How to Build Deck Footings

Footings provide the solid foundation that will support your deck.
Learn about the types of deck footings and how to build them at Decks.com: www.decks.com/how-to/footings...

[@LeeBlaske]

We're in the process of getting our deck replaced, and the contractor just installed helical piles. Pretty amazing and fast system. The machine just screws it into the ground. In our case they go down 12 feet, so they're down to some extremely solid ground. Supposedly, there's zero movement or settling after installation.

[@raphaelhyde-ce1ik]

This is a great video, thanks for such clear instruction

[@nickgrnr]

My man out here building decks in some Adidas sliders!

[@AM1015-]

disgusting lol

[@bikinibuilders1184]

Great Video! Coastal zones don't have to be a burden to live in

[@Ab-ve8nc]

Cool that you got Steven Wright to voice the instructions!

[@maxhole2]

Ab Adaba , I bought a box of powdered water.........the instructions said “just add water”.

[@Carl-LaFong1618]

@@maxhole2 I went to Depot and asked for a cordless extension cord. I put spot remover on my dog.... now I can't find him. If you shoot a mime should you use a silencer? It's a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it.

[@jordanhart9441]

Haha so true

[@Mustang946]

Wonderful video! How do I get a drawing for my deck? Thank you & Happy New Year!!

[@andreicharpentierquesada4530]

so usefull thank you very much

[@eagleviewhd]

What is the freeze line there? My regulations say I need to go down 36” here in Olathe KS.

[@bricewilliamson1124]

How do you cover the concrete footings to make it look better

[@MrKL83]

Can this be done for adding a small room like this method?

[@sonoflibertyingodwetrust787]

Can you do a video on finding the level more depth in squaring up piers?

[@detroyt232323]

I'm in South Florida, we never have frost here. Anyone know how deep for the footings. Also, is Quikrete a big no no for footings? The Home Depot image for the footings tubes literally has a bag of Quikrete next to it. It's going to be a very light deck just one story. Any help is appreciated!

[@chopshop523]

Should it matter if all your piers aren’t the same height but they’re still level? As long as your post are all the same height?

[@dredaylarue]

Do your post need to be exactly centered on the footing

[@mrtony1985]

So this is what Jim Hopper has been up to since moving out of Hawkins.

[@chefbillyx]

Where can I get a pair of the Chinese work boots the guy was wearing when pouring the concrete? @2:43

[@Hesthegreatest1]

chefbillyx hands down funniest comment I have read in a while!

[@LOREMIG]

Lol

[@winterpalace2307]

I believe that you should reduce the amount of water in the mixed concrete to improve the resistance and the survivability. College tip 😁

[@grarutau3553]

Resistance and survivability?

[@winterpalace2307]

We mean by resistance: to snow or rain all these wet materials can harm the structure unless you change the amount of water and ciment to make theme less harmful . Survivability: the duration of time, we have to make sure that the foundations will stand and hold the structure as long as possible.

[@kennethgray6966]

Glad I'm not the only one confused by that watery mixture. Maybe it's the type of concrete they're using?? 🤔

[@adaptedbythedans]

@@kennethgray6966no, they added way too much and jeopardized the strength of the concrete. Unless of course the were using an admixture which wasn’t mentioned.

[@JayZoop]

For this house< where is the frost line, because they didn't look very deep.

[@oscarocampo4575]

Hey great information, my contractor made the cement footing 12inchs and I need them to 15ich or bigger. The deck is built, how does one adjust for this?. Thanks

[@MrJwh3000]

You'll be fine.

[@fgonzalez78959]

Waite till it falls apart then start over

[@gdeanephd]

At 3:00, you show the footing poured, with a piece of rebar protruding, then you put the tube form on top and pour the concrete post. As you're standing on top of the footing when you insert the tube form, I assume you let the footing set up first. For how long?

[@evansaadat4564]

Probably just enough time for it to set. Based on the thickness, I would say a day or 2.

[@ericturner2477]

What software do you make these drawings in?

[@Mrdubomb]

wondering why when doing fences it is recommended to have top of concrete below grade immersing the post in soil (apparently this helps with frost heave) while doing decks the concrete comes above the soil?

[@Luckingsworth]

Perhaps the extra weight of the deck helps to offset that? I am here for the same reason, because I beleive this method is better for setting fence posts 😁 so I would be curious if you find info that says not to do it like this.

[@juzoli]

Mrdubomb If the fence starts to rot, then it is not a safety hazard. You might really want to keep away the deck from water.

[@milieu675]

So that the bottom of the fence is close to ground level, ans a fence's overall lifespan makes it kind of irrelevant anyway. Ps use galvanized steel posts and adapters for fencing, even wooden fences.

