Window Replacement in Sebago, Maine

About 36 percent of Sebago homes predate 1960, so older windows here are often original wood sashes with ropes and weights, single panes and storm windows that no longer seal. Converted camps may carry a patchwork of salvaged or mismatched units added as the building grew. Because so much of the housing was built before 1978, the federal EPA lead renovation rules apply whenever painted trim and sashes are disturbed on those homes, which shapes how old units are taken out.

A replacement plan starts with how the house is heated and used. For year-round homes, well-fitted double-hung or casement units with low-e glass cut drafts on windy lake-facing walls. For converted camps, bedroom windows being changed should meet egress requirements, which many older camp windows do not. Cardinal installs vinyl replacement windows and wood or clad units from Andersen, Marvin, Pella and Integrity, including sliding and awning styles that work under low porch roofs and in tight cottage walls. An owner measures each opening on site, which matters on older houses where rough openings are seldom square and a standard size can leave gaps that no amount of trim will hide.

Census estimates count about 1,520 housing units in Sebago, with a median year built of 1975, older than neighboring Naples. About 17 percent predate 1940 and roughly 36 percent predate 1960. Another 19 percent went up between 1960 and 1979, about a quarter between 1980 and 1999, and about 20 percent in 2000 or later. Some 85 percent are single-family detached houses, and about 89 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied. Nearly 600 units are held for seasonal use. The town's 2006 comprehensive plan found that most homes along Sebago Lake, Peabody Pond and Barker Pond were seasonal while year-round houses sat away from the water, noted a steady conversion of camps to year-round use since 1991, and counted mobile homes at about 13 percent of the stock, mostly on individual lots rather than in parks.

East Sebago grew around William Fitch's early grist mill and sawmill and later around Kernan's West Shore Camps, a steamboat stop, and it still holds the Spaulding Memorial Library and most of the town's businesses. Fitch's General Store and House there, built about 1870, is on the National Register. North Sebago grew around Nason's Wharf, another steamboat landing. Sebago Center, once called Mud City, sits about 3.5 miles inland. In the hills west of the lake, the Dyke Mountain Annex, built between 1906 and 1908, is the only survivor of a summer hotel that burned in 1927. Camp O-AT-KA has operated in East Sebago since 1906.

Permits are handled by the Sebago Code Enforcement and Planning office at 406 Bridgton Road on Route 107, where the Code Enforcement Officer also serves as building inspector and is often out on site visits from noon to 3 p.m. The town's permits page lists building permits, shoreland zoning permits and permit-by-rule forms, and states that no permit is needed for roofing or exterior painting. Siding and window work should be confirmed with the office, and a new deck should be expected to need a building permit. Land within 250 feet of Sebago Lake or a great pond falls under shoreland zoning, which has its own permit form.

A new window is only as good as the way it is set into the wall. Replacement windows go in either as inserts inside the existing frame or as full-frame units after the old frame comes out; the right choice depends on the condition of the frame, the trim you want to keep, and the siding around it. The site lists vinyl replacement windows and wood or clad units from Andersen, Marvin, Pella and Integrity, in double-hung, casement, picture, bay, sliding and awning styles.

• Each opening is measured and checked for rot in the sill, jambs and framing.
• Old sashes or whole frames come out; damaged wood is repaired before the new unit goes in.
• Units are set level, plumb and square, shimmed, and fastened as the manufacturer requires.
• Low-expansion foam and backer rod seal the gap without bowing the frame.
• Flashing, exterior trim or capping and interior casing are finished so the opening sheds water.

• Fog or condensation between the panes of insulated glass
• Sashes that stick, will not stay up, or let in drafts
• Soft or rotted sills and frames
• Single-pane glass or storm windows you take on and off every year
• Frost or ice on the inside of the glass in winter

• Number of windows, their sizes, and any custom shapes
• Vinyl versus wood or clad units, and the brand and series
• Insert versus full-frame replacement
• Glass package and grille options
• Interior and exterior trim work, and whether siding is open around the opening

Every job is priced from a free on-site visit. Typical ranges for the trade are on our window replacement page, and the details of this service are on the window replacement overview.

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