Foundation Material Estimator
Concrete Footing Calculator
Estimate concrete for strip footings or separate pads and piers. Compare volume, bags and waste from known dimensions, with cost checks for continuous footings.
Enter Footing Dimensions
Save this estimate or download a PDF report
The PDF report uses the current calculated result. Save the estimate first when you want to reuse the inputs later.
Results
Live estimateCombined material estimate
- Pad per assembly
- 4 ft3
- Pier per assembly
- 2.3562 ft3
- One assembly before waste
- 6.3562 ft3
- Net concrete
- 38.1372 ft3
- Order volume
- 1.55374 yd3
- 41.9509 ft3 / 1.55374 yd3 / 1.18792 m3
- Bags Needed
- 70 bags
Waste is included once. Bags are rounded up for one shared mix and order.
Quantity estimate only. Dimensions are not structural approval.
Quick answer
A 40 ft continuous footing that is 16 in wide and 8 in deep needs about 1.45 yd3 with 10% waste, or about 66 80 lb bags. With $165/yd3 ready-mix plus a $125 delivery fee, the concrete material screen is about $9.10 per linear ft; a $2,400 installed quote screens at $60.00 per linear ft before excavation, forms, rebar, inspection, access, and cleanup are checked.
Footing cost checks
Keep quantity, design, and quote scope separate
Confirm the approved dimensions before estimating concrete. Then compare bags or delivery and check which excavation, reinforcement, inspection, and placement costs are included in the written bid.
Footing cost per linear foot
Divide material-only cost and installed quote totals by the same footing length. Do not compare a concrete-only number with a contractor-installed number.
Match the footing shape
Use this page for continuous rectangular footing runs. Route round deck tubes, post holes, and large drilled piers to the matching calculator before pricing.
Size and design boundary
Use approved dimensions. A volume estimate does not establish soil bearing capacity, frost depth, reinforcement, or structural adequacy.
Buying-path check
When bag counts climb, compare pallets, pickup payload, ready-mix minimums, short-load fees, and placement access before committing to bags.
Compare bids using the same dimensions and inclusions. Recalculate the quantity if the approved concrete section changes.
Footing shapes
Check the shape before estimating concrete
Match the concrete section on the drawing to the dimensions you measure. Continuous footings, separate pads, and round piers use different shapes. A footing may be called a footer in a bid; confirm the approved dimensions and reinforcement in either case.
- Continuous wall or foundation footing
Length x width x concrete thickness
Use the approved concrete section and total run length. If a bid calls it a footer, confirm it refers to the same footing on the drawing.
- Footing dimensions not yet specified
Confirm the design before estimating
A footing is the concrete base that spreads a wall, column, post, or small structure load into the soil. This page does not choose the structural size.
- Round hole, tube, or drilled pier
Use the matching round shape
Use diameter and concrete depth for a round section. Account for a separate pad or bell without counting overlapping volumes twice.
- Footing with slab or stem wall
Estimate each concrete section separately
Estimate the footing concrete first, then carry the result to foundation cost or quote review when excavation, forms, rebar, drainage, permits, and inspection enter the bid.
- Small sign, marker, or plaque base
Use the approved pad dimensions
For a sign, marker, or plaque base, enter the approved pad or footing dimensions. Confirm embed depth, frost, wind load, anchoring, and local rules separately.
Footing quote normalizer
Normalize footing material and installed bids per linear foot
A 40 ft continuous footing at 16 in x 8 in is about 1.45 yd3 and 66 80-lb bags. With the default quote check, ready-mix material screens at $9.10 per linear ft, while a $2,400 installed bid screens at $60.00 per linear ft.
Use the spread to ask for the scope behind the quote: excavation, forms, rebar, inspection, access.
$9.10/ft
$364.01 ready-mix screen
$60.00/ft
$2400.00 / 40 ft
$50.90/ft
Labor, prep, risk, and overhead to explain
| Normalized line | Value | Quote check |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-mix material benchmark | About 1.45 yd3 displayed; $165.00 per yd3 + $125.00 delivery: $364.01 total | Pricing uses unrounded footing volume with waste, not the displayed yardage. This concrete-only benchmark excludes labor, excavation, forms, reinforcement, permits, cleanup, or margin. |
| Material cost per linear ft | $364.01 over about 40 ft: $9.10 per linear ft | Per-foot pricing uses the unrounded material total and run length; displayed numbers are rounded. Compare this material-only number with a per-foot bid. |
| Bagged material fallback | 66 bags x $5.00 = $330.00, or $8.25/ft | Bag material can look close, but mixing pace, dry load, and trench placement time still matter. |
| Installed quote normalizer | $2400.00 over about 40 ft: $60.00 per linear ft | Use the unrounded quote total and run length. Compare only quotes with the same excavation, forms, rebar, inspection, access, cleanup, and exclusions. |
| Scope spread above material | $50.90 per ft above the concrete-only benchmark | A high spread is not automatically wrong; it should be explained by written labor, prep, reinforcement, access, and risk lines. |
Footing inspection scope
Turn footing yards into a quote and inspection checklist
Recent footing calculators answer trench volume. A footing that is ready to buy also needs the next checks: actual trench condition, frost depth, rebar, forms, inspection hold points, and concrete placement access.
