Planning a patio cover, addition or wall on Torrance clay? We set footings planned around the weight on top and where the water goes.
Concrete footings are the concrete supports that carry the weight of a structure down to the soil, and we dig and pour them in Torrance, CA for room additions, patio covers, decks and walls so what you build sits steady on the ground underneath.
Most calls start with a plan, like a patio cover, an addition or a wall along the side yard, though some start with a post that's leaning or a wall that's cracking because what was under it gave way. What moves the price is how many footings the job needs, how much digging and concrete goes into them, how easy the spot is to reach and whether an old slab has to come out first, and the schedule turns mostly on whether a permit is called for and what the ground looks like once we open it. I'll come out, look at the spot and give you your own number in a written estimate, and if your project is a wall holding back soil, our concrete retaining walls page covers that side of it.
I come out to look at the job and write the estimate myself, and I work beside our crew when we dig and pour. The person who asked about your soil and your storm runoff is the one standing at the hole, so nothing gets lost in between.
Before starting our company in Torrance in 2023, I spent years as another concrete contractor's right hand, running the crew and sorting out the jobs that didn't go by the book. Three years on, we're the ones people call for the awkward jobs, like tight access and cuts through old slabs.
We're licensed and fully insured, which matters on footing work because we're digging close to your house, your fence or your neighbor's. I'm happy to go over it at the estimate so you're not taking anyone's word for it before a shovel goes in the ground.
Before we start, I go through the estimate with you, what we're digging, what goes in the holes and what could change once the ground is open, so there are no surprises halfway through. Satisfaction guaranteed. Call (424) 318-3115 or send the form to set up a visit.
Send the form or call (424) 318-3115 and we'll reply within one business day to set a time for me to come out, look at the spot and write up a free estimate, with no obligation. It helps to have your address ready, along with what the footings will carry and any notes on where water pools after a storm.
A lot of Torrance sits on expansive clay, soil that swells when rain or watering wets it and shrinks when it dries, and the city says it's found in most of North Torrance and in the Walteria Lake area of Southwest Torrance. Years of that wetting and drying can make parts of a building settle unevenly, which is why I ask about water before anything else. The city advises checking for water pooling next to the building about an hour or two after a storm and improving drainage as soon as practical if you see it. Its Building and Safety office also publishes a standard detail for footings in its Expansive Soil Study Zone, and it's worth asking whether that applies to your project.
Which footing jobs need a permit isn't something I'll guess at, because that's for the city's Building and Safety office to say, so before we schedule anything we check with the city or county office for your address on what your job needs, and if a permit is called for, we handle the paperwork with you. We're based in Torrance and work across the cities around it, and we bring the same attention to soil and drainage to footing jobs in Lomita and Redondo Beach.
A footing carries the weight of whatever sits on it down into the soil, so the structure rests on a solid concrete base instead of bare dirt. One common kind is a pad footing, which stands on its own under a single post or column, and a footing can also be built into a floor slab as one piece.
There's no set price, because footings for one patio post and footings for a room addition are very different jobs, so your number comes from the free on-site estimate. Past the drivers mentioned near the top of this page, anything I find about your soil or drainage that changes the plan shows up in the estimate before you agree to anything.
Call the Grading Division in the city's Building and Safety department at (310) 618-5910, which the city's expansive soil guidelines name as the place for questions or advice on a particular soil problem. If you're in one of the clay areas mentioned above, I'll plan your footings as if the soil moves until we know otherwise.
Dig the holes to their planned depth as quickly as possible and keep them from drying out, which is what engineering guidance on foundations in expansive soil recommends. Ask any contractor how their crew will finish the dig fast and protect the holes, and for us that's the plan laid out above, with no holes left sitting open.
You apply online through Torrance Building and Safety, where homeowners and contractors can submit permit applications, pay fees and check permit status from a computer or phone. If your footing job calls for one, we go through it with you as part of getting started.
California's contractor licensing board defines a concrete contractor as one who forms, pours, places, finishes and installs concrete work, and footings are that kind of work. It's worth keeping in mind when you compare bids, and any contractor should be glad to talk about their license at the estimate.
