Buying Waterfront on Lake Tapps
What to check before you buy a waterfront or lake-view home on Lake Tapps.
What should you check before buying a waterfront home on Lake Tapps?
Before buying a Lake Tapps waterfront home, check how the seasonal drawdown affects the dock and shoreline, which permits cover the dock and bulkhead, whether the house is on sewer or septic, and how the lot handles slope and runoff. The lake is a reservoir run by Cascade Water Alliance, so its level changes through the year.
The specifics vary by address and change over time. Most of the shoreline sits either in the City of Bonney Lake or in unincorporated Pierce County, each with its own shoreline rules and permit counter, and state and regional agencies have a say in anything built in or near the water. Each section below covers what to look at and who can confirm it for a particular address. The agency’s answer is the one that counts.
How does the changing water level affect a property?
The lake follows a seasonal pattern. In a typical year it is held at a level suited to boating and swimming through the warmer months. After that season it is drawn down, and it comes back up again the following spring. A dry year can break the pattern: Cascade can divert water from the White River only when the river runs high enough, so the lake can drop in summer too. Cascade shares its lake level plans, and they can change from year to year, so get the current plan from Cascade itself.
What that means for a house is practical. A floating dock that sits level in July may rest on the lakebed in winter. A shallow cove can turn to mud and gravel for part of the year. A boat lift has to be set up for the season, and some owners pull boats entirely once the water drops. A view that looks across open water in August may look across exposed shore in January.
Owners plan around all of this as a matter of routine. Trouble starts when a buyer has only ever seen a property at full lake. If you are touring in summer, ask the seller for photographs from the low-water months. If you are touring in winter, you are seeing the version most buyers miss, and that is an advantage.
Docks, shoreline structures, and permits
Docks, piers, boat lifts, swim floats, and bulkheads all sit where several sets of rules meet. Depending on the address, the City of Bonney Lake or Pierce County administers the local shoreline rules. In-water work can also involve the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Cascade, as owner of the reservoir, has its own requirements for structures on the lake. And rules for new work are often stricter than the rules that applied when an older dock was first built.
Before you are attached to a house, ask the seller:
- When the dock was built, and whether it has been rebuilt or extended since.
- Whether permits or approvals for the dock, lift, and bulkhead are on file, and whether copies are available.
- Whether the dock is shared with a neighbor, and whether that arrangement is written down and recorded.
- What repairs have been done, by whom, and when.
If you already know you will want a bigger dock, a covered lift, or a second float, do not assume it will be approved. Ask the city or county, and Cascade, before you remove your inspection contingency. Replacing a structure can bring it under current standards, and that can change what you are allowed to build.
What should you look for in a bulkhead?
Many Lake Tapps lots are held at the water’s edge by a bulkhead of concrete, rock, or timber. The best time to look at one is when the lake is down and you can see the whole face of it, including the footing.
Walk it slowly. Look for leaning or bowing, cracks that run through the face, gaps where soil is washing out from behind, and sinkholes or soft spots in the lawn just above. Timber bulkheads show their age at the waterline first. Rock walls can look sound at a glance and still be losing fill behind them.
A general home inspector will note what is visible. For a closer read, bring in a contractor who builds and repairs bulkheads. Repairs are shoreline work, so they may need permits, and some owners replace hard bulkheads with rock and plantings where the rules allow it. Ask what the options would be before you price in a repair.
Walk the shoreline in the off-season at least once before you buy.
Is a Lake Tapps home on septic or sewer?
Both exist around the lake. Some neighborhoods are connected to public sewer. Others, often older lots, rely on an on-site septic system, and a system that sits close to the water deserves careful attention.
If the house is on septic, ask for the system’s as-built drawing and its maintenance history. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department keeps records for many on-site systems, and your agent or inspector can help you request them. Schedule a septic inspection by a licensed inspector during your inspection period, and ask where the drainfield sits relative to the shore and the house.
If the house is on sewer, ask whether it uses a pump. Homes that sit below the street sometimes need one to lift wastewater up to the main, and a pump has a service life like any other equipment. Ask how old it is and when it was last serviced.
