Cedar Siding & Shingles in Naples, Maine

Cedar shingles and clapboard are part of the older lake landscape in Naples, from summer cottages on Long Lake to the camps that grew up around the youth summer camps and the old steamboat routes. For a cottage that wears cedar now, new cedar keeps the building consistent with its neighbors along the shore, and shingles can be hand-trimmed around the odd angles and short walls that stacked additions leave behind. Cedar also takes well to the curved or flared details found on some older porches and gables.

The exposure decides how cedar ages. On open lakefront walls it weathers toward gray fairly evenly, but on shaded lots under tall pines and hemlocks, moisture lingers and mildew or moss can take hold, especially on north walls. Installing over a rainscreen gap lets the back of each shingle dry, and stainless or hot-dipped galvanized nails prevent the black streaks that plain steel fasteners leave in cedar. Whether to let the wood weather or apply a finish is a choice to make at the start, since changing course later means stripping. On year-round houses built in the 1980s and 1990s, cedar can also serve as an accent on a gable or porch while the main walls go to a lower-maintenance material.

Census estimates count about 3,360 housing units in Naples, with a median year built of 1988, which makes the stock younger than much of Cumberland County. Only about 4 percent predate 1940 and roughly 15 percent predate 1960. About 20 percent went up between 1960 and 1979, about a third between 1980 and 1999, and about 32 percent in 2000 or later. That matches the town's own history: population grew 91 percent between 1970 and 1980 as Naples became a bedroom community for Greater Portland, and new home approvals climbed again from 2021 to 2023. Roughly 81 percent of units are single-family detached, and about 88 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied. Around 1,280 units are held for seasonal use, many of them along Long Lake, Brandy Pond and the Sebago shore. A few Federal-period farmhouses, such as the 1796 Manor House on Route 302, survive among them.

Naples is lake country about 30 miles inland, so the weather that wears on houses is snow, cold and wind off open water rather than salt. The National Weather Service station in nearby Gray records about 84 inches of snow in a normal year, with roughly 20 inches in each of January and February, and January nights there average about 14 degrees. Snow that sits on roofs through repeated thaws is what feeds ice dams. Houses facing Long Lake, Brandy Pond or the north end of Sebago take wind that builds across the water, and Sebago itself freezes over completely only every few winters, so that exposure stays open late. Wooded lots back from the shore stay shaded and damp, which slows drying on north walls and deck boards.

Permits go through the Naples Planning, Code Enforcement and Building Inspections office at 15 Village Green Lane, open Monday through Thursday, with a minimum fee of $50 per permit. The town requires permits for new buildings and structural alterations, and says its list is not exhaustive, so plan on a permit for any new or replacement deck and check with the office before re-siding or re-roofing. Land within 250 feet of a great pond or river falls under Maine shoreland zoning, and Naples uses a separate Shoreland Zoning building permit application. There is no local historic district; the 2026 comprehensive plan recommends drafting design guidelines for the Village District.

Cedar clapboards and shingles are the original New England exterior, and for shingle-style cottages, capes and historic homes nothing else looks quite right. Cedar is naturally rot-resistant and light, but it is wood: it needs airflow behind it and a finish that suits the exposure. Pre-finished shingles, such as the Maibec shingles on several projects shown on this site, arrive stained or primed on all sides, which cuts the upkeep and evens out the color.

• Walls are stripped, repaired and wrapped; where it helps drying, a ventilated or drainage layer goes behind the cedar.
• Shingles are coursed and laid out so exposure lines up at windows, doors and corners.
• Stainless or hot-dipped galvanized fasteners are used so they do not stain or corrode.
• Corners are woven or finished with boards, and trim is detailed to shed water.
• Pre-finished product is touched up at cuts; natural cedar is left to weather or finished as you choose.

• The house is a cape, shingle-style cottage or historic home where cedar belongs
• Existing shingles are cupped, split, missing or black with mildew
• A historic district or your own taste calls for real wood
• You want a natural finish that weathers to silver-gray

• Clapboard versus shingle, and grade of cedar
• Pre-finished versus natural or site-finished
• Coursing detail, corner treatment and trim
• Wall area, height and tear-off
• Any rainscreen or drainage layer behind the siding

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 cedar siding and shingles overview.

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