Footings are the part you stop seeing once the boards are down. They are also the part that decides whether the deck is still level in a few winters. On this clay we do not skip them.
Posts, not a frame on the soil
Clay holds water and moves near the surface. A bearer laid on it will sink at one end and stay wet at both. The boards follow. Fixings loosen. The deck rocks.
We use posts. Each post stands on a concrete pad in a hole that has gone through the soft top. The frame is bolted or bracketed to the posts. Nothing structural lies in the mud. A weed membrane can go down afterwards. It is not the footing.
The hole is the evidence. The geology viewer tells us clay is likely. The spade tells us how soft the top is today. We dig a test hole on the visit when the garden looks heavy. Shade makes that top stay softer for longer. An alley that never sees sun is the same.
We keep the post tops level with each other, or stepped on purpose where the garden falls. A deck that twists because two pads settled differently is a footing problem, not a board problem.
Pads on Middlesbrough clay
The pad spreads the load. A post stabbed into neat clay can punch down when the top is wet. A pad of a decent size stops that punch. We size it for the deck, the spans and anything heavy you have told us about, such as a tub.
Concrete is mixed to suit the hole, not thrown in dry and hoped on. In a tight alley we may carry mixed concrete in, or mix in small batches. The method is in the quote. The result is a pad that has actually set under the post.
A pad sat on the grass will tilt. The hole has to reach ground that can bear, and that depth changes from garden to garden. Tree roots near a hedge may push us to move a post. We move it on paper rather than cut a major root.
The frame then sits clear. Joists are hung or laid on bearers above the clay, with air around them. That detail is shared with our joists guide. Footings without air still leave the timber damp.
Shade, alleys and a wet hole
A shaded yard fills with water in the hole. We expect that. We pump or bail, and we do not set a pad in a soup and walk away. If the hole will not stay open, we sleeve it or dig and pour in the same visit. Clay sides collapse when you leave them.
Alleys decide the tools. A narrow entry may not take a large mixer. We plan smaller mixes, shorter posts and a tidy stack. Neighbours need the alley by evening. Spoil is not left in the run.
Spoil is heavy clay. We protect the path and we do not tread it through the house. Shade hides the finished post, so the hole has to be right before it is filled. We record the open holes ourselves. A visit still comes first.
Height and what the quote includes
Pads, posts and joists all occupy height. If you need the walking surface to stay within 30 cm of the soil, those pieces have to fit in the gap and still leave air. On flat clay they sometimes do. On a fall they often do not. We measure before we promise the simple planning case. The height rules explain the ruler in plain words.
A footing quote lists the post grid, the pad approach and any extra depth we expect from the test hole. It includes the carry down the alley. It does not include a made-up depth copied from another street. Ask for a quote and mention shade if the yard never dries. Boards are chosen after the frame is honest. Composite or timber, both need the same refusal to sit on the soil.
Raised decks use taller posts on the low side. Those posts carry more, so the pads are not smaller. We brace the frame as well. A tall post on a small pad is a lever waiting for a gust. What moves the wider figure is in our cost guide. The footing is where that figure starts.
Your questions about clay footings
Why not rest the frame on the soil?
Because Middlesbrough clay stays wet and moves. Timber on that surface rots and twists. Posts on pads take the load down into firmer ground. A membrane does not change that.
How deep are the pads?
Deep enough to pass the soft top and bear on firmer clay. That depth is not the same in every garden. We dig a test hole rather than copy a number from another job. The quote says what we found.
What if the alley is too narrow for a mixer?
We mix in small batches or carry concrete in. The quote says which. Posts can be shorter sections, fixed as we go. We check the alley on the visit so the method is real.
Do shaded gardens need a different pad?
The pad is still a pad. Shade means the hole is wetter and the topsoil stays soft, so we are stricter about depth and about bailing. The board choice changes more than the concrete does. The frame still has to stand in the air.
