Deck Building in Standish, Maine

Standish decks usually look out on water or woods. Lakefront lots on Sebago and Watchic often slope toward the shore, which calls for tall posts, solid bracing and stairs down to the waterfront, while rural lots back into fields or forest where a deck off the kitchen is the main outdoor room. Many of the town's newer homes were built without one and are a natural place to add it.

Deck work here begins with the permit and the site. The Standish Code Enforcement office issues building permits and requires footing, framing and final inspections, with the homeowner or contractor calling for each. Footings must reach below the frost line, which matters in the sandy and gravelly soils found across parts of town. Within 250 feet of Sebago Lake, Watchic Lake, the Saco or the Presumpscot, shoreland zoning applies and limits how close a deck can come to the water, so a lakefront deck is planned around the setback before design begins. Cardinal builds new decks in composite, PVC, pressure-treated lumber and cedar, with railings, stairs and landings. It does not repair or stain existing decks.

Census estimates put Standish at about 4,900 housing units, with a median year built of 1980. Roughly 17 percent of homes date from before 1940 and about 28 percent from before 1960, while about 22 percent went up between 1960 and 1979 and roughly 23 percent since 2000. This is a town of owners living in detached houses: about 91 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied and about 86 percent of all units are single-family detached. Around 950 units are held for seasonal use, many of them camps and cottages on Sebago Lake, Watchic Lake and the town's smaller ponds. The town's own 2006 comprehensive plan notes that many seasonal owners come from out of state and use their places on weekends all year. The oldest houses cluster along Route 25 at Standish Corner, and the town allows individual mobile and manufactured homes on house lots.

Building permits in Standish come from the Code Enforcement office at the Municipal Building on Northeast Road. The town requires footing, framing and final inspections, and the permit holder must call for each one; permits run two years. For bedroom windows, the office lists the residential code's egress rules: a sill no higher than 44 inches and at least 5.7 square feet of net clear opening. Lots within 250 feet of Sebago, Watchic, the Saco or the Presumpscot fall under shoreland zoning, which has its own application through the Planning office. Standish Corner has a local historic district, so ask the Planning office first.

Standish is inland, but more than a quarter of its area is water, and that shapes how houses weather. Lakefront homes on Sebago take a long open fetch of wind across the water, and the lake region is known for sudden weather changes in every season. Away from the shore, homes sit in woods and fields where shade keeps north walls and roofs damp. Winters are cold: at the Portland Jetport, the nearest long-record station, snowfall averages about 69 inches a year on 1991 to 2020 normals, and January lows average near 16 degrees. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles work water into siding joints, deck boards and roof edges, and heavy wet snow on shallow porch and camp roofs is a recurring load every winter here.

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