Footing Options: Concrete vs. Helical Piles

building department. Next up, number three, we're going to talk about footing. So, there's two typical types of footings that we use and most builders are going to use, and that's concrete footing versus a helical pile. I'll talk about the pros and cons of both and why most of the time we choose helical piles. So, we'll start with concrete. Concrete is what you'll see on probably 90% of decks and when done properly, completely fine. So, a concrete footing obviously starts out with a hole in the ground. And depending on where you live, you'll have a different frost depth. Where we are, it's about 32 in, but check with where you live. And if you're in a warmer climate somewhere, it might only be 12 in or less. But if you're in a really cold climate, it could be 4T, 5T. Um, so definitely check with that and make sure that your footings go below the frost steps. So, with a concrete footing, you have to dig the hole. That takes labor. It takes time. Then you're going to need a footing inspection on that. So, an inspector will need to come out, look at the hole, and make sure that you're deep enough for the frost depth, and you're good to go to pour the concrete. So far, we don't have a lot of costs involved with the concrete footing, just the labor to dig the hole and wait for the inspector. A lot of times, you will use a cardboard sauna tube. That costs about $20. And then for our area, 32 in, we're going to need about six bags of concrete to fill that hole. So, now we're at $20 for the cardboard form. And we've got about six bags of concrete, about six bucks a piece. $36. So, we're at $56 so far. Now, on top of that, you're going to need an attachment to attach your post to that. You're going to need a Jbolt that you can wet set in the concrete or a concrete anchor that you can install after it's cured. That's not very expensive. So, it's going to cost you maybe a couple bucks. But then you need a base plate. Those for a 6x6, which is typically what we use, are going to be about $22 or so. So, right now we are already up to $78 for a concrete footing. and we've got a lot of labor invested into that. Now, I'm going to talk about helical piles. You've probably seen us use them if you follow us, but it's a long helix on a steel pipe and it gets drilled into the ground at a certain torque. Two reasons we really love these. Number one, they're super quick. We sub them out, so they're installed. They don't need an inspection because they're installed to a certain…