[@boots7859]

Because people are lazy and don't feel like digging a proper hole? For a wooden fence post hole to last, dig a hole below frost level, fill hole with concrete (with/without sono tube) to several inches above ground level. Embed fence post, and then round off the top of the concrete so water will drain off of it. Extra years of duty life if you go back and waterproof where the wood and concrete meet. PT wood will last much longer if that interface is sealed from water entry. But it will take an extra 2 min/post, so lets just dig a hole, throw in a couple bags of dry mix, and backfill...

[@jonathansage2147]

​@@boots7859better off mounting the post in a bracket so that it can dry because it will get wet. To the OP, brackets for fence posts are a better solution, but it's more expensive up front, so people don't do it. The reason people don't extent the concrete way above the soil line is that it's ugly and it gets in the way of the fence boards.

[@TomKaren94]

If that mix was any looser, you could swim in it.

[@rodjohnson646]

5 inch slump is best

[@travisandtracyjacobs6198]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@jahnnyquest]

thanks

[@sulebo2153]

no guidance on how to do this on a slope or uneven ground - how to get the piers all the same height?

[@jaylong3581]

Use a self leveling laser or the old water level which is basically a clear hose with dyed water in it secure one end to known level mark move from post to post raise or lower end of hose until water level is on reference mark , water level on your end is exactly level with it.

[@darryltaylor9916]

.the cement was pour'd so wet...it was self leveling....ba, dum tshh..

[@chesterarebest]

@@jaylong3581 can you run a level plank of wood and place a level on it?

[@campervan7354]

*Is that dirty water or concrete he’s pouring? When more water is used than the bag says the PSI strength is drastically reduced. He used 5000psi mix but might have 2000psi concrete with how much extra water was added.*

[@chrisalister2297]

Considering they didn't prewet the soil....it will soak up the water fast. That's probably why they mixed it wet.

[@tom00025]

Are sandals the recommended safety shoe?

[@jhunter34]

HAHAHAHAHA

[@evplasmaman2]

I love my steel toed sandals

[@concernedkid3262]

LOL!!! OSHA?!

[@mica122213]

only when pouring concrete

[@chesterarebest]

He still has his toes

[@OfficialVicJayy]

I followed the directions

[@SeattleRingHunter]

2:53 how soon after pouring your footing do you typically pace the sonic tube on top? I suspect as soon as it starts to harden enough to support but not completely dry so the two forms of concrete become one solid strucure?

[@artsmith103]

I've wire tied short pieces of thin rebar to the bottom of the tube to lift it a couple inches off the bottom of the oversized hole and done it as 1 pour. Hole 3-4" bigger than tube. Works great. Put 1 bag or more in each hole then go back to the first hole and start filling them 1 by 1. Edit: For deep footings ~40" frost line. Not the surface footings like the video.

[@Luckingsworth]

@@artsmith103 that's smart.

[@artsmith103]

@@Luckingsworth Some structures like Gazebos and Solar Panel Arrays require the upside down mushroom to provide wind lift protection. Plus the added area for support is amazing. 8 inch vs 6 inch is 64 vs 36, almost double.

[@sauceswoodworkinganddiy7292]

So, for those mere mortals among us who don't have the skills to do it in one pour, what is the answer to this question? How long do we wait for the square pad to set before working on the cylindrical piers?

[@MovingToMnPro]

​@@sauceswoodworkinganddiy7292 you don't have to wait. Do it before the base cures

[@Bournefort]

I envy you guys living in the south. I have to dig a 60" deep hole to get below the frost line in Northern Minnesota.

[@letsplaybaby8098]

Damn. I'm in n. Illinois I bet we're at about 50in.

[@jariz26]

I live in Canada. We have to dig all the way to China

[@fgalaviz00]

1" .... Southwest Arizona

[@anand8905]

cute, frost line here is 8 ft

[@Bunny-Power]

What is frost? 😂

[@Dee-cg2fx]

What do you call footing when they do the following. Auger out the holes below frost line. Put tube in. Fill 1/2 to 3/4 full of cement. Let cure. Put 6x6 posts in holes with cement, back fill holes with gravel. Notch out 6x6 to hold your beams. Floating footings?

[@willkeith4944]

Call it wrong

[@steventhorkelsen6478]

How deep do you pour them?

[@apeer2416]

How long should you wait before pouring concrete over the footing and into the form for the pier?

[@jonathansage2147]

You shouldn't. It's a wet joint. The concrete won't come out the bottom of the tube, don't worry.

[@13squier]

Call 811 to mark utilities then use the same color paint to mark excavations. What could go wrong

[@redskiclayton]

Wish my frost line was 16"... Mine is 4'

[@anonymous..-]

Siberia sucks.

[@icet6668]

Hi, is it ok to make deck footings in the winter time when the soil is wet and soggy.

