Floor care and restoration in Montgomery County

Flooring is cosmetic. A deck is not.

Montgomery County treats cosmetic work, including painting and replacing flooring, as work that does not require a building permit. That covers the large majority of what we are called for here. A carpet replacement, a hardwood refinish or a cleaning visit involves no county paperwork at all, which is worth knowing before a contractor tells you otherwise.

Decks are the opposite. The county requires a building permit for a deck regardless of how high above grade it sits. For a simple single-level, single-span deck the county publishes Residential Deck Details that can be submitted instead of drawn construction plans, which shortens the process considerably. That shortcut stops applying as soon as the deck carries anything extra, including a roof, a screened porch or a hot tub, and stairway lighting or a spa can bring an electrical permit into it as well. We factor that into the quote rather than discovering it halfway through.

Basement work sits between the two. Finishing a basement here generally does require a permit once walls go up or electrical, plumbing or ductwork is extended, which is almost always the case in a post-restoration rebuild. We work regularly in Silver Spring, Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown and Potomac. Rules were checked in October 2026 and are worth confirming with county permitting services before work begins.