Shoreline restoration, Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake

Shoreline restoration on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake

Eroded banks, failing walls and stone steps on the lakes around Coboconk, Norland and Kirkfield. Send the form and an owner calls you back today.

★★★★★5.0from 32 Google reviews

✓Same-day callback from an owner
✓Conservation authority and Parks Canada permits filed for you
✓River rock, native planting and stone steps, one crew

Get your free shoreline consult

A few quick questions. An owner calls you back today.

Prefer to talk? Call (705) 208-7121

5.0 on Google

32 reviews, most of them for yards and stone work

Owners on site

One or both owners on site every day of the build

Our own machines

Excavators and skid steers we own, so the base and the stone are one crew's work

Locates before every dig

Ontario Dig Authority locate filed before the machine arrives

Shoreline restoration on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake

Shoreline restoration on Shadow Lake, Mitchell Lake and Head Lake runs through three different sets of approvals, because each lake drains a different way. We rebuild eroded banks with sloped river rock and native planting, take out failing walls and set armour stone steps up the bank, on lots from Coboconk and Norland to Kirkfield and Victoria Road. An owner walks your shoreline first and tells you which permits apply.

Shoreline restoration

Bank washing into the lake, an old wall leaning out, ice shoving the stone around every spring? You get a shoreline rebuilt to hold, in the form the permit offices approve.

✓Eroded banks re-sloped and armoured with river rock on a 3:1 slope
✓Failed timber, concrete and stone walls taken out
✓Native planting and a no-mow buffer that roots the bank
✓Armour stone steps and seating walls up the bank to the water
✓Machine and stone access planned, the site restored when we leave

The permits, handled

On the Kawartha lakes most shoreline jobs need two approvals, and the calendar matters as much as the paperwork. You sign; we prepare and file.

✓Your survey checked for a City shoreline road allowance
✓Pre-consultation and permit with Kawartha Conservation or Otonabee Conservation
✓Parks Canada in-water and shoreline works application on Trent-Severn lakes
✓The build timed to the fish-spawning window
✓Every approval in hand before a machine touches the bank

We run our own excavators and skid steers, so the grading, the stone and the planting are one crew's work, with an owner on site every day.

We design to what the conservation authority and Parks Canada approve. If what you picture is a vertical armour stone wall at the waterline, you hear at the first visit what gets permitted instead, before you spend a dollar on drawings.

Shorelines on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake: what the permits allow

Who signs off

Shadow, Silver and Head Lakes sit outside the regulated area of any conservation authority, so the Ministry of Natural Resources reviews most shoreline work there. Under the Public Lands Act, a new erosion control structure on shore lands that are Crown land, or close to it, takes a work permit. Mitchell Lake is on the Trent-Severn's navigable route, so Parks Canada permits anything on its bed. It also drains to Lake Simcoe from outside the Lake Simcoe conservation authority's jurisdiction, where the Province's rule is that any provincial shore lands need a work permit even to maintain or replace an erosion control structure.

What gets approved

The lake plans set the target. By 2013, 68 percent of Head Lake's shoreline had been developed within 30 metres of the water, and on Shadow and Silver Lakes 11.4 percent of the water's edge, about 4.5 kilometres, is lawn, concrete, flagstone, armour stone or gabion. The Head Lake plan asks owners to hold hard structures, erosion protection aside, to 25 percent of frontage or less, with a no-mow buffer and the fallen trees and large rocks left in the shallows. We design to that.

The calendar

Shadow Lake rises and falls with the Gull River. About 98 percent of its water comes in through Norland, from a Shield watershed of 17 lakes and 21 dams that Parks Canada runs as reservoirs for the Trent-Severn, and the 2019 lake plan records two significant spring floods in five years. The lakes also hold walleye, smallmouth bass and muskellunge, so in-water work stays out of the March 15 to July 15 spawning window. We build after mid-July and file over the winter.

Communities we cover from here

Shadow LakeSilver LakeMitchell LakeHead LakeRush LakeBalsam LakeCanal LakeCoboconkNorlandKirkfieldVictoria RoadKinmount

How shoreline restoration on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake works, in four steps

Tell us about your waterfront

Send the form or call. An owner calls you back the same business day.

An owner walks the shoreline

We measure the frontage, photograph the bank, check your survey for a shoreline road allowance, and work out how machines and stone get in.

