Home Remodeling Contractors in Union, WA

Mason County does. Union has no town government, so building and land use permits come from the county's Community Development department in Shelton. Most applications can be filed online through the county's SmartGov portal; types the portal does not offer are filed in person, by appointment, and staff will pre-review a package over the counter or by phone.

The county states plainly that incomplete applications are not accepted. A residential package carries a site plan drawn to scale, usually one inch to 20 feet, showing every structure, the driveway, the septic tank, drainfield and reserve area, any well within 100 feet, any creek, wetland or shoreline within 300 feet, and slopes steeper than 15 percent. The construction drawings go in with a Washington State Energy Code worksheet and a plumbing and mechanical application listing each fixture.

When a lot may hold a steep slope, wetland, stream, shoreline or floodplain, the county suggests a planning site pre-inspection: a planner visits, identifies the critical areas and decides whether a buffer is needed, with the corners of the proposed work flagged or staked for the visit.

Mason County's Shoreline Master Program governs land within 200 feet of its marine shores, lakes and rivers, and its current version took effect on October 2, 2017, after state Department of Ecology approval. Hood Canal accounts for 85 miles of the county's marine shoreline and is a shoreline of statewide significance. Inside shoreline jurisdiction, buildings are held to 35 feet in height unless zoning sets a lower limit.

The buffer depends on the shoreline designation of the lot: 50 feet on Commercial shorelines, 100 feet on Residential and Rural ones, and 150 feet on Conservancy and Natural ones, each with a structural setback 15 feet deeper. That outer 15 feet may be cleared or landscaped and may hold an uncovered deck of up to 200 square feet with its floor no more than a foot above grade. ADUs are allowed on Residential, Rural and Commercial shorelines, need a conditional use permit on Conservancy shorelines and are not allowed on Natural ones.

Where a Union house is on an on-site septic system, the county reviews that system along with the building permit. Gravity systems are inspected every three years and most other system types every year, and the report on file must be less than a year old when the permit application goes in. The county also needs the original as-built drawing of the system; where none exists, a licensed septic designer locates the system and draws an after-the-fact record. A system approved within the past five years is treated as meeting current code.

Some homes are on a shared system: the Madrona Beach community septic system in Union is owned by Mason County PUD 1 and serves 19 connections. Houses on a private well need a well report or capacity test and a bacteriological test dated within the past 12 months at submittal.

In January 2021 a storm pushed Hood Canal one to two feet above its normal high tide and flooded yards and roads in Union and along Highway 106, and the county's 2025 plan counts Union among the low-lying places most exposed as sea level rises. Its permit packet warns that many owners are surprised to learn their lot is in a mapped floodplain.

On a lot inside a mapped flood hazard area (zones A, AE, AO, VE or floodway), the county's flood development permit covers additions, remodels and repairs to an existing structure, including mechanical and plumbing work and a new roof. New structures in a mapped floodplain also need a FEMA elevation certificate and flood venting. Where a landslide hazard area is involved, the resource ordinance bars permitted land clearing from October 15 through May 1 unless the geotechnical report addresses wet season protection.

Mason County allows one accessory dwelling unit per property under MCC 17.03.029, on the same lot as the house or in a converted detached building such as a garage. In the rural area an ADU goes through a special use permit; within 200 feet of the shoreline it goes through a shoreline substantial development permit instead, and there the owner must live on the lot. Outside shoreline jurisdiction the unit is limited to 80 percent of the house or 1,200 square feet, whichever is smaller, while the shoreline program holds a shoreline ADU to 80 percent or 1,000 square feet; we confirm which applies to your lot before filing. Either way it needs one more off-street parking space, and a recreational vehicle cannot serve as an ADU.

Environmental Health signs off before the ADU permit is approved. On an existing septic system the combined bedroom count has to match the approved design, and the new foundation stays 10 feet from the drainfield and reserve area and 5 feet from the tank.

Mason County designates Union as one of its three Rural Activity Centers, alongside Hoodsport and Taylor Town: small rural places with community water, some commercial uses and fire protection, but no urban level of services. Union's center covers 416 acres, and the plan notes that it has fewer businesses than Hoodsport and more scattered commercial activity. During the 2025 plan update the county weighed turning Union into an urban growth area and dropped the idea, citing little public support, concerns over the impacts of growth there and questions about water supply.

Census estimates for Union are rough because the place is small, but the 2020 to 2024 survey puts the median home at 1981 and finds most homes are detached houses, with manufactured homes making up much of the rest. Every vacant home it counted was held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use. We price the work an older canal house needs line by line in writing before it starts.