Cedar Siding & Shingles in North Yarmouth, Maine

Cedar clapboard is the historically correct siding for the farmhouses and early capes along North Yarmouth's older roads, including the buildings near Walnut Hill that date to the late 1700s and early 1800s. White cedar shingles also suit barns, carriage sheds and the newer shingle-style houses built on larger hillside lots. For an owner restoring a house with a Historical Society marker, cedar is usually the material that keeps it faithful.

Upkeep depends on the lot. Houses in open fields dry quickly and cedar ages evenly there, whether left natural or stained. Walls tucked into the woods, which is much of the town, stay shaded and damp, and those are the walls that grow moss and mildew and need regular cleaning and a breathable finish. Installing cedar over a rainscreen gap or a drainable wrap lets the back of each shingle or board dry, which adds years in a freeze-thaw climate. Stainless or hot-dipped galvanized nails prevent the black staining that plain steel leaves in cedar. On a farmhouse wall, matching the original clapboard exposure and corner board width keeps the repair invisible from the road.

The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey estimates about 1,600 homes in North Yarmouth, with a median year built of 1983, a decade newer than Yarmouth next door. About 94 percent are single-family detached and about 87 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied, and only about a dozen units are held for seasonal use. Roughly 13 percent of homes predate 1940 and about 21 percent predate 1960, while about 24 percent date from 1960 to 1979 and about 23 percent from 2000 or later. The 2018 comprehensive plan counts 319 homes built in the 1990s alone, the town's peak decade, and notes that more than 135 houses shown on an 1871 town map are still standing, many of them restored farmhouses and capes along the old roads.

This is an inland town, out of reach of the salt spray that works on houses along the Casco Bay shore in Yarmouth. Weather here comes instead from elevation and open ground. The 2018 comprehensive plan puts elevations between 60 feet, where Pratt's Brook leaves town, and 400 to 440 feet at the top of Walnut Hill and the upper slopes of Bruce Hill. About 17 percent of the town is open field, so hilltop houses facing hayfields take full wind in winter storms, while the 63 percent that is forest keeps other lots shaded and damp. Portland, the nearest long-term weather record, averages about 69 inches of snow a year, and freeze-thaw cycles run from November into April.

The North Yarmouth Code Enforcement Office at the Town Office, 10 Village Square Road, issues building permits and runs an online permitting portal. The town's permit guide lists a building permit as required for a deck, an addition, demolition and any structural change, and asks owners to call the office about work not on the list. Demolishing a building constructed before 1900 requires written notice to the North Yarmouth Historical Society at least 30 days ahead. Near the Royal River, Chandler Brook, Knight's Pond and the Deer Brook wetland, the Land Use Ordinance's Residential Shoreland and Resource Protection districts add structure setbacks.

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