[@danlovepeaceunity]

as long as you can get the hole clean from any loose dirt. Put your opening a can of worms tbh

[@tjs_welding_and_fabrication]

Not sure how you level the top of the tube when cut all crooked with the saw.

[@catsaregovernmentspies]

Put the crooked cut down

[@Methodical2]

Put the uncut side facing up.

[@artsmith103]

Post bracket or strap?

[@airpros9927]

Right???? Lol

[@amateurtorque6709]

811?

[@dumitrupopamd]

The footings have to be squared with a shovel before pouring the concrete, this is needed to ensure the minimum load distribution area needed. If you pour the concrete in a pit with rounded corners, the area is too small.

[@speedwayman100]

wrong!

[@ruslanotarov9727]

@@speedwayman100 lol

[@nate9308]

Lmao, unless you calculated the load area with the diameter of the hole....

[@dumitrupopamd]

Well mister smarty, do a simple practical exercise with a sharp pen, apply it with the blunt end to your hand, afterwards with the same amount of force apply it with the sharp end, wich one concentrates the loads more in a smaller area? The diameter of the pen shaft is the same either way.

[@ruslanotarov9727]

@@dumitrupopamd Blunt end and sharp ends of pen have different surface areas. Pressure is spread from the post down to footing in a 45 degrees cone formation. That means round footing could be costumed exactly in width and depth to bear curtain structural load.

[@biz4twobiz463]

But now what?? How do you add a post to the top of that footing??

[@speedwayman100]

if you were to put one in you would add it while the concrete is wet obviously

[@sandrakrytus5809]

@maximus Couldn't you put the anchors in the wet cement instead of drilling holes?

[@krakenhackenla]

@@sandrakrytus5809 different anchors for both 'cast in concrete' and install after concrete has set. Ends up with the same result.

[@studdruppo]

If you still anchors you might what to way a period of time before you drill the anchors. I've heard 4 weeks.

[@kayvonmansouri]

did you pour the footing and then immediately put the sono tube on & then pour that? or does it dry and then its a separate pour?

[@WHY70122]

I was going to ask why he has 2 separate pours. That’s not good practice as the concrete footing is not homogeneous.

[@jonathansage2147]

It's not two separate pours. It's a wet joint.

[@Eastbaypisces]

How far apart do u need those footings

[@jeff_9074]

Depends on the size and span of your beams.

[@jaylong3581]

I agree with Marks comments, 5K cement is based on proper slump of about 6" this looks like maybe about a 2" which is easier to work but about 50% weaker!

[@trade0714]

I've got a DIY deck in the future. Can you explain what you mean by "proper slump"?

[@tedsell1455]

To much water is soup ,slump is how thick it will stand in a clump

[@zachlenagh2801]

Slump measures how far it falls from the height of the cone so a 6" slump is way more soupy than a 2" slump so you said that backwards. 2" slump is extremely thick

[@concernedkid3262]

helpful video!

[@RHEC1776]

No it's not. It's the way not to do it. One the concrete was to soupy Two that onr little piece of rebar was a joke. You need way more rebar Three he didn't put the strap in. So now you have to drill into the concrete. 😂

[@tedpendagast579]

3 or 4 days to wait on concrete??? Good gawd Invest in some quikcrete We aren’t building a bridge!

[@markfreese3396]

You forgot to put in the post anchor be for the concete dried.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@tinadipaulo1602]

What if there IS water?

[@mica122213]

find another house to build a deck on

[@Luckingsworth]

Then a proper drainage system would need to be installed in the area first to evacuate excess soil water. Aka french drains and sumps.

[@5-opreacher688]

Mix is so wet you cam literally watch the water run out from under the sonotubes at 3:15

[@jtltet]

Those footings are way larger than necessary for a deck. 16"x16"x8" is a standard size for deck footings. Anything more than that is overkill unless it is supporting a concentrated load.

[@DaDaDo661]

Code is different in each location. What they did is up to code in my area

[@mica122213]

they wanna park a car on the deck

[@sandrakrytus5809]

@@mica122213 Maybe a big hot tub to hold 7 people each upwards of 125#, maybe as much 250 or 300? The weight of the water alone in a 400 gallon tub is over 3000#, not counting the weight of the tub itself and the people. Why, the water alone could weigh more than average sized car.

[@annikagroebner7534]

Here in Nova Scotia, we were required to dig 52" down (below the frost line) make a 2'x2' base for the footing and then essentially 4ft of 10" sonotube on that, with then 6x6 posts. Total overkill for a small deck just 3ft off the ground!

[@boots7859]

I've got a 46x16 deck, and need to support 6600# per trib. I'm looking at 24" Bigfoot footers.

[@robbyhowell8668]

The concrete in the tube looks too wet

[@bassmanbn]

This guy could read a story to me and put me to sleep in seconds...it's almost comical how bored he sounds.

