Service Area · Harwich Port, MA
Harwich Port homes near the harbors face some of the Cape’s strictest flood rules, and the town counts work over a full year. We plan additions with those rules in mind, so the design holds up at permit time.
Whether it is a captain’s home near Saquatucket Harbor, a gray-shingled Cape off Route 28 or a 1970s house near Harwich Elementary School on South Street, many Harwich Port homes could use more room. A home addition can add a bedroom suite, a family room or a second floor without leaving the village.
Planning carries more weight here than in many towns, because of the way Harwich treats flood zone projects over time, along with the usual septic, wetland and setback limits. We work through those questions first, then build the addition with our own crew. PJCC is just down Route 28 in Dennis Port.
Bedroom and family room additions sized to Harwich Port lots and rules.
Whole home renovations that bring the original house up to date alongside an addition.
Additions here succeed or fail in the planning, and our team knows the Cape’s approval steps well after more than three decades of building. Our own carpenters then make sure the new work matches the old. The company is licensed and insured.
Learn how our home additions projects are planned and built.
Picture an addition in spring and a kitchen remodel in the fall. In most places those are two separate projects. In Harwich, if the house is in a flood zone, both are added together when the town decides whether the work has crossed the substantial improvement line, which is half the building’s market value.
That makes sequencing a real decision here, and we work it through with you before a single permit is filed.
We begin with a look at the lot, a survey if needed and the septic plan. Then we design, apply for Board of Health, conservation and building approvals, and order materials. Construction moves from foundation and framing to roofing, siding, windows, systems and finishes, with careful tie-ins to the original house.
Clients in Chatham, just up Route 28, go through a very similar approvals path.
Head west and you reach Dennis Port, where our shop sits among cottages that are always short on space. East along the coast, Chatham has larger seasonal homes where additions often add guest space.
North of Route 28, much of our home additions work in South Dennis is for families who live there all year.
Near the CVS at Post Office Square and the Route 28 village center, older Capes often need a rear addition for a larger kitchen and family room. Homes close to Saquatucket Harbor tend to need extra bedrooms for visiting family, which brings septic capacity into the picture.
Families near the schools on South Street usually want a first-floor bedroom or a bigger living area.
Tell us what you need and we’ll look at the lot, the flood map and the septic plan together, then explain your options clearly. Contact us to arrange a visit.
begin
Every project begins with a conversation. Share a few details and we’ll be in touch within one business day to schedule your in-home consultation.
370 Upper County Rd Bay #1, Dennis Port, MA 02660, United States
Not simply by filing separate permits. Harwich combines everything permitted on a flood zone property within a year when it checks the 50 percent threshold. Spacing projects further apart is sometimes possible, but it has to be planned honestly and with the building department. We help you weigh what to build now and what can wait.
Possibly. The state Wetlands Protection Act brings the Conservation Commission in for work near a wetland, and a larger project like an addition typically goes through a Notice of Intent before an Order of Conditions is issued. The setting can shape where an addition goes. We check the setbacks early, as we do for coastal homes in Chatham.
A second story saves yard space and can suit a small lot, but the foundation and framing must be checked first. A ground-floor wing is often simpler structurally and better for anyone planning to age in place, but it uses more land and must fit the setbacks. We compare both for your lot.
It might. Title 5 changes adopted in 2023 target nitrogen-sensitive areas on Cape Cod, and some towns require enhanced septic treatment when bedrooms are added near surface water. Whether that applies depends on your location and the Board of Health. We check before design so it does not surprise you later.
It can. Boards of Health look at a room’s features, not its label, so a home office with a door, a window and enough space may count as a bedroom for septic purposes. We design with your town’s definition in mind, as we do for additions in Dennis Port.
It depends on the design, the approvals needed and the construction itself. Board of Health, conservation and building reviews can each add time before work begins. Once approvals are in hand, we give you a realistic construction schedule and order long-lead materials early to protect it.
