General Contractor in Clinton, MO

On a lake lot near Clinton, space is tight and the siting has to be right the first time. The lots run small, the slope runs toward the water, and the setbacks from the shore and the lot lines eat into what you can actually build on. We plan a deck around the height off the ground and the slope down to the water, with footings set to carry the load and the stairs laid out for how the lot actually falls. A deck on flat ground is one kind of problem. A deck that steps down a slope toward a cove is another, and we read the grade before we set the posts so the deck sits right and drains right and does not fight the hill.

Garages on lake lots are a layout problem more than a size problem, because the lot is what limits you, not the budget. We size a garage to fit the lot instead of overwhelming it, and we plan the doors and the driveway for how a vehicle actually turns in and out when the lot is tight and the slope is what it is. A garage door that opens the wrong way on a lake lot is a problem you live with every weekend, so we get the layout right before the first post goes in. On a lot where a full garage will not fit, a smaller shop or a storage building planned the same way gives the lake place the space it needs without eating the yard.

Septic on a lake lot is where the care really matters, because the ground holds water and the lake is right there. A septic system on lake ground has to be sited with the soil and the water table both in mind, and a drain field put in ground that stays too wet is a system that fails the first wet spring. We start with a site and soil evaluation, design the system to suit the soil on your lot, and install the tank and drain field where they will actually work. The septic permit goes through your local county health department or the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, depending on the county, and we handle that permitting for you so the septic is not a separate errand you chase on top of the build.

The advantage of one contractor handling the deck, the garage and the septic on a lake lot is that they get planned for the same ground at the same time. A deck and a drain field on the same slope have to clear each other, and a garage and a septic tank sited without any thought for the other end up in each other's way. When we own the whole lot, the deck steps down the slope where it should, the garage fits where the lot allows, and the septic goes in ground that was picked for it, not where the other build left room. One schedule, one point of contact, and the lake lot comes together instead of becoming three jobs that argue with each other.

Room additions come up on the lake homes too, as a cabin that started small gets lived in more of the year and the household outgrows it. We tie an addition in to the existing roof and match the look of the cabin so the new work reads as part of it, and on a lake lot we plan the foundation for the slope and the setback the same way we plan everything else. We keep the place livable during the work and leave a clean site when we finish, which matters more when the home is the cabin you come to on weekends.

Missouri law requires a utility locate through Missouri 811 before any excavation on your property, and on a lake lot that covers everything from deck footings to the septic trench. We build the locate into the schedule and run the project start to finish with one point of contact, so you are not coordinating trades on a tight lot on your own.