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Building Since 2012
Custom decks, porches, and outdoor living spaces for homeowners in Foxborough and the surrounding Norfolk County towns, including Mansfield, Sharon, Walpole, Wrentham, and Norton.
Foxborough sits over one of the region’s high-yield aquifers, which means permeable ground, a lot of mapped wetland, and a town that reviews work near water carefully. It also means lighter snow loading than the markets north of here. Both change how a deck gets designed.
Massachusetts sets the frost line at 48 inches statewide, so every footing carrying deck load bears at four feet. What differs here is the load above it. Massachusetts assigns ground snow load to each town individually rather than setting one figure for the state, and Foxborough carries 35 pounds per square foot. That is the lightest of the Massachusetts markets we build in, roughly a third less than Worcester or Leominster. It does not change the footing depth, but it does change joist spans, beam sizing, and how far apart posts can sit, which is why a framing plan drawn for a town further north is conservative here and one drawn for a lighter climate is not.
The ground is the other half. Foxborough sits over the Canoe River Aquifer, a high-yield aquifer system that supplies drinking water to more than 66,000 people across this group of towns, and it is recharged by water percolating down through the permeable soils of the area. Permeable is the operative word: this is sandy, well-drained glacial material rather than the tight clay of the Connecticut valley or the till-over-ledge of the Worcester uplands. That usually makes excavation straightforward. What comes with it is water close to the surface in the low ground, extensive wetland and floodplain, cranberry bog, and Atlantic White Cedar swamp. A large part of Foxborough falls inside the Canoe River Aquifer Area of Critical Environmental Concern, a 17,200-acre state designation made in 1991 that also takes in Easton, Mansfield, Norton, Sharon, and Taunton, and it sits adjacent to the Hockomock Swamp ACEC. Both the Canoe River and the Little Canoe River run through the town.
That environmental context is why the wetland review here reaches further than most. The Foxborough Conservation Commission administers both the state Wetlands Protection Act and the town's own Wetlands Protection Bylaw, and the town's permitting guidance is specific: a wetland permit is required for work within 100 feet of a wetland or a potential vernal pool, or within 200 feet of a river or stream. The vernal pool trigger is the one that surprises people, because a potential vernal pool can be a seasonal depression that is dry when you are standing in it. The town has at least streamlined the paperwork. Its Conservation Commission uses combined application forms, state DEP forms modified to reference the town bylaw and strip out coastal provisions, so a filing that would take two applications elsewhere takes one here. On the building side, the plot plan submitted with a permit application has to show septic systems, flood zones, and wetland locations, and the town will not accept a mortgage survey plan in place of a proper plot plan.
Deck, porch, and outdoor living construction across Foxborough and the surrounding Norfolk County towns.
See the finished deck before construction starts. Design and structural detail develop together rather than one following the other.
Structural plans and detailing, including the plot plan information the town requires showing wetland, flood zone, and septic locations.
Custom decks in wood, composite, and PVC, designed around your home's grade, exposure, and how you actually use the yard.
Design consultation, 3D rendering, permitting, footings, framing, and construction handled end to end.
Trex and TimberTech composite surfaces that hold up through New England freeze-thaw without a refinishing cycle.
Roofed outdoor space built with posts and footings sized for roof load on top of snow load.
Screened space that extends the season on both ends, which matters on a lot backing onto wet ground.
Structural assessment and repair for decks showing settlement, frost movement, or ledger rot.
Hemlock is a second-generation carpentry business. The owner started under another contractor in his late teens, went into business with his father, and over time narrowed the company from general contracting down to exteriors and then to decks, porches, and outdoor living. The company has been building since 2012. There is a design background behind that, including work with plastics and extrusion, the process that produces the composite boards most of these decks are built from. Understanding a material from the manufacturing side is uncommon in this trade, and it is part of why the design work here is done properly rather than sketched.
you see the deck before it is built
handling structural planning and permit drawings
Trex's highest installer tier
Warranty. Materials are covered by the manufacturer's warranty, which runs with the product and is issued by Trex, TimberTech, or whichever brand is specified. Workmanship is covered separately by us: one year on base-level materials and three years on premium materials. Those are two different things and we keep them described separately so there is no confusion about who stands behind what.
