Concrete Contractor in Freetown, MA - Driveways and Slabs Planned Around Your Septic

Freetown's Building Department issues building permits, reviews plans and does the inspections. Its permit list names additions, pools, decks, porches, accessory buildings and demolition, and for those jobs the Board of Health agent first approves a form showing where the work will sit on your lot. A driveway or patio isn't named on that list, so ask the department whether yours needs a permit, and I'll check it too before your estimate.

Yes, if they're bidding on or doing work on an existing, owner-occupied home with one to four units, the state requires them to be a registered Home Improvement Contractor. New construction, buildings with more than four units, and investment, vacation or second homes fall outside that law. Construction on a one- or two-family home, or on the structures that go with it, also has to be overseen by a licensed construction supervisor or a registered design professional, whatever its size. We're licensed and insured.

Yes. Any work within 100 feet of a wetland or 200 feet of a river or stream needs the Conservation Commission's approval before it starts. So does work anywhere that may add runoff into a wetland, river or stream, and a new slab sheds water the ground used to soak up. If your lot is near water, tell me when you call so that review is part of the plan.

Ask the Conservation Commission, which keeps Freetown's federal floodplain maps and can help you read them. Land that looks dry may still sit in a floodplain and go underwater in a big storm, and only a survey by a licensed land surveyor gives an exact answer. I'll want to know either way before we set the grade on your slab, since where the water goes decides how we pitch it.

The cost of a Freetown driveway comes down to its length and width, how much ground has to be dug out and rebuilt underneath, and the finish you pick, and your estimate gives you the number. Long runs on big lots and old gravel driveways with soft spots usually cost more because of the base work. If the budget is tight, I'd keep the money in the base and go with a plain broom finish, because a bad base can't be fixed later without tearing the slab out.

The septic permit comes first. Freetown's Board of Health requires a septic installation permit before a building permit for new construction, and that permit needs a perc test to see whether the soil suits a septic system. The building permit application follows once the well is in and the septic permit is issued, and then we can form and pour.