Deck building and repair in Wakefield, MA, from lakeside yards near Quannapowitt to hillside lots with bedrock outcrops.
Free · no obligation · we call back within 1 business day
The Building Inspector's office at 1 Lafayette Street takes building inspection requests by phone in set windows: 8 to 9 a.m. or 1 to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 to 9 a.m. Friday. Wiring and plumbing inspections have their own windows.
[1]Wakefield zoning has a Floodplain (FP) overlay covering FEMA's special flood hazard area, which FEMA last mapped here in 2010. Work in the regulatory floodway that would raise 100-year flood levels at all is prohibited.
[1]Today Wakefield's Conservation Commission works under the state Wetlands Protection Act alone. A proposed local bylaw, headed to Town Meeting, would add isolated wetlands over 1,000 square feet, vernal pool habitat, and a 25-foot no-disturb zone from protected wetlands.
[1][2]One statewide building code. Massachusetts uses a single building code for every town: 780 CMR, now in its tenth edition. Your local building department enforces it and issues the permits. source
Dig Safe before digging. State law requires notice to Dig Safe at least 72 hours before digging, not counting weekends and legal holidays. That includes holes for deck footings. Call 811. source
Parts of Wakefield sit on shallow Gloucester soils with bedrock outcrops, and other parts on loose sand and gravel. Footing depth and size get decided after we dig a test hole, not before.
Close to the lake, the rivers or Reedy Meadow, a deck may sit in the FP floodplain overlay or near state-protected wetlands. If the proposed local bylaw passes, a 25-foot no-disturb zone would apply too.
Only if it passes and your deck is near a wetland. As proposed, it would add a 25-foot no-disturb zone from protected wetlands. Right now the state act is what applies.
Our work around Boston and the North Shore.
Local rules change. We link the official pages so you can check the current version, and we confirm what your job needs when we come look.
Send a request or give us a ring. We'll come to Wakefield, look at the job and give you a written price. Free.
