Its purpose is to spread out the weight of the structure onto the soil. A footing is just a concrete beam that's poured in direct contact with the soil. The foundation wall rests on this footing.

Several months ago, a visitor to AsktheBuilder.com asked for advice about pouring footings for a new house he was building. He had purchased a lot that had lots of mature trees on it.

I'm also stumped about piers. What's the real purpose of these things? Can you install a foundation without concrete footings? What tips can you share about pouring concrete footings?

Construction crews have started pouring concrete for what will become the footing of an indoor sports fieldhouse that is being built on the NexusPark site in Columbus.

Foxconn wins approval for factory plans, begins pouring foundation and footings Rick Romell Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 0:00 ...