We walk the property, look at grade and drainage, and establish early whether any part of the work falls near a wetland, a stream, or a potential vernal pool. On permeable ground the excavation is usually straightforward; what matters is where the water sits.
You see the deck before anything is built. Our in-house engineer produces the structural detail at the same time, so the design and the framing plan develop together.
If the work sits within 100 feet of a wetland or a potential vernal pool, or within 200 feet of a river or stream, the Conservation Commission is involved before the building permit. Simple projects can go in as a Request for Determination of Applicability; more involved ones need a Notice of Intent. Foxborough uses combined state and town application forms, which is less paperwork than most towns require for the same work.
The town applies for permits through its Inspections Department portal. The plot plan has to show septic, flood zones, and wetland locations, and a mortgage survey plan will not be accepted in its place. The contractor's Construction Supervisor License and Home Improvement Registration go in with the application, along with a workers compensation affidavit and insurance documentation. The permit gets posted at the site and kept protected from the weather.
Footings go in below frost depth, framing follows the approved drawings, and we finish with a walkthrough.
Concrete will not cure properly below 40 degrees, so footing work runs from spring through late fall. Winter is the right time to design and file, particularly if a conservation filing sits in the path.
Serving Foxborough and the surrounding towns, including Mansfield, Sharon, Walpole, Wrentham, Norton, and Plainville.
Because Massachusetts assigns ground snow load town by town rather than setting a single statewide figure. Foxborough carries 35 pounds per square foot, roughly a third lighter than Worcester or Leominster at 50. It does not change how deep the footings go, but it does change joist spans, beam sizing, and post spacing. A framing plan drawn for a town further north will be over-built here rather than unsafe, but one drawn for a warmer state will not meet code.
It is a seasonal water body that fills in spring and can be completely dry by late summer, and it is protected under Massachusetts wetlands rules. Foxborough’s permitting guidance requires a wetland permit for work within 100 feet of a wetland or a potential vernal pool, and within 200 feet of a river or stream. The catch is that a potential vernal pool can look like an ordinary low spot in the yard when you are standing in it in August, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.
Indirectly, and it explains why the town reviews this work as carefully as it does. A large part of Foxborough sits inside the Canoe River Aquifer Area of Critical Environmental Concern, a 17,200-acre state designation covering six towns. The aquifer supplies drinking water to more than 66,000 people and is recharged by rainfall percolating through the permeable soils across the area. That is also why the plot plan for a building permit has to show wetland and flood zone locations rather than just the structure.
48 inches below grade, the Massachusetts frost line, applied statewide. On Foxborough’s sandier, more permeable ground the digging is generally easier than in the till and ledge markets further north.
No. The conservation filing comes first and is separate. Foxborough’s Conservation Commission administers both the state Wetlands Protection Act and the town’s own bylaw, and where the work falls inside a regulated distance the filing has to be resolved before the building permit is issued.
No. Composite and PVC handle moisture and freeze-thaw better than wood and skip the refinishing cycle, which is worth more on a shaded lot backing onto wet ground. But composite costs more up front, dark boards hold real heat on a south-facing deck in July, and the surface reads more uniform than natural wood. Pressure-treated and cedar cost less and take curves and custom detail more easily. On a dry, sunny lot with a tight budget, wood remains a reasonable answer as long as you accept the maintenance cycle.
Design and filing over the winter, construction spring through late fall once concrete will cure. If any part of the project sits near wetland, a stream, or a potential vernal pool, start earlier, because the conservation calendar sets the pace rather than the crew’s schedule.
Tell us about the space you have in mind and we will walk the property, work out what the ground and the town both require, and show you the design before anything gets built. No obligation.
