Red clapboard cape-style house with a center chimney, shrubs and a sunny lawn
York County, Maine

Window and siding replacement in York

Replacement windows and new siding for homes in York. Here a re-side needs a permit, and a replacement window has to be U-0.30 or lower.

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What we do in York

York at a glance

Permit to re-side
Required
Window, same opening
Required
New or bigger opening: required
Window must meet
U-0.30 or lower
2021 IECC (statewide)
Built before 1980
56%
Homes in York, Census 2020–2024
People
13,986
Homes
8,795
Size
54.7 square miles
From downtown
About 38 miles southwest
ZIP codes
03909, 03902, 03910, 03911
Founded or incorporated
1652

York, incorporated in 1652, is a summer resort town on the open Atlantic made up of the villages of York Village, York Harbor, York Beach, Cape Neddick and Bald Head. It keeps colonial-era buildings such as the Old York Gaol of 1719 and many Gilded Age summer houses in the Shingle style, and the 1,700-acre York Historic District covers York Corner, York Village and York Harbor.

The houses in York

Before 194022%
1940–195910%
1960–197924%
1980–199924%
2000 or later20%

In York, 56% of homes went up before 1980 and 22% before 1940; the median one dates from 1977. 83% are detached single-family houses, and owners live in 81% 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.

69% of the homes in York have three or more bedrooms. The median owned home is worth about $636,400 by its owner's estimate, the figure to weigh any siding or window quote against.

Half the homes in York were built before 1977, which makes its housing about 3 years older than across York County as a whole (median 1980). Set against York County as a whole, owners live in 81% of occupied homes here against 77% county-wide, the median owner-estimated value is $636,400 here and $395,700 across the county and detached houses are 83% of the homes, above the county's 70%.

Rooms in the median home
6.0
Heated with gas / electricity
4% / 10%
Townhouses and other attached homes
1%
Homes in buildings of 2 to 4 units
9%
Homes in buildings of 5 or more units
4%
Mobile homes
2%

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.

York retains many Gilded Age summer houses in the Shingle style.

What that vintage turns up

The largest group of homes in York, 24% of them, was built in the 1960s and 1970s, so that is the house described here.

Aluminum sliders and single-hungs, single-glazed or with an early sealed unit, alongside the first vinyl-clad wood windows. An aluminum frame is a cold bridge: in January it collects frost and runs condensation onto the sill and the drywall return. Few of these windows are worth repairing, and on this vintage a full replacement is usually money well spent.

Raised ranches and split-levels in the new subdivisions, and lake cottages turned into year-round houses, clad in plywood panel siding, aluminum lap or the first vinyl. Plywood panels drink water at the bottom edge and at every butt joint; aluminum dents and chalks but rarely leaks. A converted camp may have siding nailed straight to the studs, with no sheathing and little or no insulation behind it.

The one to watch on a house of this age

The bottom of the wall. Panel siding that runs down close to the ground soaks up water and snowmelt, and the rim joist and sill plate behind it rot unseen. On a converted camp, check whether there is any sheathing at all before anyone prices new siding as a simple swap.

And on the 24% built in the 1980s and 1990s

Windows of this era were often sealed to the wrap with caulk and little else. When the siding comes off, check the sheathing below each window's lower corners: that is where a failed caulk joint shows up first, as dark, soft wood.

Neighborhoods

We work across York Village, York Harbor, York Beach, Cape Neddick, Bald Head, York Corner, York Cliffs, Short Sands, Long Beach, Nubble Point, Agamenticus Village and Scotland.

Historic districts

York has 3 listed: York Historic District, York Cliffs Historic District and Lindsay Road Historic District (local). 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

York shares a boundary with Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, Wells, Ogunquit and Atlantic Ocean.

Gothic-style house with carved bargeboard trim, a pointed window and diamond-pane sashes

The rules in York

Siding replacement Permit required

Yes. York's Supplemental Building Ordinance says building permits are required as stated in section R105 of the residential code, and the town's weekly permit lists show residential building permits for window and siding replacement.

Window replacement, same opening Permit required   Enlarging or cutting an opening Permit required

The weekly lists include residential building permits such as "Replace 4 windows per submitted mfr. specs. No structural change."

Maine sets this, not York: U-0.30 or lower

With 13,723 residents in the 2020 Census, York is over the 4,000 mark at which Maine requires a town to enforce the state's building and energy code.

That is the 2021 energy code’s window figure, with no solar heat gain limit.

ENERGY STAR’s own figure here is U-0.22 or lower with an SHGC of 0.17 or higher, stricter than any code edition in force. When the code applies to a replacement window, and when it does not.

What the permit costs

The residential building permit fee is $10 per $1,000 of project cost, with a $50 minimum; permits are applied for through the town's OpenGov portal and take about 7 to 10 business days.

Local quirks

York's Historic District Commission reviews exterior changes in the Village Center, Lindsay Road and York Harbor historic districts and on listed landmarks, and its guidelines say it does not expect to depart from its guideline on artificial siding. The zoning ordinance also bars vinyl and aluminum siding, EIFS and foam or PVC materials from building exteriors in the York Village Center zones.

Who to call

Building dept
207-363-1002
Official
Harry Norton Jr., Director of Code Enforcement
Permits
Department page
12345
What is behind the siding: every layer explained
Worker on a lift painting new shingle and lap siding on a house gable
Kitchen window with potted plants on the sill and a snowy yard outside
Yellow clapboard house with black shutters behind a white picket fence
Blue clapboard house with a front gable, a covered porch and a green lawn

How York compares with its neighbors

PlacePermit to re-sidePermit for a windowWindow must meet
YorkYesYesU-0.30
KitteryYesDependsU-0.30
EliotDependsDependsU-0.30
South BerwickNoNoU-0.30
WellsYesYesU-0.30
OgunquitDependsDependsU-0.30
ActonNot publishedNot publishedU-0.30

All 29 York County places side by side →

Work we have done in York

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

Common questions about York

When were most of the homes in York built?
24% went up in the 1960s and 1970s and 24% in the 1980s and 1990s; the median York home dates from 1977, and 56% are older than 1980 (22% older than 1940). ACS 2020–2024.
Do I need a permit to re-side a house in York?
Yes: a re-side, a window in the same opening and a new or bigger opening all need one in York. Yes. York's Supplemental Building Ordinance says building permits are required as stated in section R105 of the residential code, and the town's weekly permit lists show residential building permits for window and siding replacement. Next door in Eliot, a re-side depends on the job.
What U-factor does a replacement window need in York?
Maine sets it statewide, not York: a U-factor of 0.30 or lower under the 2021 energy code Maine adopted, with no limit on solar heat gain. With 13,723 residents in the 2020 Census, York is over the 4,000 mark at which Maine requires a town to enforce the state's building and energy code.
Does York have historic districts that limit window or siding choices?
York has 3: York Historic District, York Cliffs Historic District and Lindsay Road Historic District (local). Binding. The Historic District Commission reviews exterior changes in three districts and on landmarks, and says it does not expect to depart from its guideline on artificial siding.
What does a permit cost in York?
The residential building permit fee is $10 per $1,000 of project cost, with a $50 minimum; permits are applied for through the town's OpenGov portal and take about 7 to 10 business days.

Where these facts came from

Sources: yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · yorkmaine.org · maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov

Victorian clapboard house with a mansard roof, bracketed eaves and a columned front porch
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