We file the permits

Pre-consultation with the conservation authority, then the applications to it and to Parks Canada with the site plan and photos they ask for.

Build in the open window

Stone, grading and planting when the fish window allows, then a walk-through and your written warranty.

Stone work we have built

Armour stone wall and steps built by Thor Construction

Armour stone going in on a Thor Construction job

Flagstone path and armour stone by Thor Construction

What our customers say

★★★★★5.0from 32 Google reviews

★★★★★

“Thor Construction company did some hardscaping for us in our backyard around the pool. Right from the start they were responsive, they worked with us on a design that was functional for the space and stayed within the agreed budget. Their work was fabulous!”

D 1072

Pool surround, hardscaping · Google review

★★★★★

“Thor construction company did a great job on my landscaping for my new home, great design idea for my garden and driveway and walkway plus patio thanks for the great job, we highly recommend them”

Jeremy Thorsen

New home, full landscaping · Google review

★★★★★

“Can't say enough about Thor Construction Company. They transformed my backyard space into a perfect little getaway; can't wait to host this summer! They were professional, hardworking bunch and I would recommend you chose this company for your backyard or landscaping needs...big or small!”

Matthew Tynkaluk

Backyard rebuild · Google review

Shoreline restoration on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake: your questions answered

Do I need a conservation authority permit on Shadow Lake?

No conservation authority regulates the Shadow Lake and Silver Lake area, according to Kawartha Conservation's 2019 lake plan. The Ministry of Natural Resources reviews most shoreline development there, and the City's site alteration by-law covers grading and fill on land. We confirm both before we design.

Mitchell Lake is on the canal. What is different there?

Parks Canada permits all work on the bed and shoreline of Trent-Severn lakes, Mitchell included, and its permits run one year from issue. Mitchell Lake also sits in the Upper Talbot River subwatershed, which drains to Lake Simcoe outside LSRCA's jurisdiction, so we confirm with the Ministry of Natural Resources whether its work permit applies to any provincial shore lands on your lot.

Head Lake drains a different way, doesn't it?

It does. Head Lake flows out through the Head River to the Black River and on to Georgian Bay, and it is not navigably connected to the Trent-Severn, so Parks Canada is not involved. Its summer level is held by a stop-log dam on the Head River inside Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park.

Do I need a permit to fix my shoreline?

On the Kawartha lakes, almost always two. Parks Canada permits all work on the bed and waters of the Trent-Severn lakes, including shoreline stabilization, and the conservation authority permits work in its regulated area along the shore. We prepare and file both.

Can I put an armour stone wall at the water's edge?

Kawartha Conservation's published guidance steers away from hardened shorelines, meaning retaining walls, sheet piles and armour stone at the water's edge. What it recommends is river rock in mixed sizes on a 3:1 slope along the natural contour, native plants and a no-mow buffer. We design to that, and put armour stone where it earns its place: steps, seating walls and terraces up the bank.

When can the work happen?

On lakes that hold walleye and bass, which is most of the Kawarthas, Fisheries and Oceans Canada's timing window keeps in-water work off-limits from March 15 to July 15 while fish spawn. Parks Canada permits are valid for one year, so we file in fall or winter and schedule the build for the open window.

How long do the permits take?

Kawartha Conservation publishes its timelines: a streamlined permit is checked for completeness in 10 days and issued within 14 more, a standard minor permit in 14 plus 21 days. Parks Canada asks for applications several months before the start date. That is why fall is the time to start.

Can you take out an old wall?

Yes. Removing a failed timber, concrete or stone wall is shoreline work too, so it goes through the same permits, and the bank is re-sloped and planted where the wall stood.

How is a shoreline priced?

By the length of frontage, the slope, how machines and stone get to the water, and what the permits require. You get a written price after the site visit, with the permit work priced in the same quote.

Shoreline restoration on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake

Shoreline restoration on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake

Shoreline restoration

The permits, handled

Shorelines on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake: what the permits allow

Who signs off

What gets approved

The calendar

Communities we cover from here

How shoreline restoration on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake works, in four steps

Stone work we have built

What our customers say

Shoreline restoration on Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake: your questions answered

Other areas and services

Shoreline restoration on other lakes

Other work near Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake

Ready to get your shoreline permitted, Shadow, Mitchell and Head Lake?

Services

Service areas

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