Cedar Siding & Shingles in Standish, Maine

Cedar belongs on a lot of Standish shorelines. Many of the town's roughly 950 seasonal homes are camps and cottages on Sebago Lake, Watchic Lake and the ponds in between, and cedar shingles or clapboards suit a building that sits among pines and looks out on water. Cedar also fits the historic homes of Standish Corner, where the Marrett House and the Old Red Church set the tone for the village.

In this climate cedar needs a realistic plan. Shade and humidity near the lakes invite mildew and moss on walls that do not get sun, so good airflow behind the siding, a rain-screen gap where possible, and a finish chosen for the exposure make a real difference in how long it lasts. South and west walls facing open water weather gray within a few seasons, which some owners want and others do not; a factory-primed or pre-stained product keeps the color more even. Remember that cedar is a maintained material: expect to refinish it over the years. For a seasonal owner who comes up most weekends, that is often a fair trade for the look of real wood on a lake camp.

Census estimates put Standish at about 4,900 housing units, with a median year built of 1980. Roughly 17 percent of homes date from before 1940 and about 28 percent from before 1960, while about 22 percent went up between 1960 and 1979 and roughly 23 percent since 2000. This is a town of owners living in detached houses: about 91 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied and about 86 percent of all units are single-family detached. Around 950 units are held for seasonal use, many of them camps and cottages on Sebago Lake, Watchic Lake and the town's smaller ponds. The town's own 2006 comprehensive plan notes that many seasonal owners come from out of state and use their places on weekends all year. The oldest houses cluster along Route 25 at Standish Corner, and the town allows individual mobile and manufactured homes on house lots.

Standish is inland, but more than a quarter of its area is water, and that shapes how houses weather. Lakefront homes on Sebago take a long open fetch of wind across the water, and the lake region is known for sudden weather changes in every season. Away from the shore, homes sit in woods and fields where shade keeps north walls and roofs damp. Winters are cold: at the Portland Jetport, the nearest long-record station, snowfall averages about 69 inches a year on 1991 to 2020 normals, and January lows average near 16 degrees. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles work water into siding joints, deck boards and roof edges, and heavy wet snow on shallow porch and camp roofs is a recurring load every winter here.

Building permits in Standish come from the Code Enforcement office at the Municipal Building on Northeast Road. The town requires footing, framing and final inspections, and the permit holder must call for each one; permits run two years. For bedroom windows, the office lists the residential code's egress rules: a sill no higher than 44 inches and at least 5.7 square feet of net clear opening. Lots within 250 feet of Sebago, Watchic, the Saco or the Presumpscot fall under shoreland zoning, which has its own application through the Planning office. Standish Corner has a local historic district, so ask the Planning office first.

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