Excavation contractor, Huntsville and Lake of Bays

Excavation contractor in Huntsville, Port Sydney and Lake of Bays

Site prep, foundation digs, driveways, trenching and grading on Town, Township and District roads, from Utterson and Port Sydney to Dwight, Baysville and Dorset. Send the form and an owner calls you back today.

★★★★★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

5.0 on Google

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 Huntsville and Lake of Bays

An excavation contractor in Huntsville and Lake of Bays is digging into the Canadian Shield. The province's Muskoka River watershed report describes soils that are typically sandy and only 10 to 30 centimetres deep over granitic bedrock, with deeper sand, silt and clay in the valleys. That depth decides how a footing, a trench or a driveway goes in. We look at the rock on your lot and put the rock work in the written price after 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 Huntsville and Lake of Bays: what changes here

Permits and locates

Locates go to the Ontario Dig Authority (formerly Ontario One Call) before we dig. A new entrance, a moved entrance or a new building on the lot takes a Town of Huntsville entrance permit, with the spot staked and the 911 sign posted for the Public Works inspection. Entrances on District roads, such as Main Street (District Road 3), take a District of Muskoka Road Entrance Permit, and entrances onto Highways 11 and 60 take a Ministry of Transportation permit. In Lake of Bays, the Township issues permits for new, moved or formalized entrances. We file those permits for you.

The ground you are on

The Muskoka River watershed lies on ancient, weathered granitic bedrock under thin glacial till, and the province's advisory group report puts typical soils at 10 to 30 centimetres of sand over that rock. The same report notes Mary Lake's soft shoreline erodes under long high water, and floods in 2013, 2016 and 2019 reached businesses from Huntsville to Bala. Huntsville's by-law maps a Flood Zone Overlay and defines steep slopes as more than 30 percent with a drop of 3 metres or more, keeping development 15 metres from the top and 5 metres from the toe.

The rule that shapes the job

Huntsville's Community Planning Permit By-law, 2022-97, treats site alteration as development: grading, excavation, blasting or filling that changes the land by more than 0.3 metres over more than 10 square metres. It is exempt for an approved septic system, a driveway with an entrance permit outside the Flood Zone Overlay, clean fill under 10 cubic metres, and Rural Precinct land outside the Natural Constraint and Flood Zone overlays. Waterfront lots outside those exemptions take a permit first. We check the precinct and overlays before we price.

Communities we cover from here

HuntsvillePort SydneyUttersonHidden ValleyRavenscliffeAllensvilleWilliamsportGrassmereDwightBaysvilleDorsetFox Point

How excavation in Huntsville and Lake of Bays works, in four steps

Tell us what you need

Fill in the form or call. We call back the same business day and book the site visit.

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.

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.

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

★★★★★5.0from 32 Google reviews

★★★★★

“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 Huntsville and Lake of Bays: your questions answered

When are half-load restrictions on in Huntsville?

Generally March 1 to May 31, with load limits of 5 tonnes per axle on the listed roads and the exact dates announced each spring. In 2026 the Town lifted them on May 15. District roads carry their own half-load season. We schedule machine moves and fill deliveries around both.

Is there a conservation authority permit for digging in Huntsville or Lake of Bays?

No. Muskoka has no conservation authority, so the District of Muskoka handles regional environmental programs, and the Town of Huntsville and the Township of Lake of Bays regulate site alteration and vegetation removal through their community planning permit by-laws. We check those rules for your lot before we dig.

Is a permit required to dig near the water in Lake of Bays?

Often. Under By-law 2021-111, in force since April 18, 2024, removing vegetation within the first 30 metres of the water may take a planning permit, and so may site alteration in wetlands, on steep slopes or in natural heritage areas. Structure setbacks are 20 or 30 metres depending on the lake. We confirm before the machine arrives.

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.

Excavation contractor in Huntsville, Port Sydney and Lake of Bays

Excavation in Huntsville and Lake of Bays

Site prep, foundations and services

Driveways, drainage and land work

Digging in Huntsville and Lake of Bays: what changes here

Permits and locates

The ground you are on

The rule that shapes the job

Communities we cover from here

How excavation in Huntsville and Lake of Bays works, in four steps

Our equipment, on site

What our customers say

Excavation in Huntsville and Lake of Bays: your questions answered

Other areas and services

Excavation in other towns

Other work near Huntsville and Lake of Bays

Ready to break ground, Huntsville and Lake of Bays?

Services

Service areas

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