I have some questions about under what circumstances footings are needed,
and when needed, under what circumstances they must be below frost level.

I live in a mountain area when on occasion, the ground freezes to several
feet of depth.

Here is my perception of "the rule" :



"For load-bearing structures, footings must be dug, and in areas where
frost-heave is a problem, those footings must be below frost level."



Perhaps this is a correct statement, or perhaps it isn't quite complete, I
am not sure. I suppose the main problem that I am having is determining what
is a "load-bearing structure." I think some of the fine expertise that we
have in this esteemed group can get me straight on this.

I have several small projects in mind. They are listed below, and I am
wondering if in any (or all) of the instances, I would need footings and if
so, would they need to be dug below frost line?

1. Small rock wall flower bed-- I plan to build a very small circle around a
flower bed about 5 feet across. I will be using river rock, with an average
size of 4 X 6 inches. The little wall or rock border will be about 12 inches
high, and about 5-6 inches thick. I would not think the weight would be more
than 50 lbs per foot of wall area.

2. Concrete pathway-- I plan to build some concrete pathways, about 3 feet
wide and I suppose about 4-5 inches thick. It would seem that I could peg
some forms to the ground, and pour the walkway with concrete. It would not
appear to me that this would be a "load-bearing structure", but I am very
inexperienced in these areas.

3. Retaining wall for flower bed. This is an area in a limited area of a
flower bed adjacent to my house, where I need to replace a small area of a
retaining wall, which will be built a sloping area. The entire wall will be
about 8 feet in length, and (on the sloping ground) will be about 4 feet
high on one end, and will slope to about 1 foot in height off the ground at
the other end of the 8 feet. This wall will be built of 4 X 4 pressure
treated beams, of .8 retention. There is a bit of "load" here, as the
timbers themselves are pretty heavy. At the "high" end of the wall, I would
have about 8 or 9 beams, but because of the slope, most of the beams will be
less than 8 feet in length (wish I could draw a diagram).

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That's it on the projects. I have a number of questions:

1. Would any of these projects require footings ?

2. If any require footings, would they have to be below frost line?

3. Is rebar required in any of these projects?

4. Can the walkway be poured right on the ground, or should I start with a
3-4 inch bed of gravel ?

5. Does gravel itself help with the frost-heave problem ?

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Wow, that is a LOT of questions............ so, thanks for any constructive
comments and advice !!



--James---