Footing Width and Depth

Footing Width and Depth | This footing is 20 inches wide and the depth will be over 42 inches once the backfill is placed against the finished foundation. The footer is extra thick where painted orange because of the sloping ground at the building site. Copyright 2019 Tim Carter
"A footing is just like the foot on your leg. It spreads out the weight of the building onto the soil. Bigger is better!"
Tim Carter - Founder | AsktheBuilder.com
Footing Width and Depth - Do Both Right to Avoid #FAILURE
Footing width and depth are very important. A footing spreads out the weight of the entire building onto the soil. It works just like the foot on your leg.
Related Links:
Footing Detail - Great Drawing Showing Steel
Poured Concrete or Block Foundation on Footing?
How Wide Should a House Footing Be?
A house footing should be no less than 12 inches wide. Twenty inches would be a better width. It's important to realize that the little bit of concrete will be a wise investment as you only get one chance to install the footing.
CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST bids from local footing and foundation contractors.
What is the Best Depth for a Footing?
Footing depth can be confused with the thickness of a footing. Eight inches is the minimum thickness for a footing. Ten inches is better and twelve inches is highly desirable.
The depth of the footing in the ground depends on:
- the local frost depth
- how deep you need to go to be in solid strong soil

Footing detail | This footing has just been poured in the pouring rain. Note the vertical steel rods that will help connect the footing to the poured foundation. Copyright 2019 Tim Carter
What Type of Steel Should be in the Footing?
You should put two continuous steel rods in the footing. The diameter should be no less than 1/2 inch. When you get to the end of one rod, overlap the next rod onto the first one at least 16 inches. Use baling wire to tie the two pieces of steel together.

The black lines are the footing. The red dots are the continuous steel rods. This is a cross section of a typical footing. Make sure you order the concrete at least 3,000 PSI. Questions? I can call you on the phone if you like. CLICK HERE to have me call you up.


Thank you for refreshing my memories it's been a minute sent some I've done any form work,great website. Thanks again.
What is sq ft for storage unit prior to 2020 in Vallejo, CA that would not require permit? What should be the distance of boards on roof and framing should be with 2 by 4s? Can boards be 24-36 inches apart?
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I want to add a pantry room to the existing house. The room will be 6' wide by 10' long (one story) What will the footing depth and width be and what size for the rebar? The soil is hard sandy soil when dry. I live in Southern Cal.
i have a 21" footing. How wide should the basement wall be?
I have been told contracting things from builders. This is for new construction full basement. Most ares saying no rebar is needed in the footers. This is a single story Log and Stick combination home. It is 40'wide x 76' long 1/2 of the building is 14" in diameter yellow pine full logs the other 1/2 of the building is stick construction. I say 12"X 24" for footer with 2 continuous runs of rebar they builders say on rebar and 10" X 19" footers. This is for 12" cement block walls 11 course high. So ? rebar or not? Thanks
For San Antonio, Texas - do you have a general idea on how deep i would dig a footer for brick siding on a single story house that is about 12 feet high? i will need the footer to be 4 inches high from the ground.
The frost line depth is 12 inches.
thanks
what footing size would you recommend for a 2 storey wooden building sitting on a 13 (10 inch) blocks high basement wall?
The soil beneath a porch has been covered since 1907 when the structure was built Thus the soil is dry. Digging a hole for a footer would be like digging a hole in sand, a hole would never be possible the lose material would just cave in on itself - So, if was necessary to put a footer in, how deep should a footer be in this situation
client is asking for a 10ft x 10 ft free standing wall- cmu 8x8x16 what size footing would you recommend looking for depth and width, we will be using #4 rebar