Parade of Homes

PILING IT ON XL Drilling marks 25th Anniversary Photos by Darcy Finley You know you're busy when you can't remember how much work you're pumping out each year. But it's a nice problem to have for Derek Dewitt, who's celebrating his 25th year as owner of XL Drilling, a Winnipeg-based piling company. He's not exactly sure how many homes his crews have helped build in the past 12 months; he just knows it's a lot and the number continues to grow. "WE WORK FOR ALL OF THE BIG BUILDERS, SO 2,000 HOUSES A YEAR WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME AT ALL," HE SAYS. At one time, only higher-end homes were built on piles, but today virtually every new home is constructed that way. "Piles are better then a footing because you're going farther down and getting more of a grip through the layers. You're not as affected by organic material or water so it's a more consistent base." So, what does a piling company do? His people are the second ones on a building site — following the crew that digs the hole in the ground for the basement — and typically put about 20 piles in place to ensure the house will be built on a solid foundation. Both XL and the home-building industry have come a long way since 1992. That's when Derek and his brother, Cornelius (Cor), took over and started buying out their dad, Derk, older brother, Rob, and two brothers-in-law. (Derek subsequently bought out Cor in 2007). They started out with two rigs, and today, XL has 12 rigs, eight skid steer loaders, and 19 employees. Recently, the company added six employees working as XL tiltdeck — an equipment-moving side business. Derek may be the boss but his hands haven't become soft from pushing paper in an office. He gets out on the job sites as needed, and he makes sure to solicit input from his crew on how best to tackle certain tasks. Back in 1992, getting the piles done for a basement and a garage in one day was considered a success. Today, thanks to advancements in equipment and technology, it's not uncommon for one XL crew to complete three basements before quitting time. That's 12 months a year, too. Even though piles need to be dug 25 feet into the ground, XL doesn't take time off in winter. "In the frozen ground, it just takes a bit longer. Quite often, the basement has just been dug so there's not much frost where we're digging," he says. XL's business started to take off following the "flood of the century" in 1997. "All of a sudden, there were all these houses that were destroyed by the flood and needed to be re-built on a 10-foot-high pile of mud to avoid ever being flooded again," he says. "You had to put them on piles because they were being built on disturbed soil." Learn more at xldrilling.ca. XL Drilling P R O F I L E 112 Parade of Homes FALL 2017

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