Either way, ask the utility or the health department to confirm how the property is actually served. Listings are sometimes wrong about this.
Slope, drainage, flood maps, and hazard areas
Many waterfront lots step down to the lake on stairs and retaining walls, with a lawn that sheds water toward the shore. Rain from the hill behind the house has to go somewhere. Look at where the downspouts empty, whether the stairs and walls are sound, and whether there is any sign of the ground moving, such as cracked walls or fence posts that lean.
Pierce County publishes maps of geologic hazard areas, including landslide and erosion hazards and the Mount Rainier lahar hazard zones, and FEMA publishes flood maps. Look up the parcel itself. A house up on the plateau and a house down in the valley in Sumner can sit in very different places on those maps.
Call an insurance agent early, before you are deep into a purchase. Ask how the house and the dock would be covered, and whether flood coverage is recommended or required for that address.
The volcano question gets its own note: whether Lake Tapps is in a Mount Rainier lahar zone, and how to look up one parcel on the state and county maps.
Waterfront, lake view, or lake access?
These three get blurred in listings, and they are very different purchases.
Waterfront
The lot runs down to the lake and, in most cases, has its own dock or the right to one. How the property line actually meets the water varies around a reservoir, so read the survey and the title report closely and ask questions about anything you do not understand. Frontage, the bank, and the dock also shape how a lender’s appraiser sees the house, which I cover in how a Lake Tapps waterfront home is appraised.
Lake view
You see the water but do not touch it. The view is the asset, so ask what could be built or grow between you and the lake, and look at it in both seasons.
Community access
Some neighborhoods share a dock, beach, or launch through an owners’ association, and Tapps Island has its own association. Read the association documents before you commit: who can use the dock, how slips are assigned, what the dues cover, and what rules apply to boats and guests. My guide to the neighborhoods around Lake Tapps goes shore by shore.
A short list for your inspection period
This is the list I work from with buyers. It is a starting point for conversations with your inspector and the agencies involved, and every item should be confirmed with them.
- Water level
- Cascade Water Alliance’s current plans for the lake, and photographs of the property at low water.
- Dock and lift
- Age, permits or approvals on file, condition of floats and pilings, whether the lift and any boat are included.
- Bulkhead
- Material, condition of the face and footing, signs of soil loss behind it, any past repairs.
- Wastewater
- Septic as-built and inspection, or sewer connection confirmed and any pump’s age and service record.
- Slope and drainage
- Retaining walls, stairs, downspouts, and the county’s hazard maps for that parcel.
- Title and survey
- Where the lot line meets the water, and any recorded easements or shared dock agreements.
- Insurance
- Quotes early, including how the dock is covered and whether flood coverage makes sense.
- Association
- If there is one, its dock and beach rules and what the dues pay for.
Buying on Lake Tapps: short answers
Does a floating dock sit on the bottom when Lake Tapps is lowered?
On many lots it can. When the reservoir is drawn down in the off-season, a floating dock in shallow water may rest on the lakebed until the water comes back up in spring. Ask the seller what the dock does at low water, and for photographs from those months.
Who approves a new or larger dock on Lake Tapps?
It depends on the address. The City of Bonney Lake or Pierce County handles the local shoreline permit, in-water work can also involve the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Cascade Water Alliance has its own requirements for structures on the reservoir. Ask before you count on it.
Are Lake Tapps homes on septic or sewer?
Both. Some neighborhoods are on public sewer, and others, often older lots, use an on-site septic system. Ask the utility or the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to confirm how a specific house is served, because listings are sometimes wrong about it.
Do you need flood insurance for a Lake Tapps waterfront home?
It depends on the parcel and the lender. Look up the address on FEMA’s flood maps, then ask an insurance agent early whether flood coverage is recommended or required, and how the dock would be covered.
What is the difference between waterfront and lake access on Lake Tapps?
A waterfront lot runs down to the lake and usually has its own dock or the right to one. Lake access usually means a shared dock, beach, or launch through a neighborhood association, with rules on slips, guests, and dues set out in its documents.
Walk the shore with Austin
Before you fall for a view, call me and we will walk the shore together.
206.940.0942