I am planning on pouring a 14' by 24' concrete patio at the level of the walkout basement sliding door. The original grading of the house sloped from part way up the poured concrete foundation wall down about 22" to the small 2' by 6' patio at the door. After excavating this area I found the footing of the house about 3" below the level of the doorway. The county inspector suggested that part of the footing might not be a 'frost' footing as it was expected to be underground and might only go down 8". He suggested that I use insulation under the concrete patio to prevent frost heave in the house foundation. A contractor suggested that the footer should go down 24" so I should not worry about it and just pour the patio. This is scary - any thoughts about what I should do?

I'm having a hard time visualizing your description of the patio. Do you have any pics that you can post?