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.
Excavation · Peterborough and the Kawarthas
Excavation contractor in Peterborough, Lakefield and Millbrook
Foundation digs, driveways and entrances, service trenches, drainage and lot clearing across Peterborough, Selwyn, Cavan Monaghan, Douro-Dummer and Trent Lakes. Send the form and an owner calls you back today.
PeterboroughLakefieldBridgenorthEnnismoreYoung's PointMillbrookFraservilleBailieboroKeeneDouroWarsawBuckhornLakehurst
- 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. No obligation.
Your details go to Thor's two owners, nobody else.
Local know-how
Digging in Peterborough: what changes here.
Need an excavation contractor in Peterborough or the townships around it? We dig foundations for new homes and cottages, build driveways and entrances, trench water, hydro and drainage lines, and clear and grade lots from Millbrook up to Lakefield and Buckhorn. Peterborough sits in the middle of a drumlin field, long low hills of glacial till with wet ground between them, so grading and drainage get planned at the site visit. We are based in Bobcaygeon, and an owner runs every job.
Permits and locates
We file the Ontario Dig Authority locate (formerly Ontario Dig Authority) at least five business days ahead. Inside the City, a new or wider driveway needs a curb cut permit; after a site inspection the City's contractor cuts the curb (705-742-7777). A new or changed entrance on a County road needs a County of Peterborough Entrance Permit (705-743-0380, roads@ptbocounty.ca); township roads go to the township, such as Trent Lakes Public Works. Otonabee Conservation, whose member municipalities include the City, Selwyn, Douro-Dummer, Otonabee-South Monaghan and Cavan Monaghan, regulates wetlands with a 30 metre setback, watercourses and floodplains under O. Reg. 41/24 and requires pre-consultation (705-745-5791 ext. 230).
The ground you are on
The Geological Survey of Canada describes a large drumlin field centred on Peterborough: streamlined hills on a kilometre scale, a few hundred metres wide, lined up north-northeast. The ground between drumlins is poorly drained and often cedar swamp, so a dig on low ground plans for water and imported granular. To the south, the Oak Ridges Moraine reaches into the former Cavan Township near Millbrook. In the northern part of the Otonabee watershed the granite of the Canadian Shield shows at the surface, and a trench there can turn into rock work.
The rule that shapes the job
Inside the City, Site Alteration By-law 25-108 governs grading, excavation and moving soil or fill. Moving 10 to 30 cubic metres of material, grade changes over 150 mm or work within 0.6 metres of a drainage swale is a minor alteration; 30 to 500 cubic metres or 500 to 5,000 square metres of land is intermediate; anything bigger is major. Gardens, lawns, sheds, patios and walkways are exempt when they keep 0.6 metres off swales and ditches. We size your job against those tiers before we quote.
What we do
What is included.
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
Our machines, our operatorsWe 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.
What we do not doWe 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.
Reviews
In their words.
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!
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.
Questions
Excavation in Peterborough, answered.
Do I need a permit for a new driveway in Peterborough?
Inside the City, yes: a curb cut permit; the City's contractor cuts the curb after a site inspection. Driveway width at the street line is capped at 3 metres on lots under 9 metres and 6 metres on wider lots, and no swale or ditch can move for a widening. County roads need a County Entrance Permit. We file either.
Do I need a permit to regrade my yard in Peterborough?
Often, if you are inside the City. Moving more than 10 cubic metres of soil, changing grade by more than 150 mm, or working within 0.6 metres of a drainage swale falls into the Site Alteration By-law's permit tiers. Ordinary garden and lawn work is exempt. We measure the volumes at the site visit and file the application.
Can you dig near the water in Peterborough County?
Yes, with the permits in hand. Otonabee Conservation regulates wetlands with a 30 metre setback, watercourses and floodplains, and requires pre-consultation before an application. Work on, under or over the bed of a Trent-Severn lake or river, shoreline stabilization included, also needs a Parks Canada permit. We line up both before we quote.
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 Dig Authority) at least five business days ahead, and we do not dig until the marks are down.
Nearby
Same crew, near Peterborough.
Excavation in other towns
Lindsay and Kawartha Lakes Omemee, Bethany and Pontypool Peterborough and the Kawarthas Buckhorn and Trent Lakes Lakefield, Bridgenorth and Ennismore Millbrook and Cavan Monaghan Apsley and North Kawartha Warsaw and Douro-Dummer Keene and Otonabee-South Monaghan Norwood and Havelock Haliburton and Minden Wilberforce and Highlands East Cobourg and Port Hope Bewdley, Gores Landing and Rice Lake Campbellford and Trent Hills
Free quote
Ready to break ground in Peterborough?
Two quick steps. An owner calls you back today and books the site visit.
- 1An owner calls you back todayOne of the two owners, never a dispatcher.
- 2A visit to your propertyAccess, grades, soil and what is underground, checked in person.
- 3A written price after the visitYou know the number before anything starts.
Get your free excavation quote
A few quick questions. No obligation.
Your details go to Thor's two owners, nobody else.