Concrete footings in Hilo HI - a base sized to your soil and what it carries
What goes into concrete footings for a Hilo home?
At Mainstay Hilo Concrete Construction, we build concrete footings in Hilo, Hawaiian Paradise Park and other cities nearby. A footing is the wider base under a wall, post or column that spreads your house's weight into the ground. We size each one to the engineer's plan and to what your soil can carry.
Footings usually come up when you're adding a room, a lanai or a carport post, or when an old pier has started to lean. Nobody sees a footing once the house is on it, so it's the part I most want you to understand before we pour.
Many older single-wall houses in Hawaii sit on posts over a termite pan, a small concrete square called a tofu block and a bigger concrete pier. Those parts are held together by friction alone, with no metal connectors. Homes on this island built after 1994 generally tie the roof to the walls and foundation in one continuous path. On an older home, I start by looking at what it rests on now.
If part of the house has already dropped, foundation raising may need to come first. When a new post lands on an existing slab, we use concrete cutting to open a clean spot for the footing. I come out to look and write the estimate myself, and I work on site with the crew for the pour.
What the job takes
- A look at what the house rests on
- Soil test before the digging starts
- Size set by the engineer's plan
- Trench dug down to firm ground
- Rebar and forms checked before pouring
- Curing time before anything bears on it
What to weigh before booking concrete footings
What sets the cost
The price comes from concrete, labor and digging. A wider, deeper footing on weak soil can cost several times what a shallow one does.
What the timing turns on
The schedule mostly waits on the soil test and the engineer's plan, because we don't dig until the size is settled. After the pour comes curing, the wait while the concrete hardens.
Size before savings
A narrower, shallower footing is the easy budget cut because nobody sees it later. I'd spend the money on the width and depth your soil calls for, since that's hard to fix afterward.
Concrete footing questions from Hilo
Which type of concrete footing do I need for my project?
A continuous footing runs the full length of a wall, and a pad footing sits under a single post or column. Continuous footings cost more to put in than pads, so what yours carries shapes both the design and the budget. If you're not sure which one fits, I'll sketch both out for you on site.
How much do concrete footings cost in Hilo?
Installed concrete footings across the US usually cost about $4 to $20 per linear foot. That's a national range, and the guide behind it says to check it against local quotes. Our free on-site estimate gives you a figure for your own job and shows what's included and what isn't.
Do I need a soil test before pouring footings?
It's the smart first step, because a soil test before work begins shows how well your ground carries weight. Weaker soil needs wider footings, which cost more, so testing early lets you plan the budget before the job starts. Published soil maps help, but they have limits, and some engineering uses need someone to look at the actual site. On this island, ground cracking and settling also tend to be worst where the lava flow hazard map ranks the hazard highest.
How do I know what size my concrete footings should be?
The building code's footing sizes are minimums, and a licensed engineer may call for bigger footings based on the soil, the loads or local soil reports. When the plan calls for more than the minimum, we build to the engineer's plan.
What license covers concrete footing work in Hawaii?
Hawaii's contractor rules have a C-31a cement concrete class and a C-35 pile, caisson and foundation class. Anyone holding the B general building license holds C-31a automatically. A license that isn't renewed by its expiration date counts as unlicensed, so ask any contractor whether theirs is current, or check with the state contractors license board. We're licensed and insured.
What causes a concrete footing to settle or crack?
Most footing trouble comes from concrete sitting on soft or loose ground, or from a footing that's too small for the soil and the weight above it. That's why we dig down to firm ground and build to the size the soil and the plan call for, so the footing has something solid to bear on.
Concrete footings near you
We're based in Hilo and build footings in Hawaiian Paradise Park and other cities nearby. Pick your area below, or call (808) 229-1132 if yours isn't listed.
Other concrete work
- Concrete driveway building
- Concrete patio construction
- Stamped concrete services
- Concrete sidewalk building
- Garage floor concrete
- Decorative concrete
- Concrete retaining walls
- Concrete floor installation
- Concrete pool decks
- Concrete steps construction
- Slab foundation building
- Foundation installation
- Concrete parking lot building
- Foundation raising
- Concrete cutting
Get a free estimate for your footings
Tell us if it carries a wall or post, your home's age and any soil report. We reply within one business day, and my visit comes with no obligation.