Ground-Up Construction

Starting with raw land or a teardown

Some of the best building sites in Massachusetts are already occupied by a house nobody wants to save: a small ranch on a big lot, a cottage that has been winterized one too many times, a Cape whose foundation has given up. Other owners start with wooded or open land that has never been built on. Either way, a lot of work happens below the first floor, and it shapes the cost and schedule of everything after.

Running the site work as part of the same job as the house matters. When the excavator, the foundation crew and the framers all answer to one builder, the foundation goes where the plans say, the grades work with the house and nobody is pointing at someone else when the basement takes on water. Steve walks the lot with you first and tells you what the site is likely to ask for before the design is finished.

Before anything is torn down or cleared, there is planning to do. The plot plan, setbacks, wetlands buffers if a stream or wet area is nearby, the driveway location and any easements all affect where the new house can sit. On lots near wetlands, the local conservation commission may need to review the work before the town will issue a permit. We help you find these limits early, because they shape the design.

Demolition and clearing

Taking down an existing house starts with paperwork. A demolition permit from the town, utility disconnects for power, gas, water and sewer, and in some towns a demolition delay review if the house is old enough to interest the historical commission. Older houses may contain asbestos in siding, flooring or pipe insulation and lead paint on trim, and those materials have to be tested and handled by the right licensed people before the machine goes in.

On raw land, clearing means trees, stumps and brush, and sometimes old walls, dumps or foundations nobody knew were there. We mark what stays, especially trees you want to keep and their roots, and protect them during the work.

Either way, the goal is a clean, stable site with erosion controls in place so the mud stays on your lot and not in the road or in a neighbor's yard.

Salvage is worth a conversation on a teardown. Some owners want to keep a fireplace mantel, old beams, granite steps or a stone wall. If something matters to you, tell us before demolition is scheduled, and we will plan to remove it carefully and store it.

We mark what stays, especially trees you want to keep and their roots, and protect them during the work.

Excavation, ledge and the foundation

Excavation is where the land tells you what it is made of. Parts of Massachusetts sit on ledge close to the surface, and hitting it can mean hammering or, in some cases, blasting under a permit. Other lots have high groundwater, clay that holds water or fill that has to come out. We look for clues during the walk and recommend test pits or borings when the risk is real, because guessing about ledge is expensive. Soil that will not drain or will not bear the house is far cheaper to learn about from a test pit than from a crack in a new foundation.

Footings go below frost depth, commonly about four feet in Massachusetts, sized for the house they will carry. Foundation walls get damp-proofing or waterproofing, footing drains get a place to go and the backfill is placed so it does not push the walls in. The foundation location is checked against the plot plan, because a foundation in the wrong spot can violate a setback.

Steve checks the forms and the finished foundation for square, level and size, since every inch of error there ends up in the framing.

Utilities, septic and sewer

A house needs power, water, a way to get rid of wastewater and often gas, and each of those has its own process. Town water and sewer connections usually need applications and inspections with the local departments. Lots on private wells need the well sited and tested. Power may come overhead or underground, and the utility company sets its own schedule for the service. Each department has its own fees, inspections and timing, and none of them move on the builder's schedule, so we start those applications early.

Many lots outside town centers rely on septic. In Massachusetts that means a system designed under Title 5, based on a soil evaluation and percolation test, with design flow tied to the number of bedrooms. On a teardown, the existing system may not be adequate for the new house, and on raw land the septic area can decide where the house sits. We bring the septic design into the plan early so the two work together.

Utility trenches get planned with the rest of the site. Water, sewer or septic lines, electric conduit and any gas service each have depth and separation requirements, and running them at the same time as excavation saves digging the yard twice. We mark everything on the site plan so future owners know where the lines run.

Handing a ready site to the framers

By the time framing starts, the foundation should be backfilled, the utilities stubbed where the plans need them, the site graded for drainage and the driveway passable for deliveries. A wet, rutted site slows every trade that follows and damages materials, so we treat the site work as unfinished until it supports the rest of the job. Temporary power and a portable toilet need a spot as well, along with room for the dumpster and a turnaround for delivery trucks.

Through all of this Steve keeps you informed: what the excavation found, what the inspector said about the footings, when the utilities are booked and what the site needs next. If the ground throws something at the job, you hear about it with a plan before anyone moves on.

Grading around the house gets one more look before landscaping. The ground should slope away from the foundation on every side, downspouts need somewhere to go and the driveway should not send water toward the garage. Getting this right at the end of site work is far easier than fixing a wet basement after the lawn is in.

See the rest of our homes work, or browse the gallery for rooms we have finished.