The Complete Guide to Concrete in the Greater Toronto Area

The Greater Toronto Area is the biggest housing market in the country, and as far as concrete goes it is not one place. It is lakeside clay, inland clay till, a ridge of glacial sand and a wet northern lowland, under housing that runs from a century old to a few months old. This guide covers what concrete here needs, so that whoever you hire, you know what a real job looks like.

The ground: clay, sand and lowland

The GTA spreads across more kinds of ground than any other region we cover.

• The lakeside. Along Lake Ontario, Toronto and Mississauga sit on the old Lake Iroquois plain, clay and silt over shale, cut by the Don, Humber and Credit ravines. The water table runs high under the oldest streets.
• The inland clay. Through Peel and central York the land is the clay till of the Peel plain. Heavy ground like this heaves with frost and holds water against a wall.
• The moraine. Across the north of York, the Oak Ridges Moraine runs under Richmond Hill, Aurora, King and Stouffville. It is a ridge of glacial sand that drains far better than the clay below it.
• The lowlands. At the very top, Georgina and East Gwillimbury drop to the flat, wet land around Lake Simcoe and the Holland Marsh.

Clay is the common enemy across most of the built-up area. It holds melt and rain against a foundation for weeks. On the moraine sand, the worry flips to drainage and erosion instead of heave. Either way, the base under a slab decides whether a pour lasts. A contractor who runs one base spec across the whole GTA is guessing on part of it.

Freeze-thaw and salt

Toronto winters swing through many freeze-thaw cycles, and road salt reaches anything near pavement. That is why the mix matters as much as the base. Ask for 32 MPa air-entrained concrete, the standard for slabs that live with freeze-thaw and salt. Pair it with a base built for your ground, and a concrete driveway is set up for the job.

Timing and planned trips

The GTA sits east of our home routes, reached down the 401 and 407 corridors. Jobs there book into planned trips into the city and get real dates, not a same-week or same-day promise. From October to March, tell us in the form if water is actively coming in. Urgent water problems are seen first.

The cities we cover

Each city has its own page with the local detail.

• Concrete contractors in Toronto
• Concrete contractors in Mississauga
• Concrete contractors in Brampton
• Concrete contractors in Vaughan
• Concrete contractors in Markham

The full list, including Richmond Hill, Caledon, Newmarket, Aurora, Stouffville, Georgina, King and East Gwillimbury, is on the Greater Toronto Area page.

A checklist before you hire in the GTA

Use these seven questions with any contractor, us included. Write down the answers.

1. Is the site visit free, and is the quote in writing? Ours is: a visit, measurements, options and a written number, with no deposit to get a price.
2. Does the number hold? The number on our written quote is the number on the invoice unless you change the job.
3. What drives the number? Size, finish, base and soil, access, severity and season. Ask which of these is moving your quote, and expect a written quote, not a figure over the phone.
4. Is the base planned for your ground? Clay and moraine sand need different work, so the answer should name your lot, not the region.
5. When is the real date? In the GTA, jobs book into planned trips with real dates. Be wary of a same-day promise.
6. What does the warranty cover? Ours is a lifetime warranty on labour: workmanship on site preparation, base, pour and finishing, for as long as you own the home where the work was done. Normal wear, hairline cosmetic cracks and settlement from causes outside the work are not covered, and it is stated on every written quote.
7. How fast do they reply? We reply within one business day.

Book a free quote and we will walk through each of these with you.