Meet Stacy Provost. 40+ Years Fixing Foundations in Ottawa.
This is who shows up when you book an inspection. Not a salesperson. Not a dispatcher. Stacy.
Why I'm still doing this after 40 years.
After four decades on Ottawa job sites, I could have gone bigger. Most of the guys I started with did. They built outfits with three trucks, four crews, a salesperson on the phone, and a name on the side of a billboard.
I didn't. And I want to tell you why.
Foundation work is the one thing on a house that — if you get it wrong — breaks everything else. Walls crack. Doors stick. The basement floods. The bill triples. And the people who get hurt by bad foundation work aren't contractors. They're homeowners who didn't know what they didn't know, who trusted a quote from a name they couldn't trace back to a person.
I stayed small on purpose. I stayed on the tools on purpose. Because the only way I know how to do this trade right is to be on the job, every job, looking at it with my own eyes.
I stayed small on purpose. The only way I know how to do this trade right is to be on the job, every job. — Stacy Provost
Forty years of foundations, every kind there is.
I started in Ottawa 40+ years ago. Construction has been my whole career — and foundations have been part of it from day one. Not a thing I picked up later. The first wall I ever worked on was a foundation wall, and I've been at it ever since.
I've worked rubble-stone foundations under century homes in the Glebe. Block foundations in 1960s Nepean bungalows. Poured-concrete foundations on brand-new Barrhaven builds. Foundations on heritage buildings downtown. Foundations on rural farmhouses out past Manotick.
And I've worked for every kind of client there is. General contractors who needed someone they could trust on the foundation while they handled the rest of the build. Homeowners who'd been quoted $30,000 for a problem that turned out to be a $1,500 fix. Emergency calls in February when something cracked overnight. Heritage projects where the engineer needed someone who actually knew how to handle stone. Saturday-night calls when a basement started taking water.
There isn't a foundation problem in this city I haven't seen at least twice. That's not a sales line — it's just the math of doing this work for forty years in one town.
Why I work every job myself.
My name is on every quote I write, and my hands are on every job we take. The man who looks at your foundation is the man who fixes it. There's no salesperson layer between us. No subcontracted crew that doesn't know what I told you in the basement. If something on the job site needs a judgment call, I'm the one making it — and I'm the one accountable for it.
That's what I want from a contractor in my own house. So that's how I run mine.
Why I won't take work I can't do right.
I turn down work. More than people expect me to.
If a job needs equipment I don't have, or engineering that's outside my lane, I'll tell you that straight and refer you to someone who can do it properly. If your problem isn't actually foundation — sometimes it's drainage, sometimes it's a downspout in the wrong spot, sometimes it's nothing structural at all — I'll tell you that too, and I won't bill you for the look.
That's not a marketing position. It's just the only way I know how to live with my work.
The crew.
I work with a small crew I've trained myself. Same faces year after year. They show up clean, they finish what they start, and they treat your house the way they'd want their own treated. We're a small team, and that's intentional — I'd rather do fewer jobs right than more jobs the other way.
What happens when you call.
You call. I answer, or I call you back the same day.
We pick a time and I come look at your foundation in person — usually within the week, sooner if you're worried something is moving. I'll walk you through what I see, what I think it is, and what I'd recommend you do about it.
If you need work, I write you a fixed quote in writing — no surprises later, no scope changes tacked onto the invoice.
If you don't need work, I'll tell you what to keep an eye on, what's worth ignoring, and you'll never hear from me again unless you reach out.
That's the whole process. Old-school on purpose.
A few things people ask.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. WSIB-covered crew, full liability insurance.
Do you do free inspections?
Yes — truly free, no obligation, and no high-pressure sales call after.
How fast can you come look?
Usually within the week. If your wall is actively moving or your basement is taking water right now, call and we'll get there sooner.
Do you work outside Ottawa?
We stay close to home — Ottawa and immediate suburbs. If you're outside that area, I'll point you to someone good.
Where to go next.
If you want to see the process in detail, read how we work →. If you want to see the actual jobs, browse recent projects →. If you're ready to book, the free inspection form takes a minute.