Excavation contractor, Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan

Excavation contractor in Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan

Site prep, foundation digs, trenching, driveways and grading across Cavan Monaghan, from the Highway 115 corridor to the Moraine hills. 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 Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan

An excavation contractor in Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan works beside three provincial highways: Highway 115, Highway 7 and Highway 7A. Near them the Ministry of Transportation controls more ground than most owners expect, and the Township's fill by-law governs every load that comes onto a lot. Baxter Creek, which can flood the old core of Millbrook, adds Otonabee Conservation to the list.

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 Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan: what changes here

Permits and locates

Locates go to the Ontario Dig Authority (formerly Ontario One Call) at least five business days ahead. A new or altered entrance onto a Township road, with or without a culvert, takes a Township Entrance Permit under By-law 2017-80, and County roads go to Peterborough County. The Official Plan notes that the Ministry of Transportation requires its own permits for new buildings, site alterations or entrances within 45 metres of a highway property line, within 180 metres of a road intersection with Highway 7A, and within 395 metres of one with Highways 7 and 115.

The ground you are on

The southwest corner of the township, about 15 percent of it, is Oak Ridges Moraine, and the Official Plan describes its rolling hills as part of the area's character. A considerable share of the rest holds provincially significant wetlands, and the historic centre of Millbrook sits in a special policy area because Baxter Creek floods it. Slopes, wet ground and flood lines each change how a foundation or trench is dug, so we walk all three at the site visit.

The rule that shapes the job

Cavan Monaghan's fill by-law, 2020-19, covers placing fill, stripping topsoil and changing grades. A house or septic job under a building permit is exempt up to 500 cubic metres when the site plan shows the fill, and more than 500 cubic metres on one lot needs Council approval. Fill itself meets the excess soil quality standards for the site, with rock pieces under 0.1 cubic metres and no rebar, asphalt or debris. We track volumes from the quote onward.

Communities we cover from here

MillbrookCavanIdaCarmelCedar ValleyFive Mile TurnFraservilleMount PleasantSpringvilleBailieboro

How excavation in Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan 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 Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan: your questions answered

I want a driveway onto Highway 115 or Highway 7. Who approves it?

The Ministry of Transportation. The Township's Official Plan flags MTO permits for entrances and site alterations within 45 metres of the highway property line, and for work near intersections. We start that conversation before anything is designed.

Does fill for my new house count under the fill by-law?

Yes, through the building permit. Fill placed under a building permit is exempt from a separate fill permit up to 500 cubic metres, as long as the site plan shows it. Past that, the by-law calls for a full application.

Can you work in Millbrook near the creek?

Yes. In the Millbrook special policy area, building permits wait on Otonabee Conservation's approval, and the Township runs a flood warning system with it. We sort out the conservation side before we schedule.

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, Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan?

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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