Serving the Cowichan Valley
Excavation in Duncan
Site prep, footings, drains and driveways across the Cowichan Valley — quoted from a site visit, with machine time, trucking and disposal listed separately.
- Free written quotes
- Serving the Cowichan Valley
- Utility locates before digging
- Quoted on site
Excavation in the Cowichan Valley
Duncan Excavating is a local excavation contractor handling site clearing and grading, foundation digging, perimeter drains, driveways and culvert installation, and water and sewer service trenching across Duncan, North Cowichan and the Cowichan Valley. On the valley floor we work in river sand and gravel with a median water table of 2.4 metres, while bedrock sits under 1 metre toward Mill Bay and the Malahat. We quote every job after a site visit.
What Duncan Excavating does
Excavation & Site Preparation in Duncan
We cover four kinds of work. We price every job by what the machine hits, how far material travels, and how deep we dig.
- Lot Clearing and GradingBrush, stumps and topsoil off, then the site graded to the levels the drawings call for. Stumps and land-clearing debris are not accepted at a CVRD recycling centre, so haul routing is part of the quote.
- Footings and FoundationsDigging and backfilling for footings and foundation walls, cut to the surveyor's levels. On the valley floor the water table sits near 2.4 metres, so we plan trench depth and timing before we bring in a machine.
- Perimeter Drains and DitchingPerimeter drains, ditching and service trenches. Under the OHS Regulation, we slope, bench or shore any excavation deeper than 1.2 metres that a worker enters.
- Driveways and CulvertsRural driveways, turnarounds and culvert installs. You need a provincial permit for access off a numbered highway, but your driveway off a maintained side road outside town is exempt.
3-Step Local Quoting Process
How a quote comes together
- 1Send the detailsThe form asks for the property, the work and a rough timeline. A photograph of the site is worth more than a paragraph describing it.
- 2Site visitWe quote after standing on your site to check access width, spoil volume, rock, and ground moisture.
- 3Written quoteMachine time, trucking and disposal listed separately, so you can see what it costs to move material off the property.
Excavation services and guides
- Lot Clearing and GradingLand clearing in Duncan and the Cowichan Valley — brush, stumps, topsoil, grading. We walk your lot first, then quote each stage and the haul-out separately.
- Footings and FoundationsWe handle foundation digging and footings in Duncan, cutting strictly to surveyor's levels and planning around the winter water table on every new build.
- Perimeter Drains and DitchingWe install perimeter drains, foundation drainage, and water and sewer service trenching in the Cowichan Valley, where groundwater medians sit at 2.4 metres.
- Driveways and CulvertsDriveways, access road grading and culverts in the Cowichan Valley. We handle the access permits on provincial and municipal roads for you.
- All excavation servicesLot clearing and grading, footings and foundations, perimeter drains and ditching, and driveways and culverts.
- Areas we serveCommunities across the Cowichan Valley.
- Excavation cost guideOur hourly machine rate, typical project ranges, and the tipping and permit fees for your job.
- Permits and setbacksWhich authority governs a parcel, the setbacks and depth thresholds that apply, and the notices that have to be filed first.
- Common questions answeredCost, permits, locates, groundwater and disposal, answered for this valley.
- Contact usTell us about any features you know of on the lot, such as an existing drainage problem, a steep driveway approach, a tight gate, or buried rock.
Free, no-obligation quote
Excavation quote request
The more detail about the property and the work, the closer the first number will be. We send a written quote after we visit your site.
Where the work happens
Duncan Excavating service area
Ground here changes from one property to the next — rock in one place, clay and flood-plain silt in another. The valley floor consists of river sand and gravel from the Cowichan and Koksilah rivers down to about 30 metres deep. Digging stays straightforward until the water table rises between November and January. In Cowichan Bay, the CVRD community plan identifies highly impervious clay soils, so we handle drainage differently there. At Mill Bay and along the Malahat, near-surface bedrock less than a metre down has been mapped across most of the area, so a footing dig can turn into a breaker job. East and west of Shawnigan Lake, bedrock outcrops at surface.
Frequently asked
Excavation in Duncan — FAQ
- How much does excavation cost in the Cowichan Valley?
- We bill excavation by machine time — $125 to $165 an hour for an excavator with an operator, on a four-hour minimum covering travel and setup. A typical residential project runs $3,000 to $15,000, and lot clearing $1,500 to $3,000 an acre on lightly wooded ground. We base your price on machine size and access, haul distance and disposal, trench depth, and whether we hit rock. The cost guide sets out the full ranges.
- Is a permit needed to dig on a property here?
- It depends which authority governs the parcel. North Cowichan requires a soil removal and deposit permit above 300 cubic metres per parcel, or 60 cubic metres per acre, in a calendar year, and exempts parcels under one hectare. The Cowichan Valley Regional District adopted Soil Deposit Bylaw No. 4380 for all electoral areas in July 2021. Work in the Agricultural Land Reserve needs a Notice of Intent filed with the Agricultural Land Commission at least 60 days ahead, with a $150 fee.
- How far ahead do utility locates need to be booked?
- BC 1 Call locate requests are free, and member companies require 3 working days' notice, or 5 working days for large projects. A ticket requires excavation to begin within 14 calendar days of the request date, and once work has begun the ticket stays valid for 30 calendar days.
- Where does the excavated material go?
- Soil, sod, stumps and land-clearing debris go to a private facility such as Fisher Road Recycling at Cobble Hill. CVRD recycling centres — Bings Creek, Meade Creek and Peerless Road — take rubble at $94 per tonne and clean untreated lumber at $165, but not rock, sod, dirt or stumps, so haul routing is priced into every quote.