[@richardbedard1245]

If you already know how to do the job by code and common sense why do you need someone to look at it when he's probably never done any footing work?

[@4dak88]

you don't, if you are totally satisfied and confident in your work, understanding and skill, you do not need any inspections, those are just for dumb ass DIYers who like to hand out free money to smarter people who are willing to legally steal it for giving 2cents worth of questionable "advise" haha what a joke

[@prant8998]

Ah, to get a CO for the deck an inspector has to sign off on it for building code. If you don’t, the owner doesn’t have to pay you.

[@TwoTall1988]

It's big government doing the nanny state where they make sure people are building right in the area.

[@Wadley225]

One scrawny little piece of rebar to connect the base to the pier? ONE ?!?!?!?!?!? Remind me to never let you near any of my concrete work!!!

[@samwickerboots590]

Never let him near your concrete work! I'm not doubling you just curious... The deck being so low to the ground there wouldn't be much of an arm build on that rebar, wouldn't that rebar mainly be feeling shear stress? How much shear would be on an individual footing that one piece wouldn't be ok (given that the shear is also dispersed through both rough surfaces and there is no anchor set in for brackets to the deck)? Seems overkill of more rebar could cause weakness in the concrete, where the concrete is resisting the compression force. What does the math/theory that the codes are based on say for the specific application; 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 pieces of scrawny little pieces? Simply more that one and less than some number to resist torquing? Maybe solid steal forgings hot dipped would've been better than concrete and rebar. Or maybe "Titan Deck Foot" blocks would've been better... I didn't see a slump test, I wonder if the 5k smash units strength is being fully realized... Remind me to not make jokes on youtube video comments!!! Someone may misunderstand and take my opinion as fact without checking. Sorry I'm talking out my ass while I type this.

[@truecrimejungle]

Wadley is an idiot.

[@RHEC1776]

I've been in the concrete business for over 20+ years and I would fire my guys if I saw them only putting one piece of rebar in like that. He probably changed them arm and a leg aswell

[@mica122213]

i been the business over 50+ years, one piece is all you need based on concrete compression and the weight of the deck. learn physics

[@MostlyPeacefulCombatVet]

Yeah..... So even if this was an 8 bag mix, fiberglass reinforced ready mix, I'd still do a multi layer tower per each pier. A single piece? That doesn't reinforce anything. So if that thing decides to crack, there's nothing to keep it held.

[@tim-hill]

That calculator is terrible. It recommends (6) 80lb bags of concrete to make a single 2'x2'x1' footing. How is that possible?

[@SMSKrom]

Each 80lb bag of concrete is only 0.66 cuft.

[@pennyjimenez1612]

Seems good so far! Was easy to talk to about his My Shed Plans [Go Here=> *WoodBlueprints. Com* ]. Guided me in the right direction & helped me understand everything & in the end it was what I wanted

[@robertmannel4446]

You are correct, sir. 4 cu ft. However, that 2x2 number is bigger than most pads. Here in No. Va. I go 16" diameter , 24" to frost line, to grade. Which means for my four footings, I will need 20 bags @ 60 lb. That is what I call reasonable overkill. I am replacing a deck for a client who had a deck supported by footings which had a 12" footprint.

[@MaxRank]

I recommend not pouring concrete in flip flops.

[@alulaleak]

Agreed - bare foot best

[@MaxRank]

@@alulaleak 🤣

[@66realdude]

Good info but... don't put music Or sales in the actual video.

[@1Tibs1]

this guy sounds like robert duncan.

[@Capnmax]

Wtf are you tying in your post with!?

[@cindyharr2670]

This man is Not a gentleman working her this way !!

[@romeliapolly2520]

I did it with the Woodglut plans.

[@DR0CK]

Below the frost line? ... fuck me, I'm going to need a bigger shovel. Our frost line is 8 feet here...

[@Sludgepump]

All the music did was muddy up your voice.

[@digbickho]

how will a grown man, go to work wearing fucking flip flops

[@vincentbain1392]

If the narrator can’t seem to be enthused about the subject, why should I be?

[@vincentbain1392]

Airborne Jets it’s always the small minds that can’t tolerate differences of opinions. They are the first ones to make an effort to stifle anyone that challenges their way of thinking. And, they are usually the ones that are confrontational (often times in an abusive manner). These people are also more involved in domestic violence, emotional and mental as well as physical abuse. So when you say “Stfu”, what your’e really doing is throwing a tantrum because you lack the maturity and self discipline to control yourself.

[@sandrakrytus5809]

He was enthusiastic enough to take the time to make this video for your critical butt.

[@ericstark]

Ha, so funny. That’s me. My voice sucks. Lol.

[@almcclain1061]

Lose the distracting, obnoxious music