Cedar Siding & Shingles in Raymond, Maine

Cedar has a long history on Raymond's shoreline. The comprehensive plan describes summer camps, cottages and lodges from the early and mid 20th century along the lakes, and many of those buildings were sheathed in wood shingles or boards that have weathered for decades. Replacing them in cedar keeps the character of a camp on Raymond Cape or Panther Pond intact, and a new shingle wall can be left to weather naturally or ordered with a factory-applied finish.

Cedar asks more of an owner than the other siding choices. On wooded lots, the shade and damp slow drying, so walls there benefit from an open rainscreen gap behind the shingles and from trimming back branches that brush the house. Lakefront walls that take wind-driven rain off Sebago dry faster but weather quicker. Keeping the bottom course well above grade and snow line helps, given how much snow piles against walls in a winter here. Cardinal installs new cedar as part of a siding job; it does not offer staining or patch repairs, so plan for ongoing care as part of choosing cedar.

Census estimates put Raymond at about 3,050 housing units with a median year built of 1976. About 15 percent predate 1940 and roughly 31 percent predate 1960, while another 23 percent went up between 1960 and 1979 and about 22 percent date from 2000 or later. Around 94 percent are single-family detached houses, and roughly 90 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied. The standout figure is seasonal use: about 1,010 units are held for seasonal or recreational occupancy, and the town comprehensive plan puts seasonal homes at over a third of the stock. That plan also notes the summer camps, cottages and lodges built along the lakes in the early and mid 20th century, older farmhouses at rural crossroads, and a wave of summer residents who began making Raymond their permanent home in the 1950s, which is why so many camps have been winterized and enlarged.

Raymond is inland lake country, not coast, so salt spray is not the issue. Snow and cold are. The National Weather Service forecast office sits in neighboring Gray, and its 1991-2020 normals show about 84 inches of snow a year, well above the roughly 69 inches recorded at the Portland Jetport. Much of that arrives from December through March, with repeated thaws and refreezes in between. Houses on the shore of Sebago Lake take the wind that builds across miles of open water, and because Sebago does not reliably freeze over, that open water stays exposed deep into winter. Wooded lots elsewhere in town stay damp and shaded, so north walls, roof valleys and deck boards are slow to dry after rain or melt.

Permits run through the Raymond Code Enforcement Office at the town office on Webbs Mills Road, which uses an online permitting system and books meetings by appointment. The town building code page lists building a deck as work that needs a permit, and says residing, reroofing and same-size window replacement do not, as long as no structure or required egress is changed. Allow about 48 hours for processing. Raymond enforces the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, including the 2021 IRC. Work within 100 feet of the high water mark should start with a call to the Code Enforcement Officer, since shoreland rules, and sometimes a state DEP permit, apply.

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