A roof over the slip is allowed. A room under it is not. Here is exactly what TVA permits on this lake, before you pay anyone to draw it.
Read this first
Roofs are allowed on boatslips. Covered slips may be open or enclosed with siding. Past that, §1304.204 draws hard lines:
This is the most misunderstood set of rules on the lake. Owners routinely plan a boathouse with a finished room upstairs, a half bath and a wet sink, get a builder to sketch it, and find out at review that none of it is permittable. Design inside the rules from day one and the 26a review is straightforward.
The dock footprint is capped at 1,000 square feet — 1,800 square feet in subdivisions recorded before November 1, 1999 that meet TVA's preexisting-development test. The structure may not extend more than 150 feet from shore or more than one-third of the distance to the opposite shoreline, whichever is less.
A boathouse eats that allowance fast. Cover the slip and add walk-around decking and a single slip is already using a large share of the cap. That is why the layout order matters: size the slip to the boat, then the decking, then see what is left for a sundeck — not the other way around. Access walkways are excluded from the footprint and capped at 6 feet wide, so a longer approach from the bank does not cost you covered area.
On fixed structures the deck sits at least 18 inches above full summer pool here, versus 24 inches on most TVA reservoirs. That clearance plus your boat's air draft sets the roof height. Measure the boat with the tower or hardtop up.
A single slip is the common build: one covered berth, decking on one or two sides, storage box within the 32 square foot limit. A double slip doubles the covered span, needs more pilings, and usually consumes the footprint cap by itself.
Roofs are typically standing-seam or corrugated metal on a timber or steel frame — gable for shedding weather and headroom over a tower, hip where wind exposure is high on the open water near the dam, shed on narrow slips. A sundeck over the slip is possible, within the open-deck-only rule: railing yes, roof no, siding no, screen no.
Electrical work — slip lighting, outlets, a lift circuit — is planned with the frame, not added later. Any flotation within 40 feet of a fuel line must be 100% impervious to water and fuel under §1304.400.
| Covered / boathouse construction | $40–$90 per sq ft |
|---|---|
| Covered dock, entry point | from about $12,000 |
| Boathouse addition to an existing dock | $15,000–$20,000 |
| Luxury boathouse | $15,000–$55,000+ |
Source: HomeGuide, Fixr
These are market ranges for this kind of work on this lake, not our rates. Your quote depends on depth, access and scope — we price after we look at it.
No. TVA rules under 18 CFR 1304.204 allow no living space, no sleeping areas, no toilets and no sinks in a boathouse on this lake. Enclosed storage is capped at 32 square feet of outside dimensions and is limited to water-use equipment. This is the rule owners most often find out about late, after they have drawn a finished room.
One story is the maximum. A second level is permitted only as an open deck with railing — no roof, no siding, no screening over it. So a sundeck above the slip is allowed; an upper room is not.
Most of it. A single covered slip with walk-around decking typically lands in the 600 to 800 square foot range, and a double slip can reach the cap on its own. Access walkways are not counted in the footprint and are capped at 6 feet wide, which is the main relief valve when the layout is tight.
Send the boat length, beam and air draft with your tower up, and the arm of the lake. We will tell you what fits inside the footprint and the one-story rule.
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