Concrete footings in Fairbanks AK - a base planned around the ground you build on

The only way to know is to drill at your building spot and pull a soil core sample. Permafrost around Fairbanks shows up in patches across the Tanana Valley, so each building spot needs its own test, and a neighbor's result won't settle yours. If drilling finds it, pilings can serve as the foundation instead, because they limit how much heat from the home reaches the frozen ground.

The cost comes down to what's under your building spot, how much footing the building needs and when in the year we pour, so I price it after I've seen the site. A permafrost result can move the job to pilings, which changes the plan and the bid. Building guidance for Alaska also says a foundation should be closed in and the building heated through the winter so the footings don't heave and settle, so a late pour means budgeting time and money for that.

Yes, with cold-weather steps, which a national concrete group's guide says apply once the air falls to 40°F or is expected to, for as long as the fresh concrete is being protected. Another trade group's guide says concrete should go only on ground that isn't frozen and is at least 40°F. Those steps can add time to the schedule, so we'd rather wait on a pour than put concrete on frozen ground.

Inside Fairbanks city limits, footings get a soils inspection after the site is dug and before any backfill, forms or resteel go in, then a footing inspection once the forms and resteel are in place. At the footing inspection the city also wants the grounding wire that's cast into the footing for the electrical system in place, and it checks that the footings sit where the approved plans put them. The city's building department reviews and inspects homes and buildings that are built or remodeled, requires a borough zoning permit, and its building official may ask for a soils evaluation report, so it's worth asking early. We find out which city and borough offices your job goes through, pull the permits that fall to us and book the inspections on our work, and if something is yours to file, we'll tell you what it is and when it's needed.

Only a contractor holding a certificate of registration from the state's Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development can bid or work as a contractor in Alaska. That covers giving you a price as well as doing the work, so it's fair to ask any contractor about it before you take their bid.

Usually it's the ground moving under them, as frozen ground heaves and settles or as ice in the soil melts out. Fine-grained soils like silt, clay and peat typically hold a lot of ice and are prone to settling when permafrost melts. Properly reinforced concrete cracks less when that movement comes and helps keep radon out of the home, which is why we don't skimp on the steel.