Siding installation in Scarborough, ME runs from antique summer cottages at Prouts Neck and Higgins Beach to the post-1990 subdivisions of the region's fastest-growing town. Newer houses re-side predictably and cottages rarely do, so we read every wall before pricing it.
Use this page to plan new siding in Scarborough, Maine, whether the house is a cottage a family has kept for generations or a newer home on a subdivision street. We strip the old siding, repair the wall and pick the material by exposure: cedar or fiber cement near the water, vinyl on the subdivision streets.
The beach neighborhoods sit in mapped sand dunes and take salt air, so we fasten and flash for it there and check Higgins Beach's own zoning district before work.
The figure to keep: Scarborough vinyl lands around $975 to $1,200 per square, cedar shingles around $2,400; both are averages distilled from many quotes that size a budget rather than price your house.
Scarborough siding depends on the neighborhood because a cottage in the Higgins Beach dunes and a 1990s subdivision house face different weather and rules. Salt air and a character district shape the beach side, and the wall decides the rest.
Scarborough houses fall into three jobs by distance from the water.
Cedar shingle siding belongs on Prouts Neck's antique summer cottages, several by John Calvin Stevens, many kept by one family for generations. We match the old exposure and corners so each still looks like itself.
Each shingle takes two nails an inch above where the next course laps, and the first course goes on doubled.
James Hardie fiber cement is our choice for beach houses at Pine Point and Higgins Beach, the shoreline the 2022 to 2024 storms hit hardest. James Hardie states its HZ5 boards resist swelling and cracking through wet, freezing weather.
At porch-roof corners we add kick-out flashing at least 4 by 4 inches, per James Hardie's Quick Start guide.
Vinyl siding replacement is the sensible re-side for most of Scarborough's post-1990 subdivision homes. Spend more only on a wall facing the marsh or open beach.
We hang each panel loose, since the Vinyl Siding Institute's manual says vinyl can move half an inch or more over a 12-foot-6-inch length.
Scarborough jobs draw on three services.
Scarborough's Codes FAQ quotes the 2021 residential code's permit rule for altering or repairing a building but never names siding. We ask Code Enforcement before each job, since flood hazard areas and dunes can need extra permits.
We probe sheathing under subdivision windows and pull a course where storms hit a beach cottage.
You sign a written contract before work starts, with a first payment of a third or less.
Each elevation is stripped, wrapped and sided before the next opens; then we walk it all with you.
You choose siding installation in Scarborough, ME by matching the crew's plan to your street: salt-grade fasteners and flashing near the beaches, a clean re-side over sound sheathing in the subdivisions.
Many Higgins Beach buildings date to the early and mid-20th century, so the EPA's lead renovation rule applies when their old paint is disturbed.
Maine law wants a signed written contract on any Scarborough job over $3,000 and caps the deposit at a third.
The Scarborough owners due for new siding first are often at Higgins Beach or Pine Point, after the 2022 to 2024 storms. Older subdivisions follow as original siding cracks or fades.
Scarborough reviews exterior work at Higgins Beach, whose 2015 character-based zoning district puts renovations through administrative review with the permit. We know of no such district at Pine Point, Oak Hill, Dunstan or Prouts Neck.
A Scarborough re-side is best scheduled from late spring to early fall. Below 40 degrees, the Vinyl Siding Institute widens gaps at openings to 3/8 inch.
Scarborough siding jobs run from $975 to $1,200 a square in vinyl to roughly $2,400 in cedar shingles, with James Hardie at $1,575 to $1,925 and LP SmartSide just under it at $1,450 to $1,800. Treat them as qualifying averages from many Scarborough quotes, with your walls setting the real price.
| House size | Vinyl | LP SmartSide | James Hardie | Cedar shingles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small20 to 25 squares | $19,500 to $30,000 | $29,000 to $45,000 | $31,500 to $48,000 | $48,000 to $60,000 |
| Medium25 to 32 squares | $24,000 to $38,500 | $36,000 to $58,000 | $39,000 to $61,500 | $60,000 to $77,000 |
| Large32+ squares | from $31,000 | from $46,500 | from $50,000 | from $77,000 |
Never a bid: Scarborough averages from many quotes, in squares of 100 square feet. Stripping, wrap, flashing, trim and hauling are in; rot under the old siding can raise them.
After the material, a Scarborough price climbs most with what turns up under the old siding, such as a wet sill or flashing that never lapped right. A tall cottage gable and heavy trim add more.
Covering the old siding works in Scarborough when that layer is flat and dry, typically cement-asbestos shingles or lead-painted wood, and it saves tear-off and disposal. The Vinyl Siding Institute says never to put vinyl over rotting wood.
This page lists no repair price because a Scarborough repair is priced on site, by the piece count, the wall's height, rot behind it and how well the old siding can be matched. When a patch would cost near a re-side, we price both.
Pricing your Scarborough walls takes one free estimate request: we visit, open test spots and put the number in writing. No deposit comes before a signed contract.
