What you are paying for
Armour stone is sold by the ton, and so is the installation. The stone — massive natural limestone slabs split along their beds at the quarry — is roughly a third of the installed price. The rest is delivery (a flatbed and often a crane truck for anything the excavator can't lift off), excavation of the trench below frost line, a compacted granular base, machine placement with an excavator and thumb, drainage behind the wall, and granular backfill in compacted lifts. Face-weight 'armour stone' sold by the square foot for veneers is a different product and should not be compared on price.
2026 price guide
| How it's measured | Typical GTA cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Per ton, installed | $200–$450 | Low end: easy access, small stones; high end: crane placement, tight site |
| Per linear foot, one course (~2 ft high) | $60–$150 | One ton covers roughly 3–4 linear ft of single course |
| Per linear foot, two courses (~4 ft high) | $130–$300 | Larger base stones, more excavation, engineering over 1 m |
| Garden bed border, 2–3 tons | $800–$1,500 | Smallest practical job for machine placement |
| Front-yard wall or feature | $3,000–$15,000 | The most common residential armour stone project |
| Ravine-lot retaining wall, 30–50 tons | $10,000–$20,000+ | Engineered, with drainage pipe and clear-stone chimney |
Six things that move the price
- 1Access. A mini-excavator needs about 5 ft of clear width. Narrow side yards mean a smaller machine, smaller stones and more placements per ton — or a crane over the house, which is a different budget.
- 2Stone size. Big stones are cheaper per ton to place (fewer lifts) but need bigger equipment; a wall over 3 ft high needs base stones in the 2–4 ton class.
- 3Weathered versus sawn face. Natural weathered-face stone is the standard; sawn or guillotined faces for a cleaner look add 15–30%.
- 4Height and engineering. Over 1 m of exposed height, most GTA municipalities require engineered drawings ($1,500–$3,500) and sometimes a permit.
- 5Drainage. A wall holding back a slope that collects water needs perforated pipe and a clear-stone drainage layer behind it; skipping it is how armour stone walls lean.
- 6Season and distance. Quarry trucking from the Bruce Peninsula is a fixed cost that matters more on a 3-ton job than a 30-ton one; spring and fall book up fastest.
Armour stone versus the alternatives
| Wall type | Installed cost (per sq ft of face) | Lifespan | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armour stone | $45–$90 | Effectively permanent | None — no caps, glue or geogrid to fail |
| Segmental block (e.g. Unilock, Techo-Bloc) | $35–$70 | 25–40 years | Caps re-glued, occasional releveling |
| Poured concrete | $50–$100 | 40–60 years | Crack sealing; needs a finished face |
| Pressure-treated timber | $20–$40 | 10–20 years | Rots from the back; replace, don't repair |
On a per-square-foot basis armour stone sits above modular block, but it is the only option in that table that does not have a replacement date. On a ravine lot in Toronto, Mississauga's Credit River valleys or the Oakville escarpment, that is usually the deciding factor — and it is also the material those neighbourhoods expect to see.
Ask for full-weight stone and a per-ton price with delivery, placement and backfill included. A per-stone or per-foot quote that leaves out the base and drainage is how a $9,000 wall becomes a $14,000 wall.
Owner-Operator at Buildoreno with 25+ years of hands-on GTA construction experience. Last reviewed October 2026.