Scope status
Structural quote check
53/100 scope-readiness score
Run length
40 ft total
16 in wide x 8 in deep
Buying pressure
Bags versus delivery check
66 bags / 1.4486 yd3
| Scope item | Status | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Actual trench dimensions | confirm | Waste is at least 10%, but measure trench width and depth after excavation. |
| Frost depth and bearing surface | ask | Confirm local footing depth, undisturbed bearing material, and inspection requirements before the pour. |
| Rebar, dowels, and laps | ask | Material volume does not design reinforcement; written quotes should separate bar size, chairs, dowels, and laps. |
| Forms and excavation scope | ask | Clarify who handles excavation, bottom cleanup, forms, bracing, spoils, and backfill readiness. |
| Truck, chute, pump, or buggy access | ask | Footings often sit away from the truck; ask whether chute reach, pump, buggy, wheelbarrow, or wait-time fees apply. |
| Inspection and pour hold point | ask | Confirm whether the trench and rebar need approval before concrete arrives, and who pays if the pour is delayed. |
Pads and piers: separate volumes, one order
A pad is the wider concrete base; a pier is the round column above it. For identical assemblies, add one pad volume to one pier volume, multiply by the assembly count, then apply waste to that combined quantity. Divide the order volume by the stated bag yield and round up once. The result is a material estimate, not a footing design.
Measure the height above the pad
Use the concrete thickness of the pad, excluding gravel or other base material. Pier height begins at the top of that pad and ends at the top of the concrete pier. If a drawing gives the overall concrete height from bottom to top, subtract pad thickness first. Entering the full height again would count the overlapping concrete twice.
A rectangular pad uses length x width x thickness. A round pad uses pi x (diameter / 2)^2 x thickness; the pier uses the same circle area times its height above the pad. All dimensions must use matching units before multiplication. A pier that fits within the pad passes only a geometric check, not a load or bearing check.
Combined material example
Six 2 ft x 2 ft x 1 ft pads, each with a 12 in diameter pier rising 3 ft above the pad, contain 38.1372 ft3 before waste. With 10% waste, the order quantity is 1.55374 yd3, or 70 bags at 0.60 ft3 per bag. These dimensions illustrate the arithmetic only; they are not recommended construction sizes.
- Pads, all six
- 24 ft3
- Piers, all six
- 14.1372 ft3
- Combined with 10% waste
- 41.9509 ft3
Before ordering
Combine quantities only when the same mix and one shared order serve both parts. For one 2 ft x 2 ft x 6 in pad with a 12 in diameter, 3 ft tall pier above it, 10% waste gives 8 combined bags at 0.60 ft3 per bag. Rounding each part separately gives 4 plus 5 bags. Separate mixes or separately scheduled orders may still require separate purchases; the difference is not guaranteed savings.
Check the actual product yield, excavation dimensions, form losses, placement access and supplier minimums before buying. Different pad sizes need separate takeoffs. Belled bases, hollow shafts, post displacement and sloped transitions are outside this model. Confirm footing dimensions, soil capacity, reinforcement and inspections with the responsible professional; extra concrete cannot correct an unsuitable design.
Deck footing calculator path
Match deck footings to the right concrete calculator
Deck footing searches can mean three different jobs: a continuous rectangular beam footing, several round deck piers in form tubes, or larger drilled piers with a structural detail. Use the table below before comparing cost, because the shape controls cubic yards, bags, and the quote questions you should ask.
Quick deck example
Six 12 in diameter tubes filled 48 in deep need about 0.77 yd3 with 10% waste, or 35 common 80-lb bags.
| Deck footing case | Example input | Planning result | Use it when | Next calculator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous beam footing | 24 ft run x 16 in wide x 8 in deep | 0.87 yd3 / 40 80-lb bags | A beam, wall, stair landing, or small retaining edge sits on one rectangular trench. | Use this page, then review per-linear-foot quote scope. |
| Round deck piers and tubes | 6 tubes x 12 in diameter x 48 in deep | 0.77 yd3 / 35 80-lb bags | Posts or beams sit on separate round deck piers, cardboard form tubes, or poured round holes. | Use the form tube calculator for diameter-sensitive tube math. |
| Large drilled piers or bells | Drilled shafts, caissons, or approved belled bases | Separate shaft and bell volume | The foundation detail has a larger drilled shaft, casing, groundwater, or a belled base. | Use the pier and caisson calculator so geometry stays separate. |
Confirm frost depth, bearing soil, uplift anchors, post bases, rebar, and permit inspections from approved local guidance before treating any calculator result as design.
