Where we work
Nova Scotia, end to end.
Granite and thin soil on the South Shore. Marine clay on the Tantramar. Fundy tides at the head of the bay. Sandstone and old coal workings under Sydney. Every part of this province gives basements a different problem, and the diagnosis accounts for where you are.
Cape Breton included. We run standing routing across the island, from the Strait at Port Hawkesbury through Baddeck and Inverness to Sydney, Glace Bay and the CBRM towns, with the same free on-site assessment we give anywhere else in the province.
Halifax Regional Municipality
12 areasHalifax
Peninsula Halifax is dominated by pre-war housing on shallow soil over slate bedrock, where stone and rubble foundations are common and drainage was never installed. Post-war su…
Also: North End · South End · West End · Clayton Park
Dartmouth
Dartmouth's lakes sit high in the landscape and the surrounding neighbourhoods drain toward them, which puts a seasonally high water table under a great many basements. Post-war…
Also: Downtown Dartmouth · Woodside · Westphal · Burnside
Bedford
Bedford is built on slopes running down to the Basin, so groundwater moves downhill through the soil and arrives at the uphill wall of houses on the grade. Water intrusion here…
Also: Bedford South · Bedford West · Sunnyside · Papermill Lake
Lower Sackville
The Sackville River valley sits low with a high water table, and the surrounding subdivisions are built on dense till with poor natural drainage. Spring melt off the surrounding…
Also: Middle Sackville · Upper Sackville · Beaver Bank · Millwood
Cole Harbour
Cole Harbour's low, flat terrain near the salt marsh means limited natural fall, so surface water lingers and gravity discharge points are often hard to find. Salt air accelerat…
Also: Westphal · Colby Village · Forest Hills · Cherry Brook
Fall River
Fall River is lakefront and bedrock country: thin soil over granite, large lots on wells and septic, and water tables tied directly to lake levels. Bedrock close to the surface…
Also: Wellington · Windsor Junction · Waverley · Oakfield
Tantallon
The St. Margarets Bay corridor is exposed granite and thin acidic soil with steep grades running down to the bay. Wind-driven rain off the Atlantic and severe storm exposure def…
Also: Upper Tantallon · St. Margarets Bay · Head of St. Margarets Bay · Hubbards
Hammonds Plains
Large-lot subdivisions built on cut-and-fill over shallow bedrock. Fill settlement is the dominant cause of foundation cracking in the newer developments here.
Also: Kingswood · Haliburton Hills · Voyageur Lakes · Westwood Hills
Timberlea
Built along the Nine Mile River corridor and around several lakes, with subdivisions on till and shallow rock. Water tables respond quickly to rainfall.
Also: Beechville · Lakeside · Brookside · Greenwood Heights
Porters Lake
Eastern Shore lakefront and coastal properties with high water tables, many on well and septic. Storm surge and Atlantic exposure are direct considerations here.
Also: Lake Echo · Mineville · West Chezzetcook · Head of Chezzetcook
Waverley
Historic village on the Shubenacadie lakes system, mixing very old housing stock with newer infill. Lake-influenced water tables and shallow rock.
Also: Windsor Junction · Wellington · Lake Thomas · Lake William
Eastern Passage
Coastal community at sea level with a tidally influenced water table and constant salt exposure. Low relief makes gravity discharge difficult.
Also: Cow Bay · Shearwater · Hartlen Point · Silver Sands
Cape Breton Regional Municipality
5 areasSydney
Harbour city built on the Sydney Coalfield, where porous sandstone and shale sit beneath a century of mining-era housing. Low ground at Whitney Pier and along the old Muggah Cre…
Also: Whitney Pier · Sydney River · Westmount · Coxheath
Glace Bay
Dense coal-era town of narrow lots and shared drainage, where rows of company housing on stone and block sit over old workings. Tight access means interior systems do most of th…
Also: Dominion · Reserve Mines · Donkin · Port Morien
North Sydney
Built on a slope running down to Sydney Harbour, where uphill ground sheds water laterally into foundations below it. Older waterfront stock, hillside streets, and roadside ditc…
Also: Florence · Bras d'Or · Little Bras d'Or · Boularderie
Sydney Mines
One of the oldest mining communities on the island, sitting on a flat coastal terrace where the water table is shallow and pre-war housing was built with no drainage at the foot…
Also: Florence · Point Aconi · Alder Point · Cranberry Head
New Waterford
Low, flat coastal town laid out on a colliery grid, where shallow water tables and open ditching rather than storm sewer mean surface water and groundwater arrive at the same fo…
Also: New Victoria · Scotchtown · Lingan · River Ryan
Cape Breton — Inverness County
2 areasPort Hawkesbury
The Strait town at the island end of the Canso Causeway, with housing largely built after 1955. Poured and block foundations on till, exposed to some of the hardest wind-driven…
Also: Port Hastings · Point Tupper · Louisdale · St. Peter's
Inverness
Gulf-facing former coal town on sandstone bluffs and beach sand, now building again. Old stock with no drainage sits alongside new construction, and both take the full force of…
Also: Mabou · Port Hood · Judique · Margaree
Cape Breton — Victoria County
1 areaCumberland County
1 areaKings County
2 areasKentville
The Annapolis Valley floor is deep agricultural soil with a high water table, sheltered from Atlantic storms by the North Mountain but subject to significant seasonal groundwate…
Also: New Minas · Coldbrook · Berwick · Canning
Wolfville
Historic town on the Minas Basin dykelands, with a high water table influenced by Fundy tides and a large stock of nineteenth-century homes on stone foundations.
Also: Grand Pré · Gaspereau · Greenwich · Port Williams
Lunenburg County
2 areasBridgewater
The LaHave River valley concentrates groundwater through Bridgewater, and the South Shore's exposure to Atlantic storms drives severe rainfall events. Historic housing stock is…
Also: Mahone Bay · Lunenburg · Chester · Hebbville
Chester
South Shore coastal community with a large share of seasonal and heritage properties, exposed to Atlantic storms and built on shallow granite with thin soil.
Also: Chester Basin · Western Shore · Hubbards · Martins River
Don’t see your town?
These are the areas we work in most, not a boundary. If you’re anywhere in Nova Scotia, Cape Breton included, call and ask. We will tell you straight away whether we can get to you.