Excavation contractor, Warsaw and Douro-Dummer

Excavation contractor in Warsaw and Douro-Dummer

Site prep, foundation digs, trenching, driveways and grading from Warsaw and Douro to the Stony Lake shore. 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 Warsaw and Douro-Dummer

An excavation contractor in Douro-Dummer digs the Dummer moraine, a hummocky till the Ontario Geological Survey describes as full of angular limestone boulders. Around Warsaw the cover thins until bedrock shows through, and a glacial tunnel valley runs south from the village toward Rice Lake. The Township also reads Otonabee Conservation's regulated area strictly, so the approvals get settled before the machine is booked.

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 Warsaw and Douro-Dummer: what changes here

Permits and locates

The Ontario Dig Authority (formerly Ontario One Call) gets the locate request ahead of any dig. Township roads need an entrance permit from Douro-Dummer Roads and Public Works for any new or changed entrance, and County roads go to Peterborough County. The Ministry of Transportation's corridor permit covers work along Highway 28 and along the unconstructed Peterborough Bypass beside Douro 9th Line. Starting site preparation or excavation before a building or sewage permit is issued doubles the permit fee under By-law 2024-31, so nothing is dug until the paper is in.

The ground you are on

The Ontario Geological Survey traces the Dummer Moraine for roughly 180 kilometres at up to 24 kilometres wide, built of a till with angular fragments and big limestone boulders, on a very irregular, hummocky surface. Near Warsaw the drift is thin and bedrock is exposed in several places. Boulders and shallow rock change a foundation dig, so we probe at the site visit and price any rock work in writing.

The rule that shapes the job

Douro-Dummer's building office is clear: if Otonabee Conservation's regulated area touches your property, any construction that breaks ground needs that authority's approval, a permit or a written confirmation that none is needed, even when the mapped line seems to miss the work area. We send the pre-consultation early, so the excavation date holds.

Communities we cover from here

WarsawDouroHall's GlenCentre DummerSouth DummerCottesloeClarinaCrowe's LandingMcCracken's LandingGilchrist BayJuniper IslandGalesburgDonwood

How excavation in Warsaw and Douro-Dummer 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 Warsaw and Douro-Dummer: your questions answered

My land is near Douro 9th Line. Does the bypass corridor matter?

It can. The Township notes that the unconstructed Peterborough Bypass running parallel to Douro 9th Line is a provincial corridor, so work near it falls under the Ministry of Transportation's corridor permits. We check before anything is designed.

Can we start digging while the permit is in review?

No. Under Building By-law 2024-31, starting site preparation or excavation before the permit is issued doubles the permit fee. We schedule the dig for the day after the permit is in hand.

Will you hit boulders?

Often, on the moraine. Large limestone boulders are typical of the Dummer till, and near Warsaw the rock itself is close, so we check at the site visit and put it in the written price.

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, Warsaw and Douro-Dummer?

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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