Window Replacement in Chebeague Island, Maine

Chebeague's pre-war houses still carry plenty of original wood sash, along with first-generation replacements from the 1980s and 1990s whose seals have failed and fogged. Single-pane glass and loose sash let wind straight into the house, and on the exposed ends of the island that shows up as rattling in a nor'easter and water on the sill. Houses built before 1978 may contain lead paint on sash and trim, and federal EPA renovation rules govern how it is handled when old windows come out.

Replacement options range from vinyl replacement windows for budget-minded seasonal cottages to wood and clad units from Andersen, Marvin, Pella and Integrity for the farmhouses and summer houses where divided-light patterns and trim detail matter. Double-hung units match most of the island's older houses; casements seal tighter against wind and suit the bay-facing walls. On an island, measuring once and measuring right matters, because a wrong size cannot be exchanged the next afternoon. That is why the estimate is an on-site visit with a written, fixed-price proposal, and why glass orders and installation dates are coordinated with ferry and barge schedules before any old window comes out.

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.

The island is about three miles long and a mile wide, running from Chebeague Point in the north to Deer Point in the south, with North Road and South Road tying it together. Nineteenth-century islanders fished, farmed and crewed the stone sloops that carried quarried granite down the East Coast; by 1900 there were five hotels serving summer visitors who came by steamboat. The Chebeague Island Inn, built in the 1880s as the Hillcrest and rebuilt in 1925, overlooks the Stone Wharf. The Great Chebeague Golf Club, listed on the National Register in 2015, uses a Cape from about 1807 as its clubhouse, and the 1871 schoolhouse now serves as the island history museum.

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.

A new window is only as good as the way it is set into the wall. Replacement windows go in either as inserts inside the existing frame or as full-frame units after the old frame comes out; the right choice depends on the condition of the frame, the trim you want to keep, and the siding around it. The site lists vinyl replacement windows and wood or clad units from Andersen, Marvin, Pella and Integrity, in double-hung, casement, picture, bay, sliding and awning styles.

• Each opening is measured and checked for rot in the sill, jambs and framing.
• Old sashes or whole frames come out; damaged wood is repaired before the new unit goes in.
• Units are set level, plumb and square, shimmed, and fastened as the manufacturer requires.
• Low-expansion foam and backer rod seal the gap without bowing the frame.
• Flashing, exterior trim or capping and interior casing are finished so the opening sheds water.

• Fog or condensation between the panes of insulated glass
• Sashes that stick, will not stay up, or let in drafts
• Soft or rotted sills and frames
• Single-pane glass or storm windows you take on and off every year
• Frost or ice on the inside of the glass in winter

• Number of windows, their sizes, and any custom shapes
• Vinyl versus wood or clad units, and the brand and series
• Insert versus full-frame replacement
• Glass package and grille options
• Interior and exterior trim work, and whether siding is open around the opening

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

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