SERVING BOYLSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Home additions, ADUs, kitchens, baths, and custom stonework for Boylston homeowners. ARM Construction is based in nearby Princeton and starts every project by finding out what your lot will actually support.
Boylston is a town of roughly 4,700 people sitting on the eastern shore of the Wachusett Reservoir, about ten miles north of Worcester. It kept its rural character in a way that towns closer to Route 9 did not, and it is best known outside the county for the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, a 200-acre garden that draws more than 200,000 visitors a year. Homes here sit on land, the school district is shared with Berlin, and most of what gets built is families expanding rather than developers subdividing.
Andrew Mercurio is a fourth-generation builder who started in masonry and grew ARM Construction into a full general contracting company. He holds Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License #CS-093044, issued in 2011, and the company holds Home Improvement Contractor Registration #153199, both active and verifiable through the Commonwealth. We are based in Princeton, a short drive northwest, and work in Boylston regularly.
Boylston's lots are generous by Worcester County standards, which makes expanding a practical alternative to moving. Home additions and in-law suites are a steady part of the work here, and so are sunrooms and four season rooms, since the properties with reservoir views tend to want to use them. The housing stock mixes older homes near the town center with postwar and later construction, which means kitchen and bathroom remodels here range from straightforward updates to full gut jobs that involve plaster and dated systems.
We also handle garage and basement conversions, whole home remodels, custom masonry and stonework, decks, siding, and flooring. One company, one point of contact, from the first walkthrough to the final inspection.
Neighboring towns are simple on this. Sterling has no public sewer at all, so every property is on septic. West Boylston sewered the great majority of its residential properties and made connection mandatory within the sewered district. Boylston sits in between. Only a portion of the town is served by municipal sewer, and a substantial share of Boylston homes run on private septic systems. Whether a given address is on one or the other is not obvious from the neighborhood, the road, or the age of the house.
That distinction drives the budget on anything that adds a bedroom. On a sewered property, an addition or an ADU is a straightforward construction project. On septic, Massachusetts sizes systems by bedroom count under Title 5, so the existing system has to be measured against the new load before a design is finalized. If it will not carry it, the project becomes a septic upgrade plus an addition, which is a different budget entirely.
Water is a third thing again. Boylston is served by the Boylston Water District, which is its own corporate body rather than a department of the town. So a single Boylston property can involve the town for the building permit, the Board of Health for septic, and the Water District for water service. Knowing who to talk to about what is not glamorous, but it is the difference between a permit that moves and one that sits.
Boylston borders the Wachusett Reservoir, the drinking water source for roughly 2.7 million people in eastern Massachusetts, and it is one of the communities regulated under the state Watershed Protection Act. The Act governs land use within critical areas near tributaries, wetlands, and surface water throughout the watershed. Boylston also lost land to the reservoir when the valley was flooded between 1896 and 1905, along with West Boylston, Sterling, and Clinton, though far less than its neighbor to the west.
For most projects on most Boylston lots, watershed rules never come up. For properties near the shoreline or a tributary, they can affect where you are allowed to build and how much impervious surface you can add. It is not a reason not to build. It is a reason to know before drawings are done, because designing around a known constraint costs far less than redesigning around one discovered at permitting.
Larger wooded and sloped lots also mean site access, drainage, and Conservation Commission review near wetlands come up more often here than in a denser town. All manageable. All cheaper to plan for than to find.
Any project that changes the footprint or the structure of a house in Boylston needs a building permit, plus electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits depending on scope. On septic properties the Board of Health reviews wastewater capacity, and that review shapes what is possible before the building permit is issued. Work near wetlands goes to the Conservation Commission, and lots near the reservoir or its tributaries can involve state watershed review beyond the town.
We handle all of it, in the right order. We pull the permits, get the Board of Health sign-off where it applies, coordinate the inspections, and deal with the town, the Water District, and any state review the project requires. You are not the one making the calls or filling out the applications.
West Boylston sits directly west across the reservoir and shares the same watershed considerations, though a very different sewer situation. Northborough borders Boylston to the southeast. We also work in Princeton, where we are based, along with Holden, Sterling, Worcester, Shrewsbury, Leominster, Westborough, Southborough, and Grafton.
What Our Customers Say
I can't say enough good things! I needed a small finish job done at the last minute, and Andrew made it happen quickly and without any stress. The craftsmanship was perfect and everything looks amazing. I'm extremely happy and would recommend him to anyone!
Andrew and his team are detail-oriented. They are skilled and helped me understand the process of renovating my kitchen. Fantastic communication & high quality service! I am so lucky to have them and recommend them to anyone! When they built my deck, it was so fast & efficient! Call Andrew, you won't regret it
Andrew replaced a garden window in my kitchen, and a sliding door. He did a meticulous job, and went above and beyond to accommodate some special requests that I had. His attention to detail and willingness to do whatever it took to make me happy didn't go unnoticed. Will definitely use him each and every time!
Here is what Boylston homeowners ask us most. If your question is not here, call us at (774) 249-0221.
It depends on where you are, and in Boylston that is genuinely a question rather than a formality. Only a portion of the town is served by municipal sewer. Much of Boylston is on private septic. That is a real difference from neighboring West Boylston, where the great majority of residential properties are sewered and connection is mandatory within the sewered district. Water is separate again, supplied by the Boylston Water District, which is its own entity rather than a town department. On any project that adds a bedroom, confirming which side of the sewer line your address falls on is the first thing we do.
In most cases yes. Since February 2, 2025, Massachusetts allows one accessory dwelling unit by right on lots in single-family zoning districts statewide, up to 900 square feet or half the gross floor area of the main house, whichever is smaller, with no special permit and no zoning hearing. In Boylston the deciding factor is usually wastewater. On a sewered property an ADU is considerably more straightforward. On septic, Massachusetts sizes systems by bedroom count under Title 5, so the existing system has to be checked against the added load before design starts.
It can. Boylston borders the Wachusett Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to roughly 2.7 million people in eastern Massachusetts, and the town is one of the communities regulated under the state Watershed Protection Act. The Act governs land use within critical areas near tributaries, wetlands, and surface water. Whether it touches your project depends on where your lot sits relative to those resources. We check it at the site visit rather than discovering it at permitting.
Yes for most projects. Any addition, structural change, or conversion of unfinished space into living space requires a building permit from the Boylston Building Department, along with electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits depending on scope. On septic properties the Board of Health reviews wastewater capacity. Work near wetlands requires Conservation Commission review, and properties near the reservoir or its tributaries can involve state watershed review. ARM Construction handles the permitting and inspections as part of the project.
ARM Construction & Management Inc
131 Houghton Road
Princeton, MA 01541
(774) 249-0221
Licensed and insured in Massachusetts. MA CSL #CS-093044 | MA HIC Reg. #153199
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