Window and siding replacement in Harpswell

Harpswell at a glance

People

5,046

Homes

4,286

Size

24.1 square miles

From downtown

About 15 miles east

ZIP codes

04079, 04066, 04003

Founded or incorporated

1775

Harpswell is Harpswell Neck plus three large islands linked by bridges, Sebascodegan (Great Island), Orr's Island and Bailey Island, and 95 smaller islands, with about 216 miles of Casco Bay coastline. It leads Maine in active lobstering licenses, and the Bailey Island Bridge, built in 1927 and 1928, is thought to be the only cribstone bridge in the world.

The houses in Harpswell

In Harpswell, 51% of homes went up before 1980 and 20% before 1940; the median one dates from 1979. 91% are detached single-family houses, and owners live in 83% of the occupied ones. With most of the housing older than 1980, the federal lead rule is likely on most window and siding jobs here. What the lead rule requires of a contractor.

By the owners' own estimate, the median owned home in Harpswell is worth about $609,700. 62% of homes have three or more bedrooms, and each bedroom needs an emergency escape opening under the egress rule.

Half the homes in Harpswell were built before 1979, which makes its housing about 3 years newer than across Cumberland County as a whole (median 1976). Set against Cumberland County as a whole, owners live in 83% of occupied homes here against 70% county-wide, the median owner-estimated value is $609,700 here and $451,200 across the county and detached houses are 91% of the homes, above the county's 63%.

Rooms in the median home

5.8

Heated with gas / electricity

1% / 7%

Townhouses and other attached homes

1%

Homes in buildings of 2 to 4 units

2%

Homes in buildings of 5 or more units

1%

Mobile homes

5%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (tables B25034, B25035, B25024, B25003, B25077, B25041, B25018 and B25040), read through Census Reporter. These are survey estimates, not a count of every house.

What that vintage turns up

The largest group of homes in Harpswell, 29% of them, was built in the 1980s and 1990s, so that is the house described here.

Double-glazed vinyl or clad wood windows with a nailing fin, many now thirty or forty years old. The common failure is the seal between the panes: once it lets go the glass fogs between the layers and the gas fill is gone. When the frames are still square and dry, new sealed glass in the old frame is the cheaper repair; when the frames are cracked or the sills are soft, it is time for the whole unit.

The capes, colonials and raised ranches of the subdivisions that spread across the commuter towns, sided in vinyl or cedar clapboard over plywood or particle-board sheathing, with felt paper or an early house wrap behind it. The siding itself usually holds up; what to look at is what water has done at the corners, around the windows and under any deck ledger fastened through the siding.

Neighborhoods

We work across Bailey Island, Orr's Island, Cundy's Harbor, Harpswell Neck, Sebascodegan Island, Harpswell Center, East Harpswell, North Harpswell, South Harpswell, West Harpswell and Dyer Cove.

Historic districts

Harpswell has 1 listed: Auburn-Harpswell Association Historic District. A National Register listing on its own does not limit what you fit; a local district or landmark designation can, and in several towns here a change of siding material or window sash needs a certificate before the permit. Which towns' rules bind, and how.

Next door

Harpswell shares a boundary with Brunswick, West Bath, Phippsburg, Freeport, Chebeague Island, New Meadows River and Casco Bay.

The rules in Harpswell

What the permit costs

Work started without a valid permit is charged triple the normal fee, with a $250 minimum.

Local quirks

The Code Enforcement Officer's inspection notice lists exterior weather-resistant siding and glazing among the items checked at the final inspection, which every permit needs; schedule it at least 2 days ahead.

Who to call

Building dept

207-833-5771

Official

Tim Clark, Code Enforcement Officer and Local Plumbing Inspector; Tony Simmons, Code Enforcement Officer and Local Plumbing Inspector

Permits

Department page

How Harpswell compares with its neighbors

All 25 Cumberland County places side by side →

Work we have done in Harpswell

No completed job in Harpswell on the books yet, and we would rather say so than invent one.

Common questions about Harpswell

Where these facts came from

Sources: harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · harpswell.maine.gov · maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov