Siding Replacement in Gorham, Maine

Gorham's houses built in the 1980s and 1990s, close to three in ten homes in town, are coming up on their first full re-side. Without salt air to blame, the failures here come from water and cold: panels that have cracked where they were nailed too tight to move, vinyl that has faded on the south and west walls, and wood clapboards that have split or lost their paint on the north side, where snow piles against the wall and shade keeps it wet into spring. Trim at window sills and corners is usually where rot starts.

Tearing off the old siding shows what the walls have been doing for thirty years. Soft sheathing, missing kick-out flashing where a roof meets a sidewall, and torn or absent house wrap can all be fixed before new cladding goes on, which is the main reason a full replacement outlasts patching. In Gorham Village, houses in a designated historic district or landmark may need a Historic Preservation Certificate, so that is worth checking before choosing a material. Cardinal installs James Hardie fiber cement, premium vinyl, cedar and composite siding, and an owner measures and writes a fixed-price proposal.

Gorham counts about 6,800 housing units in the 2020 to 2024 Census estimates, with a median year built of 1988. Roughly a third of homes, about 33 percent, were built in 2000 or later, and about 29 percent date from the 1980s and 1990s, so most of the town's houses are under 45 years old. The older layer is substantial: about 14 percent of homes predate 1940 and about 21 percent predate 1960, including the wooden 19th-century houses of the Gorham Village historic district. Another 17 percent or so went up between 1960 and 1979. About 80 percent of homes are single-family detached and about 82 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied. The estimates show essentially no seasonal housing, so nearly every house here is lived in year-round.

Gorham is an inland town, about 200 feet above sea level, drained by the Presumpscot, Stroudwater and Little rivers, and out of reach of the salt spray that wears on coastal houses. What it does get is a full southern Maine winter. The Portland International Jetport, the nearest long-term weather station, averages close to 69 inches of snow a year, with seasons ranging from far lighter to far heavier. Nor'easters bring high winds and storms that often exceed a foot of snow, and roofs carry that load for weeks at a time. Spring and fall bring repeated freezing and thawing, which drives water into siding joints, window sills and roof edges, and heaves deck footings that were set too shallow.

Permits in Gorham are handled by the Code Division of the town's Community Development department, and applications are now filed online through the SmartGov system. The town lists a Building Permit for Minor Projects that covers decks, sheds and pools, so a new deck or a deck replacement is permitted before construction; ask the Code Division whether a roofing, siding or window job needs one. Lots along the Presumpscot and other rivers fall under shoreland zoning and need a Shoreland Zoning Permit for work in that zone. Gorham also has a Historic Preservation Commission, which issues Historic Preservation Certificates for designated historic properties and districts.

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