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Serving Anchorage, AK and surrounding areas. (907) 202-5481
Building a deck, garage, or addition in Anchorage means footings deep enough to stay put through hard winters. We handle the depth, the rebar, the permit, and the inspection - so your structure does not move.
Concrete footings in Anchorage must be poured below the local frost line - typically five feet or more depending on your specific location and soil type - reinforced with rebar, and permitted through the Municipality before the pour. Most residential footing jobs take one to three days of active work, with full concrete strength reached in about 28 days.
Most homeowners who call us are planning something new: a deck, a detached garage, a room addition. They already know they need footings. What they often do not know is how much the depth and reinforcement requirements here differ from what they might have experienced in another state or from what they have read online. The short version is that footings in Anchorage are deeper, require more concrete, and need to account for seismic activity in a way that footings in most U.S. cities do not.
We work alongside customers planning full foundation installation projects as well, and can advise on whether your scope needs individual footings or a full foundation system.
If you can see a gap opening between your deck and your home's exterior wall, or if the deck surface no longer looks level, the footings underneath may have shifted. In Anchorage, this often happens after a hard winter when freeze-thaw cycles push footings that were not buried deep enough. A leaning deck is not a cosmetic issue - it can become a safety hazard quickly.
When a footing settles unevenly, the frame of the structure above it shifts slightly out of square. The first place you will notice this is doors and windows that suddenly stick, will not latch, or show visible gaps at the corners. If this is happening in a room that was added on or in a garage, the footings are the first thing worth checking.
Diagonal cracks in drywall or exterior siding - especially ones that appear after a winter - often signal that a footing has moved. The 2018 Anchorage earthquake caused exactly this kind of cracking in many homes, and some of those cracks were signs of footing damage rather than just cosmetic settling. If you see new cracks after a significant seismic event, have a contractor take a look.
Any new structure attached to or near your home needs properly designed footings before a single board goes up. In Anchorage, this is especially true because of the frost depth and seismic requirements. A deck built on surface-level blocks or shallow piers will not survive a full Anchorage winter cycle intact. Getting footings right is the first step, not an afterthought.
We install concrete footings for decks, garages, detached structures, room additions, and other residential projects across Anchorage. Every job includes a site assessment, excavation to the correct depth, forming, rebar placement, the concrete pour, inspection coordination, backfill, and cleanup. We also handle all permit paperwork through the Municipality of Anchorage before a shovel hits the ground.
For customers whose project also requires a full structural base, we can assess whether individual footings or a complete foundation raising or replacement is the right approach. The National Association of Home Builders recommends getting the foundation and footing scope clearly defined before contracting any new structure - we help you work through that conversation before anything is finalized.
For homeowners adding or replacing a deck, including multi-level decks that need multiple footings at different depths.
For detached garages, workshops, or accessory structures where footings need to meet Anchorage's seismic and frost requirements.
For room additions or sunrooms attached to the main house, where the footing design must tie into the existing foundation system.
For structures where existing footings have shifted, crumbled, or were originally installed too shallow for Anchorage conditions.
Two factors make footing work in Anchorage genuinely different from most U.S. cities. The first is the frost line. In Anchorage, the ground can freeze to five feet or more in depth, depending on location and soil type. Footings poured above that line will heave every winter as the ground freezes and expands - and whatever is built on top of them will shift and crack. This is not a worst-case scenario; it is the expected outcome for a shallow footing in this climate.
The second factor is seismic activity. The 2018 magnitude-7.1 earthquake caused visible structural damage across Anchorage, and well-engineered footings with proper rebar and connection details are part of what determines whether a structure weathers that kind of event. We work throughout Anchorage and have done footing projects for homeowners in Wasilla and Knik-Fairview as well - communities that share Anchorage's soil and seismic conditions. The Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission documents local seismic risk in detail for property owners who want to understand what their home is built on.
We ask a few basic questions about what you are building and where on your property. We either provide a ballpark range or schedule a site visit - either way, you get a written estimate before any work begins. We reply within one business day.
We assess your soil, measure the layout, and confirm the footing design before any digging starts. For most footing work in Anchorage, we then apply for a building permit through the Municipality - this step can take one to three weeks depending on the season.
The crew digs to the required depth - in Anchorage, often five feet or more - sets up forms, and places steel reinforcing bars inside. A municipal inspector may visit to verify depth and layout before the pour. That inspection is a second set of eyes confirming everything is correct before it is buried.
The concrete pour itself is often the fastest part - a few hours for most residential footings. We protect fresh concrete from temperature extremes with insulating blankets if needed. Forms come off in 24 to 48 hours, soil is backfilled, the site is cleaned up, and we hand over any inspection sign-off paperwork for your records.
We reply to all inquiries within one business day. If you are working against a seasonal deadline - trying to get footings in before the ground freezes - let us know when you reach out and we will treat your project as time-sensitive.
We assess your site, design footings for Anchorage's depth and seismic requirements, and handle the permit - all before any concrete is poured.
(907) 202-5481We design every footing to go below Anchorage's deep frost line - around five feet or more depending on your site. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service documents how frost depth varies across Southcentral Alaska; we know these conditions and build to them, not to the shallower depths common in warmer states.
Anchorage sits in one of the most seismically active areas in North America. We reinforce every footing with rebar and use connection details designed to keep the footing and the structure above it working together when the ground moves - not the minimum required by code, but the way experienced local contractors have learned to build.
We apply for the Municipality of Anchorage building permit, schedule the required inspection, and make sure everything is signed off before we backfill. You get a clean paper trail that protects your home's value and makes future sales or refinancing straightforward.
Anchorage soils vary - from stable glacial till in some neighborhoods to softer, more compressible ground near the coastline. We assess your specific lot before quoting, so you get a footing design matched to what is actually under your property. A one-size-fits-all approach is one of the most common reasons footings fail early in this area.
Footing work is invisible once the job is done - which means cutting corners is easy to hide in the short term and expensive to fix in the long term. We build every footing the way we would want our own home built: to depth, to spec, and with the inspection paperwork to prove it.
Restore settled or sunken foundations to their correct elevation before permanent structural damage sets in.
Learn MoreFull foundation installation for new builds and major additions, designed for Anchorage soil and seismic conditions.
Learn MoreAnchorage's construction window is short - reach out now and we will get your site assessed and your written estimate back to you within one business day.