Measure the real excavated diameter or trench width after digging; overbreak, loose sidewalls, bell-outs, and uneven bottoms can add concrete.
Compare the bag count with ready-mix, mini-mix, or volumetric delivery when grouped deck footings cross the practical hand-mixing limit.
Ask whether layout, digging, tube forms, bracing, anchors, inspection waits, spoils, access, washout, and cleanup are included or excluded.
When a deck quote mixes concrete, digging, tubes, anchors, and access into one number, send the result into quote review before approving the bid.
Review deck footing quoteFormula
One footing run
V_1 (ft3) = length (ft) x (width (in) / 12) x (depth (in) / 12)V_1 ≈ 40 ft x 1.333333 ft x 0.666667 ft ≈ 35.555556 ft3All runs
V_raw (ft3) = V_1 (ft3) x identical runsV_raw ≈ 35.555556 ft3 x 1 ≈ 35.555556 ft3Waste and bags
V_total (ft3) = V_raw (ft3) x (1 + waste (%) / 100)V_total ≈ 35.555556 ft3 x (1 + 10 / 100) ≈ 39.111111 ft3Bags = round up(39.111111 ft3 / 0.6 ft3) = 66Displayed quantities are rounded; whole bags use the unrounded volume. Bag yield depends on the product.
Example Footing Estimates
Footing Size Notes
| Topic | Note |
|---|---|
| Footing width | Depends on load, soil bearing capacity, wall thickness, and local code. |
| Footing depth | May need to reach below frost depth or suitable bearing material. |
| Reinforcement | Rebar size and placement are design details, not material volume assumptions. |
| Trench condition | Uneven excavation can increase concrete volume beyond the clean rectangle. |
Before You Pour
- Measure the actual trench dimensions after excavation.
- Calculate different footing sizes separately, then add them.
- For round deck piers in cardboard forms or Sonotube-style tubes, use the concrete form tube calculator before combining bags, ready-mix minimums, and footing quote scope.
- For round drilled piers, caissons, or an approved belled base, use the pier and caisson concrete calculator so shaft and bell volumes stay separate.
- Keep over-excavation, loose sidewalls, and bottom irregularity in mind.
- Confirm inspection, reinforcement, and local code requirements before scheduling concrete.
Footing Buying Guide
Use the calculator for the material quantity, then use the written guide to check the quote details that can change the installed price: actual trench width and depth, rebar, dowels, inspection timing, chute reach, pump or buggy needs, cleanup, permits, and labor.
Open the concrete footing calculator guide before treating the cubic-yard result as a full project budget. Compare materials, delivery, and exclusions in the footing cost per linear foot guide before comparing installed bids. If the project is a deck, use the concrete calculator for deck footings to route tubes, post holes, continuous footings, and large piers first. For worked examples, compare the concrete footing calculation examples. If the project uses round holes instead of continuous runs, switch to the concrete post hole calculator.
Footing planning pages
Next pages for footing and foundation work
Use these pages when the footing estimate turns into drilled holes, wall concrete, ready-mix, or bid review.
Concrete Foundation Cost Calculator
Carry a footing quantity into a wider foundation cost and quote-scope worksheet.
Open pageConcrete Form Tube Calculator
Use round tube math for deck piers, porch posts, and Sonotube-style forms.
Open pagePier & Caisson Concrete Calculator
Switch to round shafts, belled bases, and drilled foundation holes.
Open pageConcrete Post Hole Calculator
Estimate isolated holes for posts, rails, deck supports, and small anchors.
Open pageConcrete Footing Cost per Linear Foot
Separate concrete-only $/ft from installed $/ft before comparing contractor bids.
Open pageConcrete Calculator for Deck Footings
Route deck footings by shape before choosing bags, ready-mix, or quote review.
Open pageConcrete Wall Calculator
Keep wall-body concrete separate from footing volume and quote scope.
Open pageReady-Mix vs Bags Calculator
Compare footing bag count against truck minimums and placement timing.
Open pageConcrete Quote Reviewer
Audit excavation, rebar, inspection, access, and cleanup before signing.
Open pageFrequently Asked Questions
Disclaimer: This calculator estimates concrete material volume only. It does not design footing size, bearing capacity, reinforcement, frost protection, drainage, or code compliance. Consult a qualified contractor, engineer, or local building department for structural footing requirements.