Finding Footing Depth for Dummies

footing depth vs. frost line

We've noticed over the years that a lot of freelancers answering questions at content farms tend to be pretty literal in their interpretation of the question, particularly when the subject of the question is foreign to them. Take, for instance, eHowian Elle Di Jensen (L. D. Jensen) whose unsuccessful attempt to address the topic of "How to Find the Depth of House Footers" has been migrated to GardenGuides.com, for some unknown reason.

Jensen, a self-appointed expert on relationships and fitness, interpreted the query quite literally. According to Elle (L), in order to find the depth of a house "footer" – the footing supporting the foundation or edge of the slab – one need only,

"Dig down along the side of your foundation with [a] shovel."

No duh. Jensen even "tips" her readers that, "The digging can be done by an excavator with a backhoe. An experienced excavator will be able to accurately dig alongside your home without disturbing the soil supporting the footings and foundation." Which, when you come right down to is, makes absolutely no sense: how can you dig without "disturbing the soil"? But never mind that: in the tradition of blind pigs stumbling across acorns in a barnyard full of manure, Elle managed to touch on the real question in the mind of the OQ in her same "tip," when she mentioned that "If you live in an area of the country that gets frost, you can estimate that the footings will be below the frost line. Check with your city’s building department to be sure, but usually codes in a frost area require that footings be 3 feet below the surface of the soil..."

...which is on the right track, but still wrong: footings should be at least six inches below the frost line, which can mean as much as five feet deep in the northern tier of U S states and Canada. Duh.

What that all boils down to is simple stupidity. It's much easier to consult the local building code to determine the proper footing depth than it is to "Dig down along the side of your foundation" per Elle's instructions, and you can be almost certain that the OQ wanted to know the proper depth of a footing instead of finding the depth of an existing one. But Jensen? She was literal... and that's why she's the Dumbass of the Day... again.

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