Siding Replacement in North Yarmouth, Maine

North Yarmouth's siding problems split along its two building eras. The farmhouses and capes that survive from the 1871 map, some carrying Historical Society markers, have old wood clapboards with decades of paint, sometimes covered over later by another layer of siding. The far larger group of houses built from the 1980s through the 2000s is reaching the age when builder-grade vinyl turns brittle, fades on the south walls and loosens at corners and J-channel.

Tearing everything off down to the sheathing is the only way to see the rot that sits behind windows and at the sill plate, where wet snow piles against the wall on these hill lots. Replacement is also the time to add a drainable house wrap and, on older farmhouses, correct flashing at the ell and barn connections. Shaded walls on wooded lots stay damp and grow mildew, which points toward materials that shrug off moisture. Cardinal Exteriors installs fiber cement, premium vinyl, cedar and composite siding, and one of the owners measures the house and prices the complete job in writing.

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.

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