Block walls, foundation repair, parging, underpinning and structural openings across Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville and the rest of Durham Region. The part of the house nobody photographs, built so you never have to think about it again.
Foundations and block work cover the structure your house stands on: concrete block walls for additions, walkouts and garages, slabs and steps, repairs to cracked or failing foundation walls, parging on the exposed face, underpinning under existing footings, and new openings cut into foundation walls for doors and windows.
It is for homeowners building an addition, adding a walkout or a bigger basement window, or dealing with a foundation that has cracked, settled or started letting water in. It is also the first stage of a lot of other jobs. New brick and stone are only as good as what they sit on.
Foundation work is mostly about the things you cannot see once it is backfilled: footings set below the frost line, walls built plumb and reinforced where the design calls for it, and water given somewhere to go other than into the basement. We build it right because nobody gets a second chance once the ground goes back.
Most of the work happens before anything goes up.
We look at the site, the soil and the existing foundation, and work out what the job needs. Where it is structural, we bring in the engineer and sort the permit before we dig.
We excavate to the plan and set footings on firm ground below the frost line, so the wall cannot be lifted by frost in the winter.
Block walls go up plumb and level, with reinforcing and filled cores where the design calls for it. Slabs and steps are formed and poured.
Exposed faces are parged and below-grade walls protected. We walk the work with you and back it with a written warranty.
Four decisions come up on most foundation jobs.
Block is laid by hand with no large forms. Poured concrete goes into forms in one pour.
Repair fixes a wall that is sound overall. Underpinning extends the footing deeper or wider under an existing house.
Parging is a coating on the visible face of the foundation. Waterproofing is a membrane on the buried face.
A walkout or bigger window means cutting into a wall that carries the house.
Foundation work is priced after a site visit and written down before we start. Small jobs get a free visit. Larger ones carry a small consultation fee that comes off the final bill.
Block foundations, slabs, steps and basement work from jobs in Toronto, Whitby and Oshawa.
Tap any photo to view it full size.
We are based in Oshawa and build foundations across Durham Region.
For an addition on a Whitby home we prepared the base with compacted gravel and wire mesh and poured the slab, and on another Whitby addition we formed and poured new concrete steps at the door. Every addition foundation starts the same way, with footings below the frost line and a base that will not move.
Masonry contractor in Whitby
Oshawa has a lot of older homes, and their basements are often where the trouble starts. On one Oshawa job our crew broke out an old basement wall by hand where it needed to come out. Foundation work in Oshawa that is structural needs a building permit from the City, and we work out with you what your job needs before anything is dug. The shop is in Oshawa, so we are never far away.
Masonry contractor in Oshawa
Bowmanville keeps growing, with new subdivisions around the older town, and that means additions, walkouts and basement work on homes of every age. Building permits for structural foundation work in Bowmanville go through the Municipality of Clarington. We drive out from Oshawa for Bowmanville foundation jobs, from a single repair to a full addition foundation.
Masonry contractor in BowmanvilleAlso serving:Toronto, Pickering, Ajax, Courtice, Scarborough, Newcastle and Newtonville.
No. Parging is a cement coating on the part of the foundation you can see above the ground. It protects the block or concrete from weather and makes it look finished, but it does not stop water. Below grade, water is kept out by a waterproofing membrane on the outside of the wall and drainage at the footing. If your basement is wet, parging alone will not fix it.
In Ontario, underpinning is structural work, so it normally needs a building permit and drawings from an engineer before it starts. The engineer sets how deep to go and the order the sections are dug and poured so the house stays supported the whole time. We work to those drawings and bring the engineer in where the job needs one.
Both work when they are built properly. Block needs no large forms, so it suits tight lots, additions and walkouts where a concrete truck and formwork are hard to get in. Poured concrete goes in as one piece with fewer joints, which suits larger foundations with good access. We will tell you which fits your job and why.
Usually. Thin, stable cracks that let water in can be sealed. Cracks that are wide, growing, or come with a wall that is bowing or leaning point to a bigger problem, like water pressure behind the wall or settlement under it, and that cause gets fixed first. We look at the pattern of the cracking before we recommend anything.
Yes. Cutting a new opening into a foundation wall means supporting the wall above it with a proper lintel, and often an engineer and a permit, because the wall is carrying the house. We cut the opening, build it out in block or concrete, and finish it so the new opening is as solid as the wall around it.
Tell us what you are building or what is going wrong. We will come out, look at the site, and give you a straight answer and a written price.
