Do it Yourself Cement Footings & Forms

Determine the load bearing capacity, also known as the "psf," of the soil below your home. The psf indicates how much weight the soil can bear, which then tells you how large a footing to use. For example, a one-story wooden house on soil of psf 1,500 will need almost as much footing as a three-story house on soil of psf 2,000.

Use a sledgehammer to drive wooden stakes vertically along the border of the excavation for your house, creating an outer border of stakes. Then, form an inner border by driving a second row of stakes with each stake lining up with one from the outer border, with the desired width of the foundation between. This will create the skeleton for making the concrete forms.

Connect the stakes by attaching 2-by-10 lumber to them on its side, so you have two 10-inch-high frames for your excavation, also known as the form.

Use a level along each section to make sure each frame is flat, and then lay a board across the two frames and level the board to ensure the entire frame is even.

Connect the concrete support bars to the wooden blocks with wire so the blocks all lie on one side of the bar, preventing the bars from rolling. Then, lay two bars next to each other, between the two frames and running parallel to them.

Pour concrete into the form, covering the bars until it reaches the top edge of the 2-by-10 lumber. Then use a finishing trowel to flatten the concrete so it levels with the top edge of the wood. Let the concrete dry, and the footing is finished.