What is a Footing?

The footing (a.k.a. "spread footing") is the bottom part of the foundation and is usually made of concrete and reinforced with steel (rebar). The footing forms the base of the foundation and spreads the vertical loads from building.

Footing requirements are usually covered by municipal building codes and sized with respect to the bearing capacity of the soil and the building's weight. While we typically don't need to worry about this in north Texas and southern Oklahoma, other areas may be subject to seasonal frost. In these areas, the bottom of the footing must be below the frost line to prevent damage to the footing because of frost heave.

Types of Footings

The most common types of footings are:

Spot Footings

A spot or pad footing is used to support a single point of contact, such as under a pier or post. Spot footings are usually a 2' by 2' square pad, 10" to 12" thick, and made with reinforced concrete.

Continuous Spread Footing

A continuous spread footing is mainly used to provide a stable base around the perimeter of a building. Spread footings are often augmented with interior spot footings. The spread footing supports the weight of the exterior or foundation walls. The thickness of the footing provides the necessary strength for that support. The wide width of the footing base provides a large area with which to transfer the weight from the walls to the ground. This is key to preventing settlement.

Grade Beam Footing

A grade beam footing is a continuous reinforced-concrete member used to support loads with minimal bending. Grade beams are capable of spanning across non-load bearing areas, and are commonly supported by soil or pilings.Grade beam footings differ from continuous spread footings in how they distribute loads. The depth of a grade beam footing is designed to distribute loads to bearing points, while the width of a continuous spread footing is designed to transfer loads to the ground.

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