Siding Replacement in Chebeague Island, Maine

With a median build year of 1938, most Chebeague houses have already been through two or three rounds of cladding. Old clapboard painted over for generations, cedar shingles weathered to the nail line, and early vinyl hung over whatever was underneath are all common on the island. The walls that give out first are the ones facing open water to the east and north, where storm rain is driven sideways into lap joints and around window casings. Once water gets behind the siding, the sheathing boards on a pre-war frame can soften for years before anyone sees it from the road.

A full replacement is the chance to find that damage, replace rotted boards and install a proper weather-resistive barrier and flashing before new siding goes on. On an island the planning matters as much as the carpentry. Materials and a dumpster have to be scheduled onto the Chebeague Transportation Company barge, which runs from April, weather permitting, through November 30 on tide-dependent times, so a tear-off is best timed inside that window. Partners Mike McCullum or Bob Milliken measure the house in person and write a fixed-price proposal, which is how barge trips and debris removal get accounted for up front rather than discovered midway through the job.

Census estimates count about 554 housing units in the town, and the median year built is 1938, which makes Chebeague one of the oldest housing stocks in Cumberland County. Roughly 51 percent of units predate 1940 and about 57 percent predate 1960. Building slowed sharply after that: only around 9 percent went up between 1960 and 1979, while about 20 percent date from 2000 or later. Nearly 97 percent of units are single-family detached houses, and about 71 percent of year-round households own their home. The defining number is seasonal use: about 263 units, close to half the total, are held for seasonal or occasional occupancy. Expect wood-frame capes and farmhouses from the fishing and stone-sloop era, cottages and former boarding houses from the summer-hotel years, and a newer layer of homes built since 2000.

Great Chebeague sits in the middle of Casco Bay, about 10 miles northeast of Portland, with open water on every side and no mainland ridge to break the wind. Nor'easters push rain and spray straight into east- and north-facing walls, and salt settles on siding, flashing and fasteners well back from the shore. The nearest long-term weather record is Portland International Jetport, where 1991 to 2020 normals put average snowfall at about 69 inches a year. Winters here swing across freezing again and again, so water that gets behind trim or under shingle tabs freezes, expands and opens the gap further. The town's own site keeps a disaster-relief page for the December 2023 and January 2024 storms, a reminder of how hard winter storms hit.

Building permits come from the Town of Chebeague Island Code Enforcement office, which posts its monthly permit reports online. The town's zoning ordinance says no building may be erected, structurally altered, enlarged or moved without a permit from the Code Enforcement Officer, and a new or enlarged structure needs a site plan showing the lot, buildings and yards. The town fee schedule has a separate category for decks and sheds, and fines for building without a permit start at double the fee. Shoreland overlay districts cover the waterfront, with setbacks set by the town's Shoreland Zoning Ordinance, and a dozen small islands in the town are entirely Resource Protection.

Siding replacement is more than new cladding. The old siding comes off, the sheathing underneath is inspected and repaired where it has gone soft, a new weather-resistive barrier and flashing go on around every opening, and the new siding and trim are installed as one system. In Maine, where wind-driven rain, freeze-thaw cycles and long winters test every seam, the layers you never see decide how long the wall lasts.

• An owner walks the house, measures every wall, and notes rot, past leaks, and how many layers of old siding are on it.
• Old siding and trim are stripped to the sheathing, and damaged boards are cut out and replaced before anything new goes on.
• A house wrap or other weather-resistive barrier is lapped shingle-style, with flashing tape and head flashing at windows and doors.
• New corner boards, window and door casing, and frieze trim go up, then the siding itself, fastened to the manufacturer's spacing.
• Debris is hauled away, magnetic sweeps pick up nails, and the job is walked with you before the last crew leaves.

• Clapboards or shingles that are cupped, split, or soft when pressed
• Paint that peels within a few seasons of being painted
• Stains, mold, or bubbling paint on interior walls after storms
• Dated aluminum, asbestos-cement or 1970s metal siding you want gone
• Rooms that feel drafty along exterior walls

• Wall area and how many stories need staging or lifts
• How many layers of old siding come off, and whether any need special handling
• Sheathing repairs found once the old siding is off
• The siding material chosen: vinyl, fiber cement, cedar or composite
• Trim detail: corner boards, window casing, frieze boards and brackets
• Whether windows or the roof are replaced in the same visit

Every job is priced from a free on-site visit. Typical ranges for the trade are on our siding page, and the details of this service are on the siding replacement overview.

Back to the Chebeague Island exterior services overview, or see every town on our Cumberland County service areas page.