Dry pack contractor for Ottawa and eastern Ontario

What to send for a remote quote

Photos of the whole room from the doorway, then the floor up close, and the walls where the bed will meet them. A tape measure in one or two photos helps.

The rough size of the area, and for a shower the position of the drain and whether it is a point drain or a linear drain. What goes on top: tile, large porcelain, stone, plank or a membrane system you have already chosen.

What is there now, and what has to come out. For a condo, the building rules: elevator booking, work hours, floor protection and where mixing is allowed. For a commercial job, drawings and the schedule.

How it is priced

Ricardo prices the job from the photos and the details, the same way he prices a job in Toronto. When the photos cannot show enough, he asks for more, or for a site visit. The quote says what is included, so it can be compared with any other.

How the work is booked

Jobs far from Toronto are scheduled by region. Work in Ottawa and eastern Ontario, in Kingston, Belleville and Peterborough, is grouped where the dates allow, and each job is booked as a block of days rather than a visit for every step. That is why the prep matters: when the crew arrives, the job should be ready to go from start to finish.

Getting the site ready

The plumber has set the drain at the right height, and the heating contractor has laid any in-floor heating. The old floor is out, or the tear-out is part of the quote. There is water and power on site, a place to mix and a way to get material in and debris out.

The next trades are lined up: the waterproofer, the tile or stone setter, the flooring installer. The bed is handed over ready for them, and they follow the cure times of their own products.

Ottawa homes and condos

Ottawa has old brick and stone houses inside the Greenbelt, post-war bungalows with basements around them, large suburbs in Kanata, Barrhaven and Orléans, and condo towers downtown. The work is the same as anywhere: shower floors sloped to the drain, level beds for large tile, scratch coat over old subfloors, and outdoor beds sloped to shed meltwater before it freezes.

Working with the other trades

A mortar bed sits in the middle of the job: after the plumber and the heating contractor, before the waterproofer and the setter. On a remote job the dates are agreed with them ahead of time, so the bed is not waiting for a drain and the setter is not waiting for the bed. If one date moves, the others are told the same day.

Commercial jobs and winter

General contractors and builders in Ottawa and eastern Ontario can send drawings for a bid through the commercial page. A larger job, such as washroom floors across several storeys or a commercial screed, is planned with the site schedule and the inspections that come with it.

Indoor work carries on through the winter as long as the space is heated and kept above freezing while the bed sets. Outdoor beds, on terraces, balconies and pool decks, are booked for the frost-free months.