How to Pour Concrete Deck Footings
Dig, form, and pour durable concrete deck footings using cardboard building tubes and post anchors to create a stable foundation below the frost line.
This guide shows how to pour concrete deck footings in 4-6 hours. Start with dig footing holes below frost line; follow the safety notes and step checkpoints below.
Watch: How to Pour Concrete Deck Footings
Dig, form, and pour durable concrete deck footings using cardboard building tubes and post anchors to create a stable foundation below the frost line. · 3:10 minute walkthrough. The full written steps are below.
Visual step map
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Materials and cost planner
Select the items you plan to buy, adjust any estimated price, and calculate the selected total.
Editable rough U.S. retail estimates. Estimated all listed: $256.00. Prices are planning estimates, not quotes — tax, store, brand, size and quantity will change them.
Time and finish planner
Estimate active working time from the number of steps in this guide.
Paint coverage calculator
Estimate how much paint to buy from the area you plan to cover, the number of coats and the coverage shown on the can.
Use the coverage printed on the actual product label. Rough, porous or heavily patched surfaces can use much more paint.
- Read the tools, materials, safety notes, and steps below for free.
- Tap See 20-second demo if you want to understand it first.
- Tap Start Camera Coach when you want hands-free help, or Voice-only if you do not want to use the camera.
- Allow camera and microphone. Point your phone at the work; the coach watches your progress and tells you the next step.
🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Post hole digger or power auger
- ✓ Torpedo level or 2-foot spirit level
- ✓ Wheelbarrow or heavy-duty mixing tub
- ✓ Concrete hoe or flat shovel
- ✓ Margin trowel
- ✓ Tape measure
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ QUIKRETE 5000 or High Strength Concrete Mix
- ✓ Cardboard building form tubes (Sonotubes)
- ✓ Crushed gravel (base drainage)
- ✓ Galvanized post base brackets or J-bolts
- ✓ Clean water
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Call 811 before digging to locate underground utility lines.
- • Wear waterproof alkali-resistant gloves and safety glasses to prevent chemical concrete burns.
- • Lift concrete bags with legs, keeping the load close to the body to prevent back strain.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Dig Footing Holes Below Frost Line
Dig vertical holes at your layout markers using a post hole digger or auger. Ensure the hole depth extends at least 6 inches below your local frost line and has a flat, undisturbed soil base.
- • Cylindrical hole with straight vertical sides
- • Measuring tape shows bottom is below required frost depth line
- • Stopping before reaching local frost depth
- • Digging a bowl-shaped bottom instead of flat
Add Gravel Base and Cut Form Tubes
Pour 4 to 6 inches of crushed gravel into the bottom of the hole and tamp it firm. Measure the remaining depth, add 2 to 3 inches for above-ground clearance, and cut the cardboard form tube with a hand saw.
- • Even layer of crushed stone visible in the hole bottom
- • Form tube cut squarely to the calculated height
- • Skipping the gravel base, leading to drainage issues
- • Cutting the tube too short so the top sits below ground grade
Set, Plumb, and Backfill the Form Tube
Lower the tube into the hole and place a level against the side. Backfill soil tightly around the outside of the tube in layers, checking plumb continuously to keep it perfectly vertical.
- • Spirit level bubble centered on two perpendicular sides of the tube
- • Firm soil packed around tube perimeter with no gaps
- • Backfilling all at once, which pushes the tube out of plumb
- • Leaving air voids around the tube
Mix the Concrete
Empty concrete mix bags into a wheelbarrow and form a depression in the center. Add clean water incrementally, pulling dry mix inward with a hoe until it reaches a uniform, thick oatmeal consistency.
- • Uniform grey color with no dry powdery pockets
- • Mixture holds its shape when sliced with a hoe without pooling water
- • Dumping all water at once, creating a runny soup
- • Leaving unmixed dry aggregate in the corners
Pour and Consolidate Concrete in the Form
Shovel concrete into the tube in 10-to-12-inch lifts. Consolidate each lift by rodding with a piece of rebar or tapping the tube exterior with a rubber mallet to eliminate trapped air voids.
- • Concrete filling form evenly to the top rim
- • Air bubbles rising and popping on the surface during rodding
- • Pouring the entire depth at once without rodding, trapping large voids
- • Splashing mix onto the inner dry tube walls
Screed Top and Embed Post Bracket
Screed the wet concrete flush with the top of the form tube using a scrap board or margin trowel. Immediately center the J-bolt or post base bracket into the wet concrete, leaving the bottom plate flat on the surface.
- • Smooth, flat concrete top flush with the cardboard rim
- • Post bracket centered on layout lines and leveled horizontally
- • Sinking the post bracket too deep, embedding the wood standoff plate
- • Inserting the bracket after concrete has begun its initial set
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by QUIKRETE — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Wheelbarrow? Heavy-duty plastic mortar pan or 5-gallon buckets
- No Post hole digger? Narrow trenching shovel and hand trowel
- No Rubber mallet? Wood block tapped by hand against the form tube