Excavation contractor, Markham

Excavation contractor in Markham and Unionville

Foundation digs for custom homes and additions, site services, grading and driveways, from Unionville infill lots to rural properties around Locust Hill and Cedar Grove. Send the form and an owner calls you back today.

Get my free quote
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 Markham

Excavation in Markham, from infill lots in Unionville to rural properties around Locust Hill and Cedar Grove, runs through the City's Engineering approvals as much as the building permit. In Unionville and Markham Village the work is mostly custom-home and addition digs on tight lots; toward Locust Hill and Cedar Grove, rural lots on ditched roads with laneways and service runs. We bring one crew and our own machines from Bobcaygeon, with an owner on the job and the Ontario Dig Authority (formerly Ontario One Call) locate filed.

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 Markham: what changes here

Permits and locates

Markham generally requires a municipally approved lot grading plan for every new custom home and for additions that grow the building footprint by 50 square metres or more. Those go through the City's Residential Infill Grading and Servicing process, with a grading consultant's field review and a lot grading certificate at the end. Other site alteration goes through a Site Alteration Permit on the City's ePLAN portal. On rural roads with ditches, culverts are City property, so changing one takes a Culvert Modification Permit, which takes around 10 business days. We file each of these for you.

The ground you are on

Parks Canada's geology notes for the Rouge describe glacial sediment more than 100 metres thick in places, over shale about 450 million years old that shows only where streams have cut down through it. Much of it is till, including the Newmarket Till laid down from about 25,000 years ago, shaped into drumlins and flutes. Dense till digs hard and holds groundwater on top of it in spring. We plan the dig, the dewatering and the backfill for the till we find, and keep excavated soil on site where the grade allows.

The rule that shapes the job

Much of Markham drains to the Rouge River, and TRCA regulates work in and near its valleys, streams and wetlands under Ontario Regulation 41/24. TRCA treats that regulation as applicable law: the City cannot issue a building permit on a regulated property until the TRCA permit or clearance is in hand. TRCA counts two flood vulnerable clusters in the Rouge watershed, about 198 hectares. We run the TRCA check before anything else on the schedule.

Communities we cover from here

Markham VillageUnionvilleCedar GroveLocust HillCornellBox GroveVictoria SquareButtonvilleMillikenAngus GlenBerczy VillageCathedraltown

How excavation in Markham 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 Markham: your questions answered

Do I need a lot grading plan for my addition in Markham?

If it grows the building footprint by 50 square metres or more, generally yes. Markham sends custom homes and larger additions through its Residential Infill Grading and Servicing process, with a grading consultant and a lot grading certificate. We work to the approved plan.

My road has a ditch. Who changes the culvert at my driveway?

The City owns it. Markham's Road Occupancy By-law 2018-109 means no one modifies a culvert without a Culvert Modification Permit, and the Operations Department handles the pipe. The application takes around 10 business days. We file it and build the driveway to suit.

Does TRCA sign off before the building permit?

On a regulated property, yes. TRCA says the City cannot legally issue a building permit until its permit or clearance has been obtained. We check the regulated area map first and file with TRCA early, so the foundation dig is not waiting on 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 Haliburton and Minden→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 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 Markham

Septic installationin Georgina, Sutton and Keswick→Landscapingin Georgina, Sutton and Keswick→Septic installationin Mount Albert and East Gwillimbury→Landscapingin Mount Albert and East Gwillimbury→Landscapingin Markham→Septic installationin Stouffville→Landscapingin Stouffville→Septic installationin Markham→Demolitionin Georgina, Sutton and Keswick→Demolitionin Mount Albert and East Gwillimbury→Demolitionin Stouffville→Demolitionin Markham→Septic installationin Newmarket, Aurora and King→Landscapingin Newmarket, Aurora and King→Demolitionin Newmarket, Aurora and King→Shoreline restorationon Lake Simcoe south shore→Every area we coverMap and full list→

Ready to break ground, Markham?

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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