Sheet A-320 — The Standard
Most trades ask you to trust them. We would rather you check us. Below are the field standards we hold ourselves to — the depths, the fasteners, the order of work — written as clauses, each one a number or a fact you can measure on your own site. Nothing here is a claim about how much we care. It is the spec.
Every number checkable on site
We file an Ontario One Call locate before any dig — every fence post, every footing, every trench. The request is free, and the law gives utilities five business days to mark, so we build that wait into the schedule.
We do not open ground without valid locates in hand — even to replace a post that is already there.
Fence posts are set below the frost line — four feet is the working depth in this part of Ontario. A post that stops short heaves the first winter and leans by the third.
Posts are set in concrete with gravel at the base, so water drains instead of sitting.
The concrete cures before a single rail goes on. Gates hang last, so they swing true after everything else has settled.
Fasteners are hot-dipped galvanized or stainless, never plain steel — plain steel streaks cedar black in two seasons.
Footings — helical piles or poured concrete — go below frost and are laser-levelled before any framing.
footing 48 in
Deck framing is pressure-treated and sized to Ontario snow loads, with joists at 16 inches on centre.
16 in O.C.
The build runs footings, frame, decking, stairs, then railings — in that order, nothing skipped to save a day.
Stone beds are excavated to undisturbed soil, not to a number on a drawing. On a recent 350-square-foot granite walkway that meant digging 14 inches before we found solid ground.
The base is compacted bedding aggregate placed in lifts and screeded flat, with edge restraint so nothing walks.
Granite joints are cut with a diamond blade — tight and straight, because granite is too hard to chip clean the way softer stone does.
Walls are stripped to sheathing and inspected before new siding goes on. Anything soft is repaired first.
Water is managed the same way every time: house wrap taped at the seams, flashing at every opening, and rainscreen strapping so the wall drains and dries behind the siding.
Siding fasteners are stainless.
Every quote is written from a site measurement and shows HST as its own line.
The price we quote is the price we honour.
Field note — bring this sheet
Bring this sheet to the walkthrough. We will.
Every clause above shows up on your written quote and on the drawing sheets we hand you. See what work costs or read the trades.
Sheet A-500 — Request for quote
Tell us what you're picturing. We'll come look, measure, and put the number in writing — with the spec above baked in.