Concrete Footings & Piers
Whatever sits on top, a deck, a shed, a pergola or a garage, only stays level if the footings under it are the right kind, in the right place and deep enough. We form and pour footings and piers that pass the forms inspection the first time.
Footing forms laid out on gravel below a blasted rock cut for a new house. Bowen Island.
Poured footings or sonotube piers sized for the deck's posts and spans. Under the BC Building Code, a raised or attached deck needs footings at full depth, which is below frost on most soils; a small, low, freestanding deck may not.
Source: BC Building Code, 9.12.2.2 (depth of foundations)
Deck footings in depth →Piers, a gravel base or a slab, depending on the shed's size, floor and the ground under it. Sheds over 10 m² in Maple Ridge need a permit and a forms inspection.
Source: Maple Ridge Building Bylaw No. 8097-2026; Maple Ridge Accessory Building Guide
Shed footings and bases in depth →A continuous footing and short frost wall for a walled garage, or a pad footing under each post for a carport. In Maple Ridge both are surveyed and inspected before the pour.
Source: Maple Ridge Building Bylaw No. 8097-2026; Maple Ridge Accessory Building Guide
Footings that stop a pergola lifting or racking in the wind. We'll tell you honestly whether your existing patio is thick and sound enough to bolt to, or whether new footings go in beside it.
Post holes dug to suit the soil and fence height, with concrete that sheds water away from the post. Resetting a leaning fence means pulling the old plugs first.
New footings matched to the depth of the old house and pinned to it, so the two don't settle apart. See foundations for full additions.
The BC Building Code sets a minimum footing depth by soil type and drainage. Under a deck or other unheated structure, that means below the depth of frost penetration on most soils, and at least 1.2 m in clay. It allows an exception for a small deck: one storey, no roof, not attached to the house, no more than 55 m², and no more than 600 mm from the ground to the underside of the joists. Attach the deck to the house or roof it, and the footings go below frost.
We confirm the depth for your soil on the site visit, so the inspector sees the same number we dug to.
In Maple Ridge a deck more than 0.6 m above finished grade counts as a structure, so it needs permit drawings and a footing inspection before the pour. Decks with an attached roof, glass in the guards, or a cantilever over 24 in. need a sealed structural engineer's design. Sheds and accessory buildings up to 10 m² can go up without a permit; bigger ones need one.
For garages and other permitted buildings, the City wants a BC Land Surveyor's certificate of the forms on site at the forms inspection, so the forms have to sit exactly where the plan says. Other cities draw these lines differently, and we check yours before giving you an estimate.
Source: Maple Ridge Building Bylaw No. 8097-2026; Maple Ridge Residential Deck Application Guidelines; Maple Ridge Accessory Building Guide
Once concrete is in the ground you can't see whether a footing is square, level or deep enough. That's why we document every major stage, from the dig to the forms and steel to the pour, and why you'll see forms, not just finished work, in our photos.
Real jobs, including the forms before the pour, which is the part you can't see once the concrete is in.
Most decks in the Lower Mainland stand on poured concrete footings or sonotube piers set below frost depth, one under each post. A small, low, freestanding deck with no roof can sit on surface footings, but a raised or attached deck needs proper footings and, in Maple Ridge, a forms inspection before the pour.
For most decks, poured concrete footings or sonotube piers under each post. Deck blocks only suit small, low, freestanding decks where the code lets footings sit near the surface. The deck's height, whether it's attached to the house, and the soil decide it.
Only on a small, low, freestanding deck with no roof. The BC Building Code's small-deck exception doesn't cover decks attached to the house, roofed decks, decks over 55 m², or decks more than 600 mm from the ground to the underside of the joists. Those need footings at full code depth.
Yes, if you want it to stay plumb. Posts set straight into soil rot and lean, and an open pergola catches wind. It can bolt to an existing patio only if that slab is thick and sound.
Yes. A walled garage needs a continuous footing with a short frost wall, or a thickened slab edge where the soil allows it. A garage over 10 m² in Maple Ridge needs a building permit, and the footing forms are inspected before the pour.
Source: Maple Ridge Building Bylaw No. 8097-2026; Maple Ridge Accessory Building Guide
We don't estimate blind, because size, access, digging, steel and finish move the number more than the concrete does. Send a photo and rough measurements with the booking form and John will tell you what drives the price on your job, then give you a written estimate after the site visit.
Four steps, and nothing is ordered or dug until you sign off.
Call John, or tap Book now and send a photo of the spot with rough measurements if you have them.
John comes out, walks the site, checks access, slope and drainage, and tells you which permits and inspections the job needs.
You get a clear plan, the design and a written scope and estimate. Finishes are chosen and the build date is locked in before anything is ordered or any ground is broken.
Forms are set, inspected and poured. You get updates as we go and a clean site at the end.
Rather talk it through? Call John at (778) 200-8030 · All services
Builder or GC? Call John to talk through the project, or email the details and drawings to john@bedrockandcedar.com. How it works for builders