Siding installation in Freeport, ME starts with a tape on the old boards, since their reveal decides how design review treats the job. We measure first and name the siding after.
This page covers siding installation in Freeport, Maine: worn siding removed, the wall behind it repaired, and new wood, fiber cement, engineered wood or vinyl fitted with flashing and trim. It serves the village, Porter's Landing, South Freeport and the rest of town.
Freeport's Design Review Ordinance exempts siding replaced with wood, cementitious or engineered wood boards when style, reveal and profile stay the same. We measure the old reveal before naming a material, so a district job can stay inside that exemption.
The figure to keep: Freeport vinyl runs $975 to $1,225 per square and cedar shingles about $2,450, an average of many quotes and never a bid on your walls.
The old reveal matters on a Freeport re-side because Section V.C.1 of the Design Review Ordinance exempts only new siding that keeps the old style, reveal and profile. Change one on a visible district wall and a certificate may come first.
Three of our four sidings appear in that exemption.
Cedar is wood, so cedar shingle siding replacing old wood shingles at the same exposure fits the exemption. Main Street's historic district even counts an 1895 Shingle style church among its nine buildings.
We double the first course, hold the old exposure to the eaves, and let the cedar silver or take a stain.
South Freeport runs mostly Greek Revival and later revival styles, and Porter's Landing groups Federal and Greek Revival houses. There, James Hardie fiber cement cut to the old reveal is the cementitious board the exemption names.
We gap the heavy boards at roofs and decks, prime each cut and flash every butt joint.
Roughly 40 percent of Freeport homes predate 1970. For the newer majority, LP SmartSide engineered wood gives a painted-wood look for less per square than fiber cement.
In a district, LP counts as the exemption's engineered wood. We seal every cut and keep the boards off roofs and soil.
Every Freeport job is some mix of these three.
Freeport's Codes Enforcement office asks owners to check in before a project of any size and takes applications online. We make that call and pull the permit where one applies.
With your OK we lift siding at a sill and a corner, then check the Design Review Map.
Maine's contract statute for home construction puts jobs over $3,000 on a signed written contract and limits the deposit to a third.
Each wall is stripped, wrapped and re-sided before the crew moves on, then we walk the house together.
You choose siding installation in Freeport, ME by matching the material to the house's district and building class, then putting the old reveal in writing. Class A and B buildings may only be altered in ways that keep their significance.
Then ask about lead: District 1 is mostly buildings older than 1930, and the EPA's lead renovation rule applies to painted siding on any house built before 1978.
Ask about the edges too: taped housewrap, flashed window heads and kick-out flashing keep nor'easter rain, snow and ice out of the wall.
Freeport owners who may need a Design Review Certificate are in District 1 or 2 and making a visible change the exemption does not cover. Vinyl is not on that list, so we ask the Town Planner first.
Freeport's design review districts are District 1, mostly pre-1930 buildings including the Main Street Historic District, and the mostly residential District 2 between the Main Street and Harraseeket districts.
A Freeport re-side is best scheduled for late spring to fall, after any certificate. The Project Review Board meets the third Wednesday monthly, and no permit issues before it grants one.
The cost of siding installation in Freeport averages $975 to $1,225 per square in vinyl, $1,475 to $1,825 in LP SmartSide, $1,600 to $1,950 in James Hardie and about $2,450 in cedar shingles. Each is a Freeport average from many quotes, a budget gauge and not your price.
| House size | Vinyl | LP SmartSide | James Hardie | Cedar shingles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small20 to 25 squares | $19,500 to $30,500 | $29,500 to $46,000 | $32,000 to $49,000 | $49,000 to $61,000 |
| Medium25 to 32 squares | $24,500 to $39,000 | $36,500 to $58,500 | $39,500 to $62,500 | $61,000 to $78,000 |
| Large32+ squares | from $31,500 | from $47,000 | from $51,000 | from $78,000 |
Freeport installed averages per house, from many quotes rather than one, covering housewrap, flashing, trim, tear-off and haul-away. Rot or framing damage behind the old siding can raise them.
Beyond the material, a Freeport price rises with what tear-off uncovers, from soft sheathing to window flashing that never worked. Extra stories, walls over porch roofs and heavy trim add more.
Siding over the old makes sense in Freeport where the old layer is asbestos-cement shingle or lead-painted clapboard better sealed in, and it saves the tear-off. It does not over a soft wall or where it would change a district house's reveal.
A Freeport repair is priced only after a visit because piece count, wall height, rot behind the boards and matching the old siding all move the cost. When damage spans most of a wall, re-siding that wall beats a patch.
You start a Freeport siding project with the estimate request, then we visit to measure the reveal. Your price comes in writing, and nothing begins before you sign.
