Composite & PVC Decks in Scarborough, Maine

Salt spray, strong sun off the water and fog that settles over the marsh are hard on bare wood, which is why composite and PVC decking suit Scarborough so well. Capped composite and cellular PVC boards do not need stain or sealer, do not splinter, and resist the gray weathering and checking that wood shows within a few seasons on an exposed deck. PVC is lighter and handles moisture especially well, while capped composite feels more like wood underfoot.

Low upkeep matters most for the roughly 850 Scarborough homes held for seasonal use, where nobody is around in spring to wash and restain a deck before summer. A few details are worth knowing: dark boards on a south-facing deck get hot in July, so lighter colors are easier on bare feet; joist spacing has to follow the board manufacturer's limits, especially for diagonal patterns; and hidden fasteners leave a clean surface with no screw heads to catch snow shovels. The frame underneath is still lumber, so it gets the same frost-depth footings and flashing as any deck. Cardinal builds with Trex-style composite and PVC boards and matching railings.

Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 put Scarborough at about 11,100 housing units with a median year built of 1988, a young housing stock for a town settled in 1635. About 30 percent of homes date from 2000 or later and roughly another 31 percent from the 1980s and 1990s, so a large share of houses are reaching the age when original roofs, builder-grade windows and first-generation siding come due together. About 24 percent went up between 1960 and 1979. The older layer is thinner but distinctive: about 16 percent of homes predate 1960 and about 8 percent predate 1940, including the summer cottages of Prouts Neck, many of which have changed little in more than a century. Roughly 69 percent of homes are single-family detached, about 77 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied, and some 850 units are held for seasonal use.

Building permits in Scarborough go through the Code Enforcement division of the Planning and Codes Department, which applies the 2021 Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code and its residential code. The town's code FAQ says anyone who intends to construct, alter or repair a building must first obtain the required permit, so new decks and deck replacements are permitted before work starts; ask the office about roofing, siding and windows. Lots near the shore, marsh or rivers fall under Shoreland Zoning Ordinance 405C, and any development in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area needs a flood hazard permit, a condition of the town's membership in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Scarborough faces Saco Bay and the open Gulf of Maine, and much of the town sits close to sea level, with an average elevation of about 20 feet and a high point of roughly 215 feet on Beech Ridge. Houses at Prouts Neck, Pine Point and Higgins Beach take wind and salt spray straight off the water, and winter nor'easters bring high winds, driving rain and snowfalls that often top a foot. The Portland International Jetport, a few miles away, averages close to 69 inches of snow a year, though totals swing widely from one winter to the next. Homes along the marsh sit on low, open ground where wind crosses the flats. Everywhere, repeated freezing and thawing works water into joints, sills and shingle edges.

Composite and PVC decking do not need staining, do not splinter, and resist rot, which is why they have become the default for new decks in Maine. Composite boards blend wood fiber and plastic under a protective cap; PVC boards are all synthetic and lighter. The North Deering farmhouse on this site got a rebuilt deck with AZEK composite decking. The framing underneath is still wood, so it is built to last as long as the boards on top.

• Layout, size and board color are chosen with the owner at the estimate visit.
• Footings and framing are built to code, with joist spacing that suits the board manufacturer's span rules.
• Joist tape or flashing protects the tops of joists and the ledger.
• Boards go down with hidden fasteners or color-matched screws and the expansion gaps the product requires.
• Matching railings, stair treads, fascia and landings finish the deck.

• You are done staining and sealing a wood deck every year or two
• The deck is in shade or near water where wood stays damp
• You want a deck that stays barefoot-friendly with no splinters

• Composite versus PVC, and the product line
• Deck size, height and shape
• Railing system and stairs
• Hidden-fastener versus face-screw installation
• Footing and framing conditions

Every job is priced from a free on-site visit. Typical ranges for the trade are on our deck building page, and the details of this service are on the composite and PVC decks overview.

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