SERVING STERLING, MASSACHUSETTS
Home additions, ADUs, kitchens, baths, and custom stonework for Sterling homeowners. ARM Construction is based in neighboring Princeton and knows what building on septic in this town actually involves.
ARM Construction is based in Princeton, directly west of Sterling, which makes this one of the towns we work in most. Sterling and Princeton share a great deal: older housing stock spread across large rural lots, the Wachusett Regional school district, and the same set of building conditions that separate the towns up here from the ones closer to the city.
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 are active and verifiable through the Commonwealth. The Construction Supervisor License is the credential that legally covers structural work, which is what lets us take on additions and ADUs that a lot of remodeling companies will not touch.
Sterling homes sit on larger pieces of land. That single fact shapes most of the work here. Lots are large enough that expanding is usually more attractive than moving, which is why home additions and in-law suites are a steady part of what we do in town. The housing stock ranges from center-of-town antiques near the common to farmhouses along the back roads to postwar and newer construction, and the older end of that range means kitchen and bathroom remodels here regularly involve plaster, out-of-level floors, and systems layered in across several decades.
We also build sunrooms and four season rooms, 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.
Sterling has no public sewer system. Not in the center, not anywhere. Every property in town, without exception, handles wastewater through a private septic system. At the same time the town does supply public water to roughly 80 percent of residents from municipal wells, which means a typical Sterling property is on town water and private septic simultaneously. That combination is uncommon, and it catches out-of-town contractors who assume that town water means town sewer.
Here is why it matters. Massachusetts sizes septic systems by bedroom count under Title 5. Any project that adds a bedroom, which includes most additions and effectively every ADU, has to be measured against your system's rated capacity. If the system will not carry the additional load, the project becomes a septic upgrade plus an addition, and that is a different budget in a different order of magnitude. In a sewered town this question does not exist. In Sterling it is the first question.
There is a sequencing consequence too. Sterling requires Board of Health authorization on sewage disposal and water supply before the building permit is issued, not after. A contractor who does not know that submits in the wrong order and loses weeks. We start every Sterling project by finding out what your system is rated for, because that answer shapes the design rather than the other way around.
Sterling sits inside the Wachusett Reservoir watershed, the source of drinking water for roughly 2.7 million people in eastern Massachusetts. The state Watershed Protection Act regulates land use within critical areas near tributaries, wetlands, and surface water throughout that watershed, and Sterling is one of the communities where it applies. Whether it touches your project depends on where your lot sits. Well away from a stream, it usually never comes up. Near one, it can affect where you build and how much impervious surface you add.
Sterling also runs its own municipal utility, the Sterling Municipal Light Department, rather than one of the large investor-owned companies. If your project needs a service upgrade, and older homes here often do once you add a modern kitchen or a second dwelling unit, that goes through SMLD.
Then there is the land itself. Large lots, many of them wooded or sloped, mean site access, drainage, and Conservation Commission review near wetlands come up more often here than on a compact lot in a denser town. Every one of these is manageable. All of them are cheaper to plan for than to discover.
Any project that changes the footprint or the structure of a house in Sterling needs a building permit from the Building Department, plus electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits depending on scope. On anything touching wastewater, the Board of Health comes first. Work near wetlands goes to the Conservation Commission, and watershed-regulated areas can add state 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 is required, coordinate the inspections, and deal with the town so you are not the one filling out applications. On a Sterling project the order of operations genuinely matters, and getting it right at the front end is what separates a project that starts on time from one that sits.
Princeton borders Sterling to the west and is where we are based. West Boylston sits to the south and shares the same watershed considerations. We also work in Holden, Worcester, Leominster, Boylston, Shrewsbury, Westborough, Northborough, 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 Sterling homeowners ask us most. If your question is not here, call us at (774) 249-0221.
No. Sterling has no public sewer system anywhere in town. Every property handles wastewater through a private septic system. The town does provide public water to roughly 80 percent of residents from municipal wells, so a Sterling property is commonly on town water and private septic at the same time. That combination is unusual, and it is the single most important thing to understand before planning an addition or an ADU here.
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. In Sterling the deciding factor is almost never zoning, it is septic capacity. Because there is no town sewer, every ADU has to be supported by a private system, and Massachusetts sizes those by bedroom count under Title 5. Sterling also requires Board of Health authorization before a building permit is issued for an ADU. We check septic capacity at the first site visit.
For anything that adds a bedroom or changes wastewater flow, yes. Because the entire town relies on private septic, the Board of Health reviews sewage disposal capacity and drinking water supply, and that authorization comes before the building permit rather than after. It is a sequencing detail that catches homeowners and out-of-town contractors off guard, since in a sewered community it would not exist. Planning for it from the start is what keeps a Sterling project on schedule.
Yes for most projects. Any addition, structural change, or conversion of unfinished space into living space requires a building permit from the Sterling Building Department, along with electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits depending on scope. Work near wetlands requires Conservation Commission review, and Sterling also sits inside the Wachusett Reservoir watershed, where the state Watershed Protection Act can add a further layer near tributaries and surface water. ARM Construction handles the permitting and the inspection schedule 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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