Siding Replacement in Frye Island, Maine

On a house that stands empty from November to April, failing siding does its damage out of sight. Water that gets behind a split shingle or a loose clapboard in an autumn storm can sit in the wall all winter, freezing and thawing, and the owner sees the result only when the ferry opens in spring. Walls under heavy tree cover and the lower courses near grade, where leaves and snow pile up, tend to go first on Frye Island cottages, followed by the joints where an addition meets the original building.

Replacement here is as much about scheduling as material. Everything, from the new siding to the dumpster that hauls away the old, has to cross on the car ferry, and the whole job has to be finished before the ferry stops for the season. That argues for a tear-off early in the season, so any rotten sheathing found behind the old cladding can be ordered and replaced without a rush. The wall should get a continuous weather-resistive barrier and careful flashing at windows, doors and roof-wall intersections, because on this island a small leak has six unattended months to spread. An owner measures the house and writes the scope into a fixed-price written proposal.

Census estimates for Frye Island are rough, because so few people live there year-round, but the picture is clear. The survey counts about 575 housing units with a median year built of 1990, and almost all of them, about 560, are held for seasonal or recreational use. The 2020 census counted just 32 residents. Nearly every unit is a single-family detached house, none of the counted stock predates 1960, about 28 percent went up between 1960 and 1979, and about a third date from 2000 or later. On the ground that means wooded lots of summer cottages and camp-style houses, a steady stream of newer and larger seasonal homes, and a lot of houses that have been enlarged since they were first built.

Sebago Lake shapes everything about the weather here. It is the deepest lake in Maine at 316 feet and covers about 30,500 acres, and it rarely freezes over completely, so wind crosses open water well into winter and hits the shoreline houses on every side of the island. Weather around the lake can change suddenly in any season. The National Weather Service office in nearby Gray averages about 84 inches of snow a year. On Frye Island that snow sits on roofs and decks all winter with nobody there to clear it, and the island's roughly 1,000 wooded acres keep walls and decking shaded and damp.

Permits go through the Frye Island Code Enforcement Office in the new Town Hall at 10 Fairway Lane, open Tuesdays and Thursdays. The town posts separate applications for building and construction, electrical, plumbing, septic and tree removal. Completed forms go in the town office drop box or by email, and the officer sets the fee after review. Any tree over 4 inches in diameter needs a free tree removal permit before it is cut, which matters when clearing space for a deck. Since February 2024 an impact fee applies to new dwelling units. Sebago is a great pond, so state shoreland zoning rules apply near the water.

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 Frye Island exterior services overview, or see every town on our Cumberland County service areas page.