We are a general contractor in Dedham, ME for houses already standing, from lake houses on Phillips Lake and Green Lake to older village homes. Before drawing, we learn which setback and which board the lot answers to.
In short
This page is about general contracting in Dedham, Maine, the Hancock County town that holds Phillips Lake and Green Lake: additions, whole-house renovations and basements on homes already built, run by one contractor from start to finish.
A Dedham project can answer to the shoreland ordinance, the Lucerne-in-Maine village board or both, and the town is too small for Maine's building code to be mandatory. We sort out which rules govern the lot before drawing, then put the scope and price in writing.
The figure to keep: averaged over many projects, a Dedham kitchen runs $14,500 to $77,000+, and a bathroom starts at $12,000.
Dedham projects start with the lot rules because the shoreland ordinance reaches 250 feet from great ponds, rivers and wetlands, and both lakes sit inside town lines. On a lake lot, the setback places an addition before the floor plan does.
Lake-lot additions planned around the 100-foot great pond setback
Lucerne-in-Maine homes checked with the village's own planning board first
Camps made year-round with frost footings, insulation and real heat
You are looking at
Dedham, ME
9.3 miles from Bangor
Neighboring towns
See every town we serveThree projects lead in Dedham, and the lakes shape two of them.
A camp built for summer needs frost footings, insulation, real heat and a septic design that carries its bedrooms before it can take a Dedham winter. New windows on a heaving foundation fix nothing.
Lucerne-in-Maine, the Phillips Lake village, has its own planning board and building permit page, though one Code Enforcement Officer serves it and the town.
Dedham keeps new structures 100 feet from great ponds classed GPA and the rivers feeding them, and 75 feet from other waters. A house already inside that line has little room to grow lakeward, so we look to the road side.
In the shoreland zone, Dedham asks for 2 acres and 200 feet of shore frontage per dwelling unit, which matters when the plan is an in-law apartment.
Dedham is hilly lake country, and a basement cut into a slope takes water from the uphill side. Grading, gutters and any damp wall come before a single stud.
Radon is common in Maine, so test before the walls close. A basement bedroom also needs an egress window.
In Dedham, our general contracting reaches past the lake projects too.
Dedham's permit page carries the Land Use and Building form and the Subsurface Wastewater form, and normal upkeep and repair needs no permit. For anything larger we ask the Code Enforcement Officer first, and approval is the officer's call.
Shore distance and slope go in our notes beside the sills, framing, venting and foundation.
Our design partner draws inside the setback, and the price comes on paper with each line of scope named.
A weekly update reaches you even from away, and we finish with a walkthrough together.
You choose a general contractor in Dedham, ME by asking what building code they work to. Dedham is far under the 4,000 residents that make Maine's building code mandatory, and its permit pages do not mention it, so the contractor's standard is the one you buy.
Ask how they read a shoreland lot and whether the house falls under Lucerne-in-Maine. Drawing first and checking the setback later prices a plan that may not be allowed.
10 MRSA §1487 requires a written contract signed by you and the contractor on any home construction job over $3,000, and it holds the initial down payment to a third of the contract.
A Dedham remodel is mostly for people who live in what they own: 95.5 percent of occupied homes in town are owner-occupied. A staying owner should build for twenty more winters, not the next sale.
Lot rules tighten in Dedham's shoreland zone around Phillips Lake and Green Lake and in the Resource Protection District, which takes in the FEMA 100-year floodplain. Tributary streams carry their own 75-foot setback.
A Dedham lake project should start a season ahead, with the shoreland questions answered and drawings done before the thaw. Foundations go in unfrozen ground, and the inside work runs all winter.
A Dedham remodel costs $14,500 to $77,000+ for a kitchen and from $12,000 per bathroom, averages from many jobs rather than a price for your house.
| Kitchen scope | What it usually means | Average range |
|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic refresh | New counter, paint and fixtures only | $14,500 to $22,500 |
| Mid-range update | Cabinets and counters replaced in place | $22,500 to $41,000 |
| Full gut | Camp or village kitchen rebuilt and rewired | $46,000 to $77,000+ |
Averages from many kitchens, not quotes; old framing behind the walls can shift a row.
A Dedham bathroom remodel costs at least $12,000 per bathroom for a small bath with basic updates, and a larger bath with updates only runs $18,000 to $25,000. Moved plumbing, a rotted subfloor and the septic push the price higher.
We don't post a price for a Dedham addition because frost footings, the roof tie-in, heat and the bedroom count on the septic design swing too far for a fair range. On a lake lot the setback limits where it goes, and a second dwelling unit must meet every lot rule again.
The layout is the biggest swing in a Dedham kitchen: moving the sink, the range or a wall costs far more than new doors on old boxes. Cabinets and counters come next, then the wiring an older wall hides.
We can walk your Dedham lot and house once your free estimate request is in. Tell us if it sits in Lucerne-in-Maine or near the water.
