Armour Stone Wall Installation in Newmarket, ON | OCM Excavation

OCM Excavation & Construction installs Armour stone retaining walls and terraced landscape walls across Newmarket. We work the established neighbourhoods around Mulock and Davis Drive, the newer infill on irregular topography in the east end, and rural-edge properties out toward Mount Albert Road. Most Newmarket projects run from 50 to 250 linear feet with installed pricing in the $300 to $450 per foot range. To book a site visit in Newmarket, call 416-317-3090.

What Armour Stone Is

Armour stone is large-format dimensional limestone, quarried with a face height of 12 to 36 inches, depth of 18 to 36 inches, and lengths up to six feet. Each block weighs 200 to 1,000 pounds. For walls up to four to six feet tall, we dry-stack the stone (no mortar) on a compacted granular base. Taller walls — or walls retaining a driveway or near a foundation — get an engineered concrete footing. Newmarket’s mix of infill on irregular lots and older sloped properties makes armour stone a natural fit, because the wider, heavier blocks hold their line where segmental retaining wall units would need geogrid reinforcement.

Where Armour Stone Earns Its Keep in Newmarket

• Multi-level terracing for sloped rear yards
• Grade-separation walls on infill lots where the new build sits above neighbouring grade
• Replacement of failing 1990s and early-2000s timber walls (extremely common in Newmarket’s mid-aged subdivisions)
• Decorative front-yard feature walls and entrance gateways
• Driveway edge walls on corner lots

Our Process

We start with a site visit to measure, sight-line existing grades, and confirm telehandler access. Walls over 1.2 metres or anything supporting a foundation or driveway get engineered drawings before we mobilize. Excavation goes down to stable subsoil — never topsoil. We place and compact six to eight inches of Granular A, set the first course level using laser, then dry-stack the courses with a slight back-batter for stability. Behind the wall: 19mm clear stone backfill with non-woven filter fabric for drainage. Topsoil restoration and seeding finish the job. Permits in Newmarket are typically handled through the Town’s Building Division when engineering triggers them.

What Drives the Cost

Most Newmarket projects sit in the $300 to $450 per linear foot installed range. The main drivers are stone face size (bigger blocks = fewer pieces but higher unit cost), site access (telehandler vs. crane truck if we have to lift stone over a house), engineering and permit requirements for taller walls, and the complexity of drainage tie-ins. Long terrace runs of 100+ feet tend to land near the lower end of the range; short feature walls under 30 feet land near the top because of mobilization overhead.

Why OCM

We self-perform every stage, run our own Yanmar SV40 for base prep, and bring in the telehandler or boom truck sized to your site. We’re fully insured, work directly with engineers when sealed drawings are needed, and we plan equipment routes to protect your turf and trees. We also serve neighbouring [Aurora](/armour-stone-wall-aurora/) and [Bradford](/armour-stone-wall-bradford/), with full coverage listed on our service areas page. Call 416-317-3090 to get on the schedule.

Materials and Equipment We Use on Newmarket Armour Stone Projects

Our standard armour stone for Newmarket projects comes from Owen Sound, Wiarton, and Cambridge quarries — Mid-Ordovician dolomitic limestone, flat-bedded blocks that weather to a soft grey tone within a season or two. Most of the Newmarket subdivision lots are scaled for an 18 to 24 inch face stone, our workhorse size for residential retaining work and timber-wall replacements. For visual-statement walls we step up to 30 to 36 inch face blocks, especially on the newer Bayview Wellington area estate builds where a 24 to 30 inch face fits the larger lot proportions. Under every wall we lay 6 to 8 inches of compacted Granular A, and behind it 3/4 inch clear stone backfill against a non-woven geotextile filter fabric on the soil side. Equipment-wise, our Yanmar SV40 handles base prep in the tight side-yard accesses common in Newmarket’s older neighbourhoods around Mulock and Davis Drive. Stone placement is done with a rented telehandler at $800 to $1,200 per day, or a boom truck when we need to crane stone over the house on irregular infill lots in the east end. In the tightest backyards the SV40 swaps to a fork attachment via the quick-coupler. Our 3 to 4 person crew completes a typical 80 to 100 linear foot Newmarket wall in 5 to 8 working days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a permit in Newmarket?

Walls under 1 metre on private property generally don’t require a building permit. Walls taller than that, or walls supporting a driveway or foundation, typically require Town of Newmarket Building Division review and engineered drawings. We handle the application and engineering coordination.

How long will an armour stone wall last?

Properly built, 50 years or more. The limestone itself is essentially permanent. Failures almost always trace back to a poor base or missing drainage, which is why we excavate to subsoil, compact Granular A, and install clear-stone drainage with filter fabric on every wall.

Can armour stone work on a steep slope?

Yes — steep slopes are where armour stone outperforms segmental units. The mass of each block (often 500 to 1,000 pounds) provides serious resistance to lateral load. For very steep sites we’ll terrace the slope into two or three shorter walls rather than one tall wall, which usually performs better and looks better.

Can you replace a failing wood retaining wall?

That’s most of our Newmarket work. We demolish the old timber, re-excavate to stable subsoil, rebuild the base, and set armour stone. The new footprint is usually slightly larger because armour stone is deeper than timber.

What other services do you offer in Newmarket?

We install segmental retaining walls, interlocking paver driveways and patios, and full-service site excavation. Bundling armour stone with paver or grading work in one mobilization saves you mobilization fees.

Book Your Newmarket Site Visit

Ready to plan an armour stone wall in Newmarket? Call 416-317-3090 or request a free quote through our contact page. We’ll measure, draft a plan, and give you a fixed written price.

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• All Service Areas