Septic installer, Buckhorn and Trent Lakes
New systems and full replacements from Buckhorn and Lakehurst up to Catchacoma and Crystal Lake. Send the form and an owner calls you back today.
Septic installation in Trent Lakes means building where the limestone around Buckhorn gives way to Shield rock, often on a cottage lot that slopes to Pigeon, Buckhorn or Sandy Lake. Virtually every home in the municipality runs on a private system, and the zoning by-law spells out what happens when an older bed inside the 30 metre water setback fails. Since 2024 the Municipality of Trent Lakes issues the sewage permit itself, and we prepare that application with the shoreline offset drawn in.
Building a house, cottage or shop? You get a complete system sized for the bedrooms and fixtures you are actually putting in, designed to pass the inspection the first time.
Old bed failing? Sewage surfacing, slow drains, a health unit order, or a system that predates the property? You get the old tank out and a new system to current Ontario Building Code, with the inspection coordinated for you.
We install conventional drain fields (weeping beds, leaching beds, tile beds), raised and filter beds where bedrock or the water table is close, and tertiary treatment units such as Waterloo Biofilter and Ecoflo where the lot or the shoreline calls for one.
We install and replace. We do not do pump-outs or minor repairs. If you only need a tank pumped or a baffle fixed, we will point you to someone who does that. If your system has failed or you are building new, we are the right call.
The Municipality of Trent Lakes issues sewage system permits itself. It took the program over from Peterborough Public Health in 2024 and now handles every application for a new, replacement or altered system. The building department asks for the septic application before, or together with, the building permit for a new home, an addition or a replacement, so the two are reviewed side by side. Changes to an existing system go in on the Existing Use Septic Application. We prepare the application and a site plan with every shoreline offset by 30 metres, as the Municipality asks, and book each inspection.
Trent Lakes sits in the Land Between, the transition where the Gull River limestone of the Paleozoic lowlands meets the Precambrian Shield. A 2016 planning study for land on Buffalo Bay, off Pigeon Lake, found bedrock outcrops common, with till only in the hollows between rock ridges. On ground like that, the depth of soil over the rock decides the design. Where it runs thin, the bed is built up on imported fill. The test pit at the site visit shows how much soil sits over the rock on your lot.
Section 4.30 of the Trent Lakes Zoning By-law, B2014-070, keeps every new leaching bed at least 30 metres from the normal high water mark of a lake or watercourse. A bed replaced because it failed goes back at 30 metres where possible, or as far back as the lot allows, and it does not take a minor variance when it can only fit closer. On a narrow cottage lot, that measurement sets the layout before anything else does.
“As a custom home builder, we love contracting Thor Construction Company for all of our demolition, excavation and septic work. They are easy to work with, have great equipment and know what they are doing. Our clients are always very happy with them.”
“Hired Thor for complete site services including bringing utilities into my new build and digging for foundation. Once the build was complete they came back and finish landscaped the property and we couldn't be happier. Strongly recommend!”
“Thor Construction Company came in and trenched all new water lines for us when our well line burst. They installed new yard hydrants for us as well. We are so grateful they came in and fixed our water line problem promptly and professionally.”
The Municipality of Trent Lakes, through its building department, since it took the program over in 2024. Peterborough Public Health no longer takes new applications there. We prepare and file it for you.
Yes. Under the Building Code's maintenance inspection program, on-site systems in those two subdivisions are inspected every five years, because they sit in wellhead protection areas mapped in the Trent Source Protection Plan. A new system there is designed to pass that inspection, and a Clean Water Act Section 59 notice may come with the permit.
Only if there is no room further back. The zoning by-law asks for 30 metres where possible, or the greatest setback the lot allows, and a replacement bed does not need a minor variance. We measure from the high water mark at the site visit and show you where it fits.
Yes. We arrange the design and file the Part 8 sewage system permit with whichever office covers your property, a municipal building department or the health unit, and we book every inspection.
A conventional system for a typical home in Central Ontario runs about $15,000 to $30,000. Raised beds, tertiary units and difficult access push it higher. You get a written price after the site visit.
Three to five days on site for most systems. Add the permit lead time in front of that, which we manage and keep you posted on.
Sewage surfacing or a wet, spongy patch over the bed, slow drains through the whole house, gurgling, sewage smell outside, or an unusually green strip of lawn over the bed. If you see any of these, call. If it needs replacing we will tell you straight, and if it only needs a repair we will send you to someone who does repairs.
Yes. Where bedrock, a high water table or a small lot rules out a conventional bed, we install raised and filter beds and tertiary treatment units such as Waterloo Biofilter and Ecoflo.
Often, depending on frost depth and access. Frozen ground costs a bit more. If your system has failed and cannot wait for spring, call and we will tell you whether your site works in winter.
Every page has the local permit office, the ground and the rules for that area.
Send the form and an owner calls you back today. Or call now and talk to the person who will dig the job.
