Guelph Excavation Pros is a Guelph excavation contractor that has spent more than 10 years digging foundations, septic beds, service trenches and pool holes across Wellington County and Waterloo Region. The business grew largely through referrals from homeowners and builders, and it now has more than 500 completed jobs behind it.
We are a small, owner-run company. The person who walks your site and writes your quote stays involved until the final grade is done, so nobody on the machine is guessing what was promised.
Three words sum up how we want to be known: professional, friendly and trustworthy. In practice that means written quotes, straight answers about cost and risk, and sites left cleaner than we found them.
10+ years digging
500+ jobs completed
Licensed and insured
WSIB coveredWe run every job the same way, whether it is a half-day trench or a month of site work. It is quoted after a visit to the site, scheduled by the team that will dig it and closed out with a walkthrough with you.
We keep the business local on purpose. Our yard is in Guelph, and years of work here mean we know which streets flood in April, which neighbourhoods sit on shallow rock and which townships ask for which permits.
That focus is also why we keep our travel to about 30 minutes from the yard. Short drives mean earlier starts, quicker return visits and a crew that can be back the same day if a trench needs attention after a storm.
Our quotes are written and itemised, with depth, machine, haul-away, backfill material and restoration each spelled out. If something changes once the ground is open, such as rock or an old buried foundation, we stop and agree the change with you before carrying on.
More than 500 jobs over 10+ years have covered almost every kind of dig a property in Guelph, Kitchener, Cambridge or the townships can need. The work falls into two broad groups, and each has shaped how we operate.
Homeowner jobs fill much of our calendar: basement and walkout digs on Guelph's sloped lots, backyard pool holes, septic replacements on rural properties in Puslinch and drainage fixes where spring water sits against the foundation.
These jobs taught us to work small and tidy, using the right basement excavation methods for tight lots where the neighbour's fence is a metre away.
For builders, developers and property managers we handle clearing, building pads, servicing trenches and paving base. Typical projects include site preparation and land clearing for new builds and parking lot base work for plazas and industrial yards.
Commercial work runs on drawings, inspections and tight schedules, and we bring that same discipline to every homeowner's job.
Plenty of contractors say they are licensed and insured. We would rather show you the documents, and we send them with any quote on request.
A WSIB clearance certificate confirms a contractor's account is in good standing, which protects you from liability if a worker is hurt on your property. You can check our status any time with the WSIB safety check lookup, and we send a current certificate with every commercial quote.
We carry commercial general liability (CGL) insurance for property damage and injury arising from our work. Ask for a certificate of insurance and we will issue one naming you or your general contractor as certificate holder.
Every crew member completes Ontario's mandatory worker health and safety awareness training, and our operators follow the trench rules in O. Reg. 213/91, including wall support for trenches deeper than 1.2 m (4 ft). The IHSA trenching and excavation guide explains those rules, and our written health and safety program is built on them.
We match the machine to the job, because the wrong size either cannot reach the work or tears up the yard getting there. Width is the number that decides backyard access, so check it against your narrowest gate.
| Machine | Operating weight | Width | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini excavator | 1.5 to 2 t | About 1 m (39 in) | Fenced backyards, side yards and pool and pond digs |
| Compact excavator | 5 to 6 t | About 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) | Sewer and water line trenches, addition footings |
| Mid-size excavator | 12 to 14 t | About 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) | Foundation digs, walkouts, septic beds |
| Full-size excavator | 20 to 22 t | About 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) | Full basements, site servicing, bulk earthworks |
| Compact track loader | 3 to 4.5 t | About 1.7 to 2 m (5 ft 7 in to 6 ft 7 in) | Grading, backfill and moving material |
| Plate compactors and rollers | 90 kg to 3 t | 0.5 to 1.4 m (20 to 55 in) | Compacting backfill and base for driveway preparation |
| Tandem dump truck | About 10 to 12 m³ per load | Road legal | Hauling spoil, delivering stone and fill |
Attachments matter as much as the machine. We use toothed buckets for digging till, smooth grading buckets for final grade and a hydraulic hammer for dolostone and old concrete.
Machines are replaced and upgraded over time, so ask which machine is planned for your job when we quote.
Guelph draws nearly all of its drinking water from groundwater, so a fuel or hydraulic oil leak on a jobsite can reach the same aquifer the whole city drinks from. We work as if every site sits over a well, because in effect many do.
The City explains how its groundwater supply works and why protection matters. On every job we follow these habits:
If a hose ever bursts, the machine is shut down, the oil is contained and cleaned up and the spill is reported as Ontario law requires. You hear about it from us first, not from a neighbour.
Every job is staffed by three roles, plus a truck driver whenever soil or stone is moving on or off the site. You meet the crew on day one, and the same people stay on the job until it is finished.
Our operators run the excavators and loaders, and each is trained on the machines they use and on trench safety. Fine grading and digging beside live utilities take years to learn, so new operators work alongside experienced ones before running a machine on a customer's property alone.
The ground person checks depth and grade, runs the plate compactor on every backfill lift and spots the operator near foundations, fences and locate marks. They also lay the ground mats each morning and do the sweeping and raking that leaves your site clean.
Every job has a named site lead who stays your contact from the first dig to the final walkthrough. If a footing needs to go deeper or a hidden pipe turns up, the site lead calls you before the work changes.
Call 548-918-0387 or request a quote, and you will deal with a local team from the first site visit to the final walkthrough. Tell us about the job and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.
Open Monday to Saturday 6:00am to 9:00pm and Sunday 9:00am to 9:00pm.
