City of Calgary

NW Calgary Excavation from Hillhurst to Sage Hill

Northwest Calgary runs from inner-city streets beside the Bow River, past Nose Hill Park, to communities still being built on the city's northern and western edges. We dig infill basements in Hillhurst and Sunnyside, replace weeping tile and garage slabs in the 1950s and 1960s–70s suburbs, and excavate and backfill new-home lots out toward Sage Hill and Haskayne.

Older houses and new infills on a quiet street near a wide river valley pathway, with tall cottonwood trees in autumn colour.

At a Glance

Municipality: City of Calgary
From our downtown office: Across the Bow River from downtown
Typical servicing: City water, sanitary and storm mains
Postal prefixes: T2N, T2M, T3A, T3B, T2L, T3G, T2K

(825) 475-5548

Lots, Homes and Sites in Northwest Calgary

Five NW communities carry the City's inner-city classification: Hillhurst, West Hillhurst, Sunnyside, Rosedale and Mount Pleasant. These are redevelopment streets, where an infill starts with demolition and a basement dug close to the houses on either side. Three more need care with the quadrant. Crescent Heights and Tuxedo Park split their addresses between NE and NW, and Highland Park, a 1950s-era community, is about 77% NW. For those, the address on the land title and the permit application decides which quadrant a locate request names, so we take it from the paperwork rather than the map.

The 1950s-era belt is wide: Capitol Hill, Banff Trail, Parkdale, St. Andrews Heights, Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill, Montgomery, Bowness, Highwood, Cambrian Heights, Rosemont, Collingwood and Charleswood. Beyond it, Varsity, Brentwood, Dalhousie, Silver Springs, Ranchlands, North Haven, North Haven Upper, University Heights, Point McKay and Greenwood/Greenbriar are largely 1960s–70s. The excavation these streets ask for is mostly on houses that stay: exterior weeping tile dug to the footing, a detached garage replaced and its slab broken out, a power feed trenched to a new garage or suite, or a knock-down on a lot that is ready for redevelopment.

Newer communities fill the north and west. Edgemont, Hawkwood, Scenic Acres, Arbour Lake, Citadel, Hamptons, Hidden Valley, Country Hills, MacEwan Glen, Sandstone Valley, Tuscany, Rocky Ridge, Royal Oak, Valley Ridge, Kincora, Panorama Hills, Evanston and Sherwood date from the 1980s through the 2010s, and Sage Hill, Nolan Hill, Carrington and Haskayne are building out or 2020s-era. Here the work is new basements, backfill against fresh foundation walls, retaining wall bases and yard drainage. Royal Vista is the only NW community the City classes as industrial, which makes pad and parking lot work a small share of the quadrant.

Ground, Water and Frost

Bowness, Sunnyside, Hillhurst, West Hillhurst and Montgomery sit along the Bow River. The City maps both the 2013 flood extent and the regulatory flood fringe: about 38% of Sunnyside and about 11% of Bowness lie in the fringe, roughly 15% of Point McKay is floodway, and close to a fifth of Montgomery was inside the 2013 extent. Whether a given parcel falls inside can change from one street to the next, so we read the City's flood maps for the specific parcel before an infill basement depth is set. We do not publish groundwater depths for these streets. On a river-side lot we arrive ready to pump, and we talk with the builder about how far below grade the basement slab should go before the excavation is staked.

Frost is the other constant. Calgary's normal frost depth is typically around 2 m (7 ft), as reported from a City source, and in the extreme winter of 2019 the City itself reported frost reaching 2.4 m (8 ft). That matters for a winter dig in any NW community: the National Building Code requires excavation bottoms to be kept from freezing throughout construction, and Alberta's OHS Code does not allow natural frost to stand in for shoring.

Neighbourhood Notes

Hillhurst & West Hillhurst

Inner-city communities along the Bow. Infill basements here start with a flood-map check for the parcel, a pumping plan and a compact machine that can work between close neighbours.

Sunnyside

An inner-city community on the river, with the largest share of regulatory flood fringe in the NW. Tight lots and close houses make spoil handling the main planning job, with trucks loaded as the basement is dug rather than stockpiled on site.

Rosedale & Mount Pleasant

Inner-city communities classed by the City for redevelopment and infill. The usual order is demolition, footing removal, old services disconnected at the main, then the new basement.

Bowness & Montgomery

1950s-era communities by the City's structure data, both along the Bow. Basement and drainage work gets the same parcel-by-parcel flood check as the inner-city river streets.

Capitol Hill, Banff Trail & Parkdale

1950s-era communities where a house may be original or already replaced. Typical work is garage replacement, weeping tile, power trenches to garages and full knock-downs.

