Cedar Siding & Shingles in Windham, Maine

Census estimates count about 8,700 housing units in Windham, with a median year built of 1985. Roughly 27 percent of homes were built in 2000 or later, and about 21 percent between 1960 and 1979, while only about 12 percent predate 1940. About 85 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied and roughly 79 percent of units are single-family detached. Around 780 units are held for seasonal use. The town's 2017 comprehensive plan notes that many once-seasonal camps around the lakes are now lived in year-round, still reached by old gravel roads built for summer use. It also records that Windham's population held near 2,000 from 1830 to 1940, so most of today's houses belong to the decades of growth that followed.

Windham sits inland, so salt spray is not the main enemy here; snow, cold and lake wind are. Homes on Sebago Lake near Jordan Bay face a long reach of open water, and the lake region is known for sudden weather changes in every season. Houses on Little Sebago, Highland Lake and the town's smaller ponds sit among trees that keep walls shaded and damp. The Portland Jetport, the nearest long-record weather station, averages about 69 inches of snow a year on 1991 to 2020 normals, with January lows near 16 degrees. Frequent thaws and refreezes through the winter push water into siding laps, roof edges and deck framing.

Windham's Code Enforcement department, at 8 School Road, administers the town's land use, building, plumbing and electrical codes, and permits are applied for through the town's online portal. Decks are structural work, so check permit needs there before building one. Properties within 250 feet of Sebago Lake, Little Sebago, Highland Lake, the Presumpscot or the Pleasant River fall under shoreland zoning, which the town administers and which limits building near the water. Windham adopted a historic preservation ordinance in 1989, but its 2017 plan says no local historic district boundaries were ever put in place.

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.

For a deeper walkthrough of materials, code details and photos, see our full Cedar Siding & Shingles: A Traditional Maine Look That Needs the Right Prep Underneath guide.

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