Deck Piers & Footings
Deck pier digging and sonotube installation, dug to 48 inches and poured, giving your deck, shed or gazebo a base that will not move.
At McNic HOLES, we offer professional deck pier digging and sonotube installation services, providing a solid foundation for your deck or structure. Properly installed piers and sonotubes ensure your deck is secure, level, and built to last. Whether you’re constructing a new deck or upgrading an existing one, our expert team is here to help.
Why footing depth is the whole job
Everything you can see about a deck rests on something you cannot. A pier that does not reach below the frost line gets pushed up every winter and settles back unevenly every spring, and the deck telegraphs it: sloping boards, a gap opening at the ledger, railings that rack, doors onto the deck that stop closing. By the time it shows, the fix means going back under the deck.
So we dig deck pier holes to 48 inches where ground conditions allow, set a sonotube in each one and pour it full. A formed, poured pier gives you a clean cylinder of concrete on undisturbed ground, a flat top to bear on and somewhere solid to anchor a saddle. It is also what a building inspector expects to see if your deck needs a permit.
Around Barrie and Simcoe County that depth is not a number we picked. Clay through central Barrie and out toward Elmvale heaves hard; sand at Wasaga Beach drains but carries load poorly and shifts under it. Either way the answer is the same: get below the frost, bear on ground that has not been disturbed, and pour a proper pier.
Our Process
Site setup
We start with a comprehensive evaluation of the site where we assess the client’s pier locations and offer suggestions. We will then mark the locations and set up water and hydro for concrete mixing.
Deck pier digging
Using specialized equipment, we carefully dig post holes to 48″ depth where the ground conditions allow, to ensure optimal stability of the deck piers or footings.
Sonotube install & concrete setting
Once the holes are ready, we insert customer supplied sonotubes (concrete forms) into each hole. We then pour concrete into the sonotubes, creating a solid and durable base. The concrete will cure to form a secure, weather-resistant pier that will support your deck for years to come.
Curing time
After the concrete is poured, we allow it to cure properly, ensuring the piers are stable and ready for the next stage of your deck construction.
What we need from you
- Your pier layout marked out, or at least the deck footprint. We will walk it with you and say if anything looks light on support.
- The sonotubes. These are customer supplied. Bring the diameter your deck plan or your builder calls for and we will set them.
- Water and hydro access for mixing. We set this up on arrival.
- Room to work. We need to get the machine into the yard, so a gate, a side yard or a driveway route we can use.
If your deck needs a permit, the number and diameter of piers comes off your approved drawings, not off us. We dig and pour what the plan calls for.
Not just decks
The same poured pier carries anything that has to stay put through a Simcoe County winter.
- Sheds, so the floor does not rack and the door keeps swinging true
- Gazebos, pergolas and pavilions, which catch a lot of wind for their weight
- Hot tub pads and platforms, where the load is concentrated and constant
- Additions, sunroom and porch footings
- Carports and covered parking
Once the piers are cured we can build the deck on them too. See deck construction.
Deck Piers and Footings across Simcoe County.
Barrie
Most of our deck pier work is in Barrie, and most of it is in clay. Clay is good bearing ground once you are below the frost, but it holds water and it heaves, so a short pier under a Barrie deck will move. The newer subdivisions add a second problem: a lot of the back yards are disturbed fill from the build, and a pier has to go through that to reach ground that has not been touched.
Springwater
Springwater deck work is mostly rural, on larger lots around Midhurst, Minesing, Anten Mills and Snow Valley, and quite often on a slope. Sloping ground means the piers are all different heights above grade even though they are all the same depth below it, which is exactly the kind of layout a poured sonotube handles well. Nearly everything out here is on a well and septic, so we locate the bed before we pick pier positions.
Wasaga Beach
Wasaga Beach is sand, and sand is the reason we pour rather than drop a block on the ground. Sand compacts unevenly and gives way under a concentrated load, so a wide, properly poured footing on undisturbed ground matters more here than anywhere. Water tables sit high in places close to the shore, which we will tell you about if we find it while digging rather than after your deck is on it.
Simcoe County
We pour piers across the county, including Innisfil, Orillia, Collingwood, Essa, New Tecumseth and Oro-Medonte. Cottage and seasonal properties are welcome, we just need vehicle access to the yard.
Questions, answered.
Deck pier holes are dug to 48 inches where ground conditions allow. Customer supplied sonotubes go in each hole and we pour the concrete.
Yes. Sonotubes are customer supplied. Bring the diameter your deck plan calls for and we will set and pour them.
We let the concrete cure properly before the piers carry any load. How long depends on the weather and the mix, and we will tell you on the day what to expect.
Yes. We dig and pour to the pier count and diameter on your approved drawings. Pulling the permit itself is the homeowner or the builder’s job.
Yes. We check for gas, hydro, cable and water lines in the digging area before any auger goes in the ground.
Yes. The same 48 inch poured pier works for sheds, gazebos, pergolas, hot tub platforms and porch footings.
Looking for that new fence or deck?
Tell us about your project and get your quote today. Residential or commercial, we take the hard work out of your fence or deck.
- Call(705) 796-7789
- EmailMcnicHolesPHD@hotmail.com
- Office11 Vine Cres, Barrie, Ontario
- HoursEvery day, 7:00 am to 9:00 pm