Varsity, Brentwood & Dalhousie

Largely 1960s–70s suburbs. Exterior foundation drainage, basement floor breakout and settled backfill against the foundation are the jobs we plan around in homes of this generation.

Tuscany, Rocky Ridge & Royal Oak

Newer communities at the western edge of the city, toward Bearspaw. Retaining wall bases, backyard regrading and drainage corrections are typical, always worked back to the lot's approved grades.

Sage Hill, Nolan Hill, Carrington & Haskayne

Communities still building out. Open lots take full-size machines for new-home basements, then backfill in lifts and a finished grade that has to pass the lot grading certificate.

Permits and Locates in Northwest Calgary

Authority having jurisdiction: City of Calgary

The City of Calgary issues building and development permits across the NW. Two thresholds come up often. A retaining wall needs a building permit when it retains 1.2 m (4 ft) or more of soil, and that includes the combined height of walls and garden boxes within 1 m of each other; structural plans are stamped by an Alberta professional engineer, and the Safety Codes Officer can ask for a permit even on a lower wall. The City's pages differ on whether a development permit is triggered at 1 m or 1.2 m, so confirm with the City. New homes fall under the Lot Grading Bylaw: at least a 4% slope within 1.2 m of the foundation, 2% on grassed areas, no slope steeper than 33%, and an as-constructed grade certificate signed by a land surveyor, engineer or architect. A locate does not last forever: marks hold for at most 30 calendar days, or less if the report sets an earlier expiry, so a delayed start can mean refreshing them.

The Excavation Work Northwest Calgary Calls For Most

Infill Lot Digging & Tight-Access Excavation

Mini and midi excavator digs on narrow infill lots beside neighbouring homes.

French Drain & Weeping Tile Excavation

Digs to the footing, new perforated tile in clear stone, and yard French drains.

Residential Building & Garage Demolition

House and garage teardown, foundation removal and a level lot for the next build.

Shallow Utility Trenching

Narrow trenches for gas, electrical conduit, fibre and suite power feeds.

Retaining Wall Base Excavation

Wall base trenches, compacted levelling pads and drainage. We dig; your builder builds.

Deep Basement Excavation

Full and walkout basement digs for new custom homes on open lots and acreages.

Every service we offer

Close to Northwest Calgary

Downtown Calgary & Beltline

The core, Beltline, Eau Claire and Downtown East Village: tight sites under City streets.

Southwest Calgary

Inner-city infills in Altadore and South Calgary out to the newer west-side communities.

Bearspaw

Country residential acreages northwest of Calgary, between Highway 1A and Cochrane.

Northeast Calgary

Bridgeland and Renfrew infills, warehouse districts and the northeast suburbs.

Excavation in Northwest Calgary: Questions

Can you dig a basement in NW Calgary in the middle of winter?

Yes, with extra steps. Frost in Calgary typically reaches around 2 m, and the City reported 2.4 m in 2019, so the top of the dig is usually broken with a hydraulic breaker or thawed first. The building code requires the excavation bottom to be kept from freezing for the whole construction period, which typically means insulated blankets or heat on the footing area until concrete is placed. Frozen ground is not accepted as shoring under Alberta's OHS Code, and it does not remove the duty to hand-expose buried lines: they are exposed by thawing or by non-destructive digging. City trench specifications do not permit frozen backfill either.

Should I replace the weeping tile on a 1960s-era house in Varsity or Brentwood?

Only if the evidence says so. Water at the base of the wall, a sump that runs constantly or never runs, or a camera inspection showing broken or root-filled tile are reasons to dig; the age of the community alone is not. When it is replaced, we excavate the outside of the foundation down to the footing, lay new perforated pipe in drainage stone and backfill in lifts. One rule catches many older homes: under the City's Stormwater Bylaw, roof drainage may not be connected directly to a foundation drain or weeping tile, so downspouts tied into the tile are separated.

Do you work past the western edge of NW Calgary, in Bearspaw?

Yes. Bearspaw's Area Structure Plan says its boundary adjoins the City of Calgary, and Tuscany, Rocky Ridge, Royal Oak and Haskayne sit at the city's western edge toward it. The rules change at the city limit. Inside Calgary, the City issues permits and lots are on City water, sanitary and storm mains. In Bearspaw, Rocky View County issues permits, parcels are commonly about two acres, and many have relied on wells and septic fields. Our Bearspaw acreage page covers that work in detail.

Digging in Northwest Calgary?

Call or send the details. Aspen Excavating works from downtown Calgary, and we will look at the site and the access before we price it.

(825) 475-5548 Send the Details