Excavation contractor, Wilberforce and Highlands East

Excavation contractor in Wilberforce and Highlands East

Site prep, foundation digs, driveways, trenching and grading from Wilberforce and Highland Grove to Gooderham, Cardiff and Tory Hill. Send the form and an owner calls you back today.

  • ✓Same-day callback from an owner
  • ✓Written price after the visit, locates and permits handled
  • ✓Owner on the machine, one crew, our own equipment
Get your free excavation quote
A few quick questions. An owner calls you back today.
Prefer to talk? Call (705) 208-7121
32 reviews, every one five stars
Same-day callback
An owner calls you back and books the site visit
Owner on the machine
One crew, our own excavators and skid steers, an owner on every job
Locates before every dig
Ontario Dig Authority locate filed before the machine arrives

Excavation in Wilberforce and Highlands East

Excavation in Highlands East starts with two questions: whose road does the driveway come off, and what is under the lot? Highway 118, County Road 503 and the municipal roads each take their own entrance permit, and the Official Plan maps old mine sites. Usual jobs: a driveway cut through bush to a cottage lot, a foundation or trench through rock, a garage pad near Wilberforce. Thor brings its own excavators, an owner on every job, and a written rock price at the site visit.

Site prep, foundations and services

Building a house, cottage, shop or addition? You get the lot cleared, the foundation dug to the engineer's drawings, the site services trenched in, and the grade set so water goes where it belongs.

  • ✓Lot clearing, stump and brush removal
  • ✓Foundation and basement excavation to the drawings
  • ✓Site services: water, hydro, gas and drainage trenches, backfilled and compacted
  • ✓Rough grading, imported granular and fill where the ground needs it
  • ✓Final grading and site restoration

Driveways, drainage and land work

New driveway or entrance, a wet yard, a slope that needs terracing, a burst water line to the well? You get the machine, the operator and the paperwork in one call.

  • ✓New driveways, entrances and culverts, entrance permit filed for you
  • ✓Trenching for water lines, well lines and yard hydrants
  • ✓Drainage: swales, French drains and regrading that stop the pooling
  • ✓Retaining wall and shoreline excavation, permits coordinated
  • ✓Demolition excavation and haul-away for full-structure tear-downs

We run our own excavators and skid steers, and we dig with the utilities located first, every time. Soil that leaves the site goes to a proper reuse or disposal site under Ontario's excess-soil rules.

We do not do hydrovac, well drilling, fence post holes, paving or concrete forming. If your job is one of those we will point you to someone who does it. If it needs a machine, an operator who owns it, and the permits handled, we are the right call.

Digging in Wilberforce and Highlands East: what changes here

Permits and locates

A new or changed entrance onto a Highlands East road takes a Municipal entrance permit, with a sketch showing the hydro lines and the distances to the property lines, and the deposit comes back after a final inspection. An entrance off an unopened road allowance needs Council's approval first. County Road 503 takes a County of Haliburton entrance permit, and Highway 118 an MTO entrance permit. In Crowe Valley Conservation Authority regulated areas, fill, excavation and grade changes take its permit. The locate goes to Ontario Dig Authority (formerly Ontario One Call) before any machine digs. We file every one.

The ground you are on

This is Canadian Shield, with a mining past: Cardiff was built as a mining town in the 1950s, and the Official Plan maps abandoned mine sites on its Schedule D. Rock sits close to the surface on most lots, so a foundation or a service trench often means breaking rock, and we tell you that at the site visit rather than on the day. The Official Plan also names organic soils and unstable bedrock among the hazards that make a site unsafe without study. Broken rock can often be reused on site as fill or a retaining face.

The rule that shapes the job

When development is proposed within 1,000 metres of an abandoned mine hazard shown on Schedule D of the Highlands East Official Plan, the Municipality and the owner consult the Province's regional land use geologist about the hazard and any technical studies before it goes ahead. That check can add weeks. We look at Schedule D for your lot at the site visit, so the timeline you hear is the real one.

Communities we cover from here

WilberforceGooderhamCardiffHighland GroveTory HillEels LakePaudash LakePusey (Dark) LakeMonmouth LakeEsson LakeGlamor LakeMcCue LakeSilent LakeWilbermere Lake

How excavation in Wilberforce and Highlands East works, in four steps

1
Tell us what you need
Fill in the form or call. We call back the same business day and book the site visit.
2
An owner walks your property
We look at access, grades, the water table and what is under the surface, and hand you a written price. No dispatcher, no salesperson.
3
Locates and permits
We file the Ontario Dig Authority locate at least five business days before we dig, and any entrance, conservation or building permit the job needs.
4
Dig, grade, restore
The crew shows up when we said. We dig to the plan, backfill and compact, set the grade, and leave the site clean.

Our equipment, on site

Thor Construction excavator on a Kawartha Lakes site
Thor Construction excavator clearing a lot
Thor Construction crew and equipment on a rural site

What our customers say

★★★★★

“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.”

Ethan Bender
Custom home builder · Google review
★★★★★

“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!”

Robert Bell
New build, site services · Google review
★★★★★

“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.”

MDL
Rural property, water lines · Google review

Excavation in Wilberforce and Highlands East: your questions answered

Who issues a driveway entrance permit in Highlands East?

It depends on the road. The Municipality for its own roads and unopened road allowances, the County of Haliburton for County roads such as 503, and the Ministry of Transportation for Highway 118. We file whichever applies. Once the driveway is in, the 911 number and sign come from the County.

Will you hit rock?

Most likely. Shield rock sits close to the surface across Highlands East. We look at the outcrops and dig a test hole at the site visit, and the rock work is in the written price.

Do I need a Crowe Valley permit?

Only if the work sits in its regulated area. The Crowe Valley Conservation Authority covers part of Highlands East, Paudash Lake included, and its permits cover fill placement, excavation and grade changes. They are typically valid for two years. We check its map at the site visit.

What excavation work do you do?

Site preparation and foundation digs, lot clearing and grading, trenching and backfill for services and water lines, driveways and entrances, drainage, and the excavation side of demolition and septic jobs.

What do you not do?

Hydrovac, well drilling, fence post holes, paving and concrete forming. We will tell you straight and point you to someone who does.

Do you handle the utility locates?

Yes. Ontario law requires a locate request before any digging. We file it with Ontario Dig Authority (formerly Ontario One Call) at least five business days ahead, and we do not dig until the marks are down.

How do you price excavation?

One written price after the site visit for a defined job. If the job is open-ended, we agree the rate and the estimate up front and you see the hours.

How soon can you start?

Small jobs often inside two weeks in season. Anything with permits waits on the permit, which we manage and keep you posted on.

What happens to the soil you dig out?

Reused on site where the grade needs it, otherwise hauled to a proper reuse or disposal site. Ontario's excess-soil regulation applies once soil leaves a property, and we handle that paperwork.

Other areas and services

Every page has the local permit office, the ground and the rules for that area.

Ready to break ground, Wilberforce and Highlands East?

Send the form and an owner calls you back today. Or call now and talk to the person who will dig the job.

Get your free excavation quote
A few quick questions. An owner calls you back today.
Prefer to talk? Call (705) 208-7121
Thor Construction Company
Bobcaygeon, Ontario · Serving Central Ontario, north of the GTA
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