Excavation contractor, Haliburton and Minden

Excavation contractor in Haliburton, Minden and Wilberforce

Cottage and house foundations, driveways, trenching, drainage and lot clearing in Minden Hills, Dysart et al, Algonquin Highlands and Highlands East. Send the form and an owner calls you back today.

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Call (705) 208-7121
★★★★★5.0from 32 Google reviews
  • ✓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 Haliburton and Minden

Hiring an excavation contractor in Haliburton or Minden means digging on the Canadian Shield. We dig cottage and house foundations, cut driveways, trench well and hydro lines, fix drainage and clear lots across the County's four municipalities. The Haliburton Highlands are one of the higher points on the Shield, and the soil over the rock is often thin, so we find the rock and the shoreline setback at the site visit and put both in the written price. We are based in Bobcaygeon, and an owner is on every job.

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 Haliburton and Minden: what changes here

Permits and locates

We file the Ontario Dig Authority locate (formerly Ontario One Call) at least five business days ahead. A new or changed entrance on a County road needs a County of Haliburton Entrance Permit through its Permit Central portal. Township roads go to the township; Minden Hills also wants one when you build a house on a lot whose existing entrance was never permitted (705-286-1260). Neither Kawartha nor Otonabee Conservation covers the County, and the Crowe Valley Conservation Authority's boundary takes in part of Highlands East. In Dysart et al, site alteration within 30 metres of a lake or on Environmental Protection lands falls under the Municipality's Site Alteration By-law 2023-101 (building@dysartetal.ca).

The ground you are on

The Haliburton Highlands sit high on the Canadian Shield, with more than 500 lakes. Glaciers stripped much of the higher Shield ground down to bare bedrock, and where soil remains it is often too thin to farm, so a foundation or a trench here regularly meets rock. The Ontario Geological Survey records pink granite gneiss quarried near Minden in the 1940s for the concrete in the Workman Falls dam, and pink granite at Tory Hill. Rock a bucket cannot move means breaking or blasting, so we find it at the site visit.

The rule that shapes the job

The County's Shoreline Preservation By-law 4169, in force since April 1, 2023 in Algonquin Highlands, Highlands East and Minden Hills, covers the 20 metres back from the high-water mark of every lake, river, stream and pond. Fill that changes grade by more than 0.3 metres, a retaining wall over 1 metre, clearing more than 25 percent of the shoreline or a path wider than 5 metres needs a County permit first. In Dysart et al the County's Shoreline Tree Preservation By-law 3505 covers trees within 30 metres of the water instead.

Communities we cover from here

MindenHaliburtonCarnarvonGooderhamWilberforceCardiffHighland GroveDorsetWest GuilfordEagle LakeIrondaleTory Hill

How excavation in Haliburton and Minden 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 Haliburton and Minden: your questions answered

Do I need a permit to regrade my waterfront in Minden Hills?

Yes, if the work is within 20 metres of the high-water mark and changes grade by more than 0.3 metres, adds a retaining wall over 1 metre or clears more than 25 percent of the shoreline. That takes a County permit under By-law 4169. Minor landscaping and routine upkeep are exempt. We draw the shoreline plan and file it.

When are half-loads on in Haliburton County?

Every spring. In 2026 reduced loads ran on County Roads 1 to 20, 39, 48, 507 and 648 from March 6 to May 7, except CR 10 west to Highway 118. Floats carrying machines and loaded gravel trucks are limited on those roads, so we book spring digs around the County's notices.

Do I need an entrance permit for a new driveway in Haliburton?

Yes. On a County road it is a County of Haliburton Entrance Permit through Permit Central. On a township road it goes to the township; Minden Hills also requires one when a house goes up on a lot whose existing entrance was never permitted. We find out which road authority you are on and file it.

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.

Excavation in other towns

Excavationin Lindsay and Kawartha Lakes→Excavationin Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls→Excavationin Peterborough and the Kawarthas→Excavationin Buckhorn and Trent Lakes→Excavationin Coboconk, Norland and Kinmount→Excavationin Omemee, Bethany and Pontypool→Excavationin Lakefield, Bridgenorth and Ennismore→Excavationin Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan→Excavationin Apsley and North Kawartha→Excavationin Wilberforce and Highlands East→Excavationin Beaverton, Cannington and Sunderland→Excavationin Port Perry and Scugog→Excavationin Orillia, Severn and Ramara→Excavationin Georgina, Sutton and Keswick→Excavationin Mount Albert and East Gwillimbury→Excavationin Oro-Medonte→Excavationin Markham→Excavationin Barrie and South Simcoe→Excavationin Warsaw and Douro-Dummer→Excavationin Keene and Otonabee-South Monaghan→Excavationin Cobourg and Port Hope→Excavationin Bewdley, Gores Landing and Rice Lake→Excavationin Bowmanville, Newcastle and Clarington→Excavationin Norwood and Havelock→Excavationin Uxbridge→Excavationin Campbellford and Trent Hills→Excavationin Oshawa, Whitby and Brooklin→Excavationin Stouffville→Excavationin Gravenhurst and Bracebridge→Excavationin Pickering and Ajax→Excavationin Newmarket, Aurora and King→Excavationin Bradford West Gwillimbury→Excavationin Huntsville and Lake of Bays→Excavation, every areaThe service page→

Other work near Haliburton and Minden

Septic installationin Minden and Minden Hills→Landscapingin Minden and Minden Hills→Shoreline restorationon Gull Lake and the Minden lakes→Septic installationin Wilberforce and Highlands East→Landscapingin Wilberforce and Highlands East→Septic installationin Haliburton and Dysart et al→Landscapingin Haliburton and Dysart et al→Shoreline restorationon Kashagawigamog and the Haliburton lakes→Demolitionin Minden and Minden Hills→Demolitionin Haliburton and Dysart et al→Demolitionin Wilberforce and Highlands East→Every area we coverMap and full list→

Ready to break ground, Haliburton and Minden?

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

Call (705) 208-7121
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
  • (705) 208-7121
  • jp@thorconstruction.ca
  • Bobcaygeon, Ontario

Services

Septic installation

Excavation

Landscaping

Hardscaping

Shoreline restoration

Demolition

Service areas

Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls

Lindsay and south Kawartha Lakes

Buckhorn and Trent Lakes

Peterborough and the Kawarthas

Haliburton and Minden

Orillia, Severn and Ramara

Barrie and South Simcoe

Muskoka: Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville

Cobourg, Port Hope and Northumberland

Durham: Oshawa, Whitby, Pickering, Ajax, Clarington, Uxbridge and Port Perry

York: Markham, Stouffville, Newmarket, Aurora, King and Georgina

All service areas

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