up any crew, us included, through the state's Verify a Contractor tool before you hire.
Straight answers before the pour
If your footings don't need replacing, or a smaller fix will do, I'll tell you. I'd rather lose a job by giving a straight answer than win it with one I can't stand behind.
On footings, what counts is the digging and the forms, because once the concrete is in the ground nobody sees them again. Request an estimate and I'll come take a look.
Concrete footings and foundation work around Yakima
Whether the city or Yakima County issues your permit depends on where your address falls, so I check which office covers it and what it asks for on a footing job before anything else. We handle the permit paperwork for our part of the work and tell you plainly where things stand before we set a pour date.
The city's building design criteria rate Yakima's weathering as Severe, which means concrete here takes a lot of freezing and thawing over its life. Footings sit below most of that, but the tops and anything close to grade still feel it, so we plan the depth, the mix and the timing of the pour around winter. We deal with the same cold on jobs in Selah and up in Ellensburg, and we work the same way in the cities around them.
Questions about concrete footings in Yakima
Call (509) 452-5002The base of your footings needs to sit below Yakima's frost depth, which the city's design criteria list as 24 inches below ground level. Footings set above that line can be pushed around by freezing soil, so plan on them reaching past it. Your plans and permit may call for more, and we dig to whatever the job requires.
I can't give you a fair number until I've seen the site, because two footing jobs of the same size can price very differently. The big swings usually come from access and what's in the way, since a backyard a digger can't reach means hand digging, and an old slab in the path means cutting it out first. A winter pour that needs protecting from the cold can add to it too, and your written estimate breaks all of that out.
The main thing is keeping new concrete from freezing in its first days, because fresh concrete holds enough water that a single freeze can damage it. Industry guidance counts it as cold-weather concreting when the air falls, or is expected to fall, below 40°F while the concrete still needs shielding, and the colder it gets, the more protection the pour needs. That risk drops as the concrete matures, which is why I watch the forecast before we set a pour date.
Inside the city, permit applications go to City of Yakima Codes as an application packet with plans, and you'll need two sets of plans if you apply in person or by mail. Some addresses near Yakima fall under the county instead. I'll tell you which one covers your address at the estimate.
All the foundation materials need to be on the job when the inspector comes, though the ready-mixed concrete doesn't. The county's setback inspection also comes after the footing holes and any required forms are done, and it may be made at the same visit. We have the site set up before we call for it, so nobody's waiting on a second trip.
Sometimes, with a design called a frost protected shallow foundation, which uses insulation around the foundation's edge, along with heat from the building and the ground, to cut how deep the footings have to go. A university housing guide written for another region says it's most suitable for slab-on-grade building in cold climates, where the floor is a slab poured at ground level, and it may also fit sites with digging limits or walk-out basements. It's worth asking about at the estimate, and your plans and permit office have the final say.
Related services that often go with footings
Foundation raising
Sticking doors and a cracked foundation wall can mean the house has already settled, and getting it back to level is the first step before new support.
Concrete cutting
Cutting a doorway into a foundation wall or removing a cracked section of slab takes a saw, not a sledge, so the concrete you keep stays sound.
Service areas for footing work around Yakima
United Yakima Concrete is based in Yakima, WA, and we pour footings in the cities around it, from Ellensburg, WA down to Grandview, WA and plenty of places in between. The 8 cities below have their own pages, but they aren't the only places we work.
Yakima, WA
Get your footings dug and poured right
Footings come first on any build, so calling early leaves room for the permit and a good weather window before the framers show up.