Foundation Repair / Waterproofing in Cohasset, Massachusetts

Mass Save does not pay for foundation repair or basement waterproofing. The program covers heating, cooling, water heating, and weatherization, not structural work or drainage, so disregard any energy-rebate claim tied to a sump pump or membrane.

There is a real adjacent angle. Cohasset is served by National Grid and is not a municipal light plant, so homeowners are Mass Save eligible. After the water is handled, crawl-space encapsulation and basement air-sealing and insulation can qualify under Mass Save weatherization, useful for the damp crawl spaces in older coastal homes here, typically starting with a Home Energy Assessment that subsidizes air-sealing at 75 percent or more up to program caps. Radon mitigation sometimes shares sub-slab work but is not a Mass Save measure.

Massachusetts has no foundation-contractor license, but any contractor must be Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registered. Structural work, including footing repair, piers, or wall stabilization, requires a Construction Supervisor License and a building permit from the Cohasset Building Department, with PE-stamped drawings for significant repairs. Cohasset's harbor, salt marshes, and rocky shoreline put most exterior work in Conservation Commission jurisdiction under the Wetlands Protection Act, and coastal lots may sit in FEMA flood zones. Cohasset also has a historic district around the Common, so visible exterior work there can draw added review. Ledge complicates excavation, so flag it early.

Cohasset is on the South Shore coast, a high-cost market where shoreline construction, granite ledge, and access push prices above typical eastern Massachusetts. Crack injection on a poured wall runs $400 to $900 per crack. Crawl-space encapsulation typically runs $5,000 to $15,000. A sump pump install runs about $1,200 to $3,000, and a battery backup is worth it given coastal storm outages. Interior perimeter drainage systems run $8,000 to $20,000, and ledge can push the cost up. Footing or settlement repair with piers runs $1,500 to $3,000 per pier, landing higher on coastal lots.

Cohasset is a Norfolk County coastal town of 8,330 people across about 3,290 housing units, with a median home age near 66 years. The stock runs from antique sea-captain and village homes on stone or brick to substantial poured-concrete houses on the wooded and shoreline lots, set on Massachusetts Bay between Hingham and Scituate.

The town is known for its granite ledge, which is everywhere near the surface, and its rocky coastline, harbor, and salt marshes. Shallow bedrock complicates excavation and makes water perch and run toward foundations on slopes, while coastal lots face salt air, a high tidal water table, and storm exposure. Damp basements, ledge-driven seepage, and salt-related concrete wear are the common issues.