Excavation picks up where demolition leaves off, getting the site to a ready-to-build state.
Once a structure is down, we excavate the site to remove remaining footings, slabs, and debris below grade.
Full removal of old concrete foundations and footings, not just what's visible above grade.
Grading the site so it's ready for a new build, addition, driveway, or landscaping, with drainage in mind.
Clearing brush, small trees, and debris as part of a demolition or excavation project, so you don't need a separate contractor for a small clearing job.
Ottawa's frost conditions make excavation depth more than a formality.
Ottawa's building guide sets a minimum footing depth of 1,800 mm below finished grade, deeper than the older 1,500 mm standard some contractors still work to.
A shallow or rushed backfill after a foundation is removed is a common cause of heaving and drainage problems the following spring once the ground freezes and thaws again.
With a January design temperature around -25C and thousands of heating degree-days each winter, frozen ground affects scheduling, equipment access, and how excavation is sequenced.
Excavation depth and backfill practice here has to account for local frost conditions, not a generic number pulled from a different climate.
If your project needs brush, small trees, or general debris cleared alongside demolition or excavation, that’s covered as part of the same job. You don’t need to line up a separate land-clearing contractor for a typical residential or small commercial lot. For larger rural clearing projects, talk to us about scope so we can tell you honestly whether it fits what we do.
We look at the site, the structure or foundation coming out, utilities, and access before pricing anything.
The structure, foundation, or footings are removed and debris is cleared from the site.
We excavate to the depth your project needs, accounting for Ottawa's frost conditions and what's being built next.
The site is graded and backfilled properly so it's ready for construction, landscaping, or paving.
Excavation pricing depends on site access, soil conditions, depth required, and what's being removed, so we don't publish a flat per-square-foot number for it. Every project gets a free on-site quote before any work is scheduled, and every job's scope and any workmanship terms are set out in your written quote.
No cost, no obligation
Site visit and utility check
Scope discussion for demolition, excavation, or grading
Written quote with clear scope
Demolition and excavation go hand in hand on most Ottawa projects. Once a structure comes down, the site underneath still has work left: old footings and foundations to remove, ground to bring to grade, and soil that needs to be handled correctly before anything new gets built on it.
Whether you're clearing a lot for a new build, prepping for an addition, or getting a site ready for a driveway or landscaping, excavation is the step that turns "the old building is gone" into "the site is actually ready." That includes removing what's left below grade, not just what was visible above ground, and grading the site so water drains the way it should instead of pooling against a new foundation.
Old foundations and footings don't just get scraped off the surface. They need to be excavated out and the resulting hole backfilled and compacted correctly, or you end up with settling and drainage issues down the road. Ottawa's frost depth requirements exist for a reason: the ground here moves seasonally more than a lot of contractors coming from a different climate account for. We factor that into how we excavate and backfill, not as an afterthought but as part of how the job is planned from the start.
It depends on the project, but Ottawa's building guide sets a minimum footing depth of 1,800 mm below finished grade for foundations. Excavation for a foundation or footing removal and replacement needs to account for that frost depth, not a shallower national-average figure.
Site access, soil type, how much material has to be removed, depth required, and what's already below grade (old footings, utilities, debris) all affect cost. That's why we quote on-site rather than off a flat rate.
Yes. Grading the site properly, with drainage and backfill in mind, is part of the excavation work, not an extra step you have to arrange separately.
A building permit is generally required to demolish or relocate a structure in Ottawa, and excavation tied to that work is usually covered under the same permit process. Some properties, mainly in older established neighbourhoods, also require a separate Demolition Control approval on top of the standard permit. We can talk through what your specific property needs, but confirming with the City is the property owner's responsibility.
Before any excavation starts, we identify utility locations on the site and coordinate around them. This is a standard part of the site assessment before we schedule the work, not something left to figure out once equipment is already on-site.