Deck Building in Bridgton, Maine

A deck is how most Bridgton homes use their lake or mountain view, and the Land Use Code sets clear limits near water. In the shoreland zone, a deck or patio without a solid wall foundation must be set back 100 feet from the normal high-water line of a great pond or a river that flows to one, 75 feet from other water bodies, tributary streams and wetlands, and 112 feet for structures on solid foundations. Those numbers decide where a new deck can go on many lots around Long Lake, Highland Lake and Moose Pond.

Bridgton's building permit application asks for shoreland frontage, whether the lot is in the Bear River or Willis Brook aquifer area, wetlands or a flood zone, and a DEP shoreland zone contractor certification number. Footings go below frost on solid ground, which near the lakes can mean sandy or wet soils. Cardinal builds new decks from the footings up in pressure-treated lumber, cedar, or composite and PVC, with railings, stairs and landings drawn for the house and the slope, and an owner writes a fixed-price proposal after measuring the site.

Census estimates count about 4,620 housing units in Bridgton, with a median year built of 1985. About 11 percent predate 1940 and roughly 18 percent predate 1960, while about 22 percent were built between 1960 and 1979 and close to a third since 2000. Around 74 percent are single-family detached homes, and about 89 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied. The standout figure is seasonal use: roughly 2,200 units, close to half the town's housing, are held for seasonal or recreational occupancy, from cabins on Highland Lake to second homes on Long Lake. The town's land use code describes the neighborhoods around downtown as a mix of classic New England homes, converted multifamily dwellings and single-family houses. The older layer includes the Federal-style Benjamin Cleaves House of 1828 and the Italianate-Second Empire William F. Perry House on Main Street.

The Bridgton Code Enforcement Department, which the town calls its building department, works by appointment from the town office at Three Chase Street and asks for 48 hours notice on inspections. Since April 7, 2025 it enforces the 2021 I-codes under Maine's uniform building code. The Bridgton Land Use Code requires a building permit before building or replacing a structure, but lists repair and improvement within a structure's footprint, including re-roofing and replacement windows and doors, among activities that need no permit under that code, subject to shoreland rules. In the shoreland zone, decks must sit 100 feet back from great ponds.

Bridgton is lake-and-mountain country rather than coast, so the forces on a house here are snow, cold and wind across open water, not salt. The nearest long-term weather record, from the National Weather Service office in Gray, averages about 84 inches of snow a year for 1991-2020, and western Bridgton rises toward Pleasant Mountain. Summers can swing hard the other way: North Bridgton holds Maine's record high temperature of 105 degrees. Houses on the Bridgton shore of Long Lake, a twelve-mile lake, face open water to the east, and wind builds across it. Around Highland Lake and the smaller ponds, tall pines shade roofs and decks, keep them damp and drop needles into valleys and gutters.

A new deck starts below ground. Footings have to reach below the frost line so the deck does not heave, the ledger that ties the deck to the house has to be flashed so it never rots the rim, and the framing has to carry snow as well as people. On top of that structure goes the part you see: composite and PVC boards, pressure-treated lumber or cedar, with railings, stairs and landings. Cardinal Exteriors builds new decks and full replacements only; it does not take on deck repairs or staining.

• An owner visits, looks at the yard and the house, and talks through size, layout, stairs and material.
• Permits are pulled where the town requires them.
• Footings are dug or set below frost; posts, beams and joists are framed to span and load.
• The ledger is flashed and fastened with structural fasteners, or the deck is built freestanding.
• Decking, railings, stairs and landings go on, with hidden or face fasteners to suit the boards.

• You want outdoor living space where there is none
• An existing deck is too small or poorly laid out for how you use it
• A new door, addition or view calls for a deck to reach it

• Deck size, height and shape
• Decking material: composite, PVC, pressure-treated or cedar
• Railing style and stair runs
• Footing type and site conditions: ledge, slope, access
• Permits and any shoreland or setback requirements

Every job is priced from a free on-site visit. Typical ranges for the trade are on our deck building page, and the details of this service are on the new deck building overview.

Back to the Bridgton exterior services overview, or see every town on our Cumberland County service areas page.