How we score demolition contractors in Ontario
The Ontario Excavation & Demolition Directory currently scores 200 demolition contractor businesses across the province. Every score is built from public review data and public business records, run through the same rubric for every listing. Nobody hand-picks a winner and nobody buys a higher number. This page explains exactly how that number is built, why it's weighted the way it is, and where it falls short.
The five signals, heaviest first
Each business gets a composite score from 0 to 100, made up of five measured signals:
| Signal | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Sentiment | 28% | A synthesis of recent review themes: what customers praise, what they complain about |
| Rating | 26% | The Google aggregate star rating |
| Volume | 20% | How many reviews exist, log-scaled so a handful doesn't score like hundreds |
| Recency | 10% | How recently customers actually reviewed the business |
| Completeness | 16% | Whether phone, website, hours and address are all listed |
Why sentiment carries the most weight
A star average is a single number, and single numbers hide patterns. Two demolition contractors can sit at the same 4.3 stars while telling completely different stories underneath: one has a spread of minor gripes across dozens of jobs, the other has the same complaint showing up over and over, whether that's missed permits, debris left behind, or a quote that grew mid-job. You can't see that difference by reading the star average. You can only see it by reading what recent reviews actually say. That's why sentiment, our synthesis of recent review themes, is weighted above the star rating itself. It's the closest thing we have to catching a pattern before it becomes your problem.
Why the other signals matter for this trade
Rating still counts for a lot, at 26%, because it's the fastest signal customers already trust and it's earned over time, not just from last month. Volume matters because a contractor with 6 reviews and a contractor with 260 reviews are not equally proven; log-scaling means the jump from 5 to 50 reviews matters more to the score than the jump from 200 to 250, so a small handful of reviews can't fake its way to a top score. Recency matters because demolition and excavation crews change, ownership changes, and a glowing review from 2019 tells you little about who shows up to your site next month. Completeness matters in a very practical way: a contractor without a listed phone number, address, or hours is harder to vet and harder to reach when a demolition job needs a fast answer, so we treat that as part of trustworthiness, not just tidiness.
Where the score is honest about its limits
Some businesses simply don't have much recent review activity. When that's the case, the score is built on thinner evidence, and we label that business as a low-confidence score rather than pretend the number is as solid as one built on hundreds of recent reviews. We also don't republish reviews verbatim: what you read on a listing page is our synthesis of the themes in recent reviews, and we link out to the original Google listing so you can read the source yourself and judge it firsthand.
Scores are earned, not sold
Every score comes from this rubric and this data, full stop. Paid placement, where it exists anywhere on this site, is always labelled as such and never changes a score. If a list's picks or order were reviewed by an editor rather than generated purely from the rubric, that is disclosed directly on that page. Nothing here is pay-to-rank.
Who's behind this
This directory is published by Ontario Excavation & Demolition Directory, founded in 2026 to give Ontario property owners a way to find demolition and excavation contractors backed by transparent pricing and a verifiable track record, instead of scattered ads and inflated claims. Listings are built from published review data and public business records, and the database is refreshed monthly so scores and listing details stay current. Editorial oversight of the rankings sits with Sofia Vogel, Senior Editor. Each listing also carries a "last verified" stamp showing when it was last checked, so you can see the maintenance is ongoing rather than one-time.
You can reach the publisher through the contact form at ontario-excavation-demolition.ca or by email at ontariodirectorypartners@gmail.com. To see the current top-ranked contractors for a specific job type, visit our excavation and site clearing rankings, or head back to the directory home page to search all 200 listed businesses.
FAQ
- How is the 0-100 score calculated?
- It's a weighted composite of five signals: sentiment (28%), rating (26%), volume (20%), completeness (16%), and recency (10%). Sentiment is a synthesis of what recent reviews actually say, rating is the Google aggregate star rating, volume is log-scaled review count, completeness checks whether phone, website, hours and address are listed, and recency measures how current the reviews are.
- Why does sentiment matter more than the star rating?
- Because a star average can hide a real problem. Two contractors can share the same rating while one has scattered, unrelated complaints and the other has the same issue coming up again and again. Reading what recent reviews actually describe is the only way to catch that pattern, which is why sentiment carries more weight than the raw star number.
- Can a business pay for a better score or a higher ranking?
- No. Scores are generated only from this rubric and the underlying review and business data. Paid placement, on the pages where it exists, is always labelled clearly and never affects the score. Any list where an editor reviewed the picks or order discloses that directly on the page.
- What does a low-confidence score mean?
- It means the business doesn't yet have enough recent review activity to support a fully reliable score. We label these listings so you know the number is based on thinner evidence than a listing with hundreds of recent reviews, rather than presenting both as equally certain.