Siding Replacement in Scarborough, Maine

A house built in the 1980s or 1990s, which describes about three in ten Scarborough homes, is now wearing siding that has been through thirty-odd Maine winters. On the shore side of town the first failures usually show on the walls facing the water: vinyl that has faded and gone chalky, wood clapboards that have cupped or split, and caulk joints at window and door casings that have opened under salt-laden wind. Inland, north walls that stay damp under trees and siding nailed too tight to move with the cold are the usual trouble spots.

Replacing the whole house is the moment to fix what sits behind the cladding. With the old siding off, soft sheathing, missing flashing over windows and doors, and gaps in the weather barrier are visible and can be corrected before anything new goes on. Scarborough defines development in its flood hazard rules broadly, so a house inside a Special Flood Hazard Area near the marsh or beaches should confirm permit needs with Code Enforcement first. Cardinal installs James Hardie fiber cement, premium vinyl, cedar and composite siding, and one of the owners measures the house and writes a fixed-price proposal.

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.

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.

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.

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