Siding Replacement in Long Island, Maine

Two out of three houses on Long Island were standing before 1940, and many began as summer cottages with a single layer of clapboard or shingles over board sheathing and little or no insulation. Over a century those walls have been painted, patched, re-shingled and sometimes covered with early vinyl. Failure usually starts where the island's weather hits hardest: north and east walls that catch storm rain, trim around windows, and the bottom courses where snow sits against the house through the winter.

A full siding replacement strips the wall to its sheathing so rotted boards can be replaced and a weather-resistive barrier and flashed openings can go on before new siding. On Long Island the paperwork and logistics come first. The town's permit application asks for proof that a construction debris container has been delivered to be barged off the island, so the dumpster and the materials are booked on the private barge that runs from the East End Beach ramp in Portland to the Any Tide Boat Ramp near Mariner's Wharf. One of the owners measures the house and writes a fixed-price proposal that accounts for those crossings.

Census estimates count about 423 housing units, and the median year built is 1938. About 66 percent of units predate 1940, and about 68 percent predate 1960. Almost nothing was built between 1960 and 1979, only around 3 percent, and about 15 percent went up in 2000 or later. Roughly 95 percent of units are single-family detached houses, and about 88 percent of year-round households own their home. Seasonal use dominates: about 307 units, nearly three-quarters of the stock, are held for seasonal or occasional use. The town's comprehensive plan counts about 50 homes converted from year-round to summer-only use over a recent 25-year stretch and describes many summer houses as unheated or poorly heated. Many trace back to the summer-cottage boom of the 1890s and 1900s.

Long Island lies about six miles out from Portland along Hussey Sound, a main passage into the inner bay. Wind reaches it from every direction, and the town's comprehensive plan notes that the first settlers built on the south side of the island to shelter from northerly winter winds. Portland International Jetport, the nearest long-term station, averages about 69 inches of snow a season under the 1991 to 2020 normals. A January 2022 winter storm badly damaged the wave break, floats and pilings at Mariner's Wharf, and the plan lists sea level rise, stronger storms and upkeep of the island's bluffs among the town's concerns.

The Code Enforcement Officer meets by appointment through the Town Clerk. The town's building permit application covers new structures, additions, alterations, replacements and repairs, and it must include a scaled site plan and proof that a construction debris container has been delivered to be barged off the island. Every job gets at least three inspections: foundation, framing and final. Height is capped at 35 feet, and several zones limit structures to 15 percent of the lot. In the shoreland zone, new structures sit at least 75 feet from the upland edge of a coastal wetland, and the permit form warns that shoreland work may also need a Maine DEP permit.

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