Deck Building in Frye Island, Maine

On Frye Island a deck is where the summer happens, usually facing the lake and sized for more guests than the house holds indoors. Lots are wooded and often slope toward the water, so a deck may need tall posts on the low side, bracing and stairs broken with landings down to a path or dock.

Planning starts with the rules and the trees. Sebago is a great pond, and Maine shoreland zoning generally keeps new structures back from the high-water line, so where a deck can go near the shore must be confirmed with the Frye Island Code Enforcement Office before design. The town requires a free tree removal permit for any tree over 4 inches in diameter, which comes up often when a deck needs space among the pines. A building and construction permit application goes to the same office. Footings have to go below the frost line, and on the island the concrete, forms and lumber all arrive by ferry, so compact footing systems can simplify the work. Framing is pressure-treated, with composite, PVC, pressure-treated or cedar decking and railings chosen for the site. The build must be finished before the ferry stops for winter, and the deck should be designed to carry snow that no one will shovel.

Census estimates for Frye Island are rough, because so few people live there year-round, but the picture is clear. The survey counts about 575 housing units with a median year built of 1990, and almost all of them, about 560, are held for seasonal or recreational use. The 2020 census counted just 32 residents. Nearly every unit is a single-family detached house, none of the counted stock predates 1960, about 28 percent went up between 1960 and 1979, and about a third date from 2000 or later. On the ground that means wooded lots of summer cottages and camp-style houses, a steady stream of newer and larger seasonal homes, and a lot of houses that have been enlarged since they were first built.

Permits go through the Frye Island Code Enforcement Office in the new Town Hall at 10 Fairway Lane, open Tuesdays and Thursdays. The town posts separate applications for building and construction, electrical, plumbing, septic and tree removal. Completed forms go in the town office drop box or by email, and the officer sets the fee after review. Any tree over 4 inches in diameter needs a free tree removal permit before it is cut, which matters when clearing space for a deck. Since February 2024 an impact fee applies to new dwelling units. Sebago is a great pond, so state shoreland zoning rules apply near the water.

Sebago Lake shapes everything about the weather here. It is the deepest lake in Maine at 316 feet and covers about 30,500 acres, and it rarely freezes over completely, so wind crosses open water well into winter and hits the shoreline houses on every side of the island. Weather around the lake can change suddenly in any season. The National Weather Service office in nearby Gray averages about 84 inches of snow a year. On Frye Island that snow sits on roofs and decks all winter with nobody there to clear it, and the island's roughly 1,000 wooded acres keep walls and decking shaded and damp.

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 Frye Island exterior services overview, or see every town on our Cumberland County service areas page.