Roofing for Arundel homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In Arundel, the 2021 IRC is in force and the median home was built in 1992. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
Arundel runs to about 23.9 square miles and roughly 4,418 people. It sits about 20 miles southwest of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1915. We cover ZIP code 04046.
No completed roof in Arundel is logged in our job records yet.
We work across Arundel rather than one corner of it — Arundel Village, Vinegar Hill, Goff Mill, Log Cabin Crossing and Millers Crossing included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
Arundel was the inland part of Kennebunkport until 1915, when it was set off as North Kennebunkport; it took the old name Arundel in 1957. It has no ocean frontage and is crossed by Interstate 95 and Route 1, with the Kennebunk River draining the town.
From this stretch of building, houses in Arundel sit on plywood or OSB, were first roofed in three-tab shingles, and are mostly on their second roof now. Trouble tends to be at the penetrations rather than across the field: the rubber collar on a pipe boot splits years before the shingles give out, and it is the leak we trace most often. Ridge vents were hit and miss in these decades, and OSB that stays damp for a season softens in a way plywood does not, something you feel underfoot rather than see from the yard.
Arundel has 1,803 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1992. 107 of them (6%) went up before 1940 — one of the five lowest pre-1940 shares of the 64 places on this site — and 600 (33%) in 2000 or later. The 1990s were the busiest decade, adding 374 of today's homes (21%). (York County as a whole: 20% before 1940.)
The rule of thumb in the Maine Bureau of Insurance's claims guide is a useful life of usually about 25 years for a roof. That puts 1,203 homes in Arundel, the 67% built before 2000, past at least one full roof life, and the 237 built before 1970 (13%) are usually on a third covering or later. Homes from the 2000s (362 in Arundel) are reaching their first replacement, while the 238 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with.
By building type: 1,404 detached houses (78%), 5 attached (0%). 100 homes (6%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 17 (1%) in buildings of ten units or more, where a resident rarely gets to choose the roofer. The count also takes in 277 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. 1,331 of 1,619 occupied homes (82%) are lived in by their owners. On a housing mix like this, the likely work is first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles and storm checks on newer roofs that look fine from the driveway.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 107 | 6% | |
| 1940s | 20 | 1% | |
| 1950s | 53 | 3% | |
| 1960s | 57 | 3% | |
| 1970s | 328 | 18% | |
| 1980s | 264 | 15% | |
| 1990s | 374 | 21% | |
| 2000s | 362 | 20% | |
| 2010s | 199 | 11% | |
| 2020 or later | 39 | 2% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 1,803 homes, 1,619 occupied. Survey estimates.
From 2016 through 2025, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center recorded 2 reports of hail of 1 inch or more within 5 miles of Arundel’s center, all on one storm day. None was 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 1.25 inches, came on July 14, 2020, about 4 miles northeast of the center. A report needs someone to see the hail and send it in, so the count is a floor, not a full tally.
If one of those storms crossed your street and nobody has been on the roof since, a storm inspection photographs what it did.
Arundel's Land Use Ordinance (Section 12.1) requires a permit to erect, move, renovate or structurally alter a building. Its exemption (Section 12.1.1) says repairs, replacement and normal maintenance not requiring structural elements, and decorative changes, do not need a building permit, as long as they follow federal, state and local law and involve no change that needs a permit under the ordinance. The ordinance does not name roofing. Residential renovations cost $6 per $1,000, with a $75 minimum residential fee, and fees double (or a $250 penalty, whichever is more) when work starts before a permit is issued.
Arundel enforces the 2021 IRC. State law requires every Maine town of more than 4,000 people to enforce the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, and Arundel had 4,264 residents in the 2020 Census. Since April 7, 2025 that code is based on the 2021 International Residential Code.
The published number is 207-985-4201. The building official on record is Ryan Lawler, Code Enforcement Officer. The department page is here.
Design wind here is set by location, not one figure for the whole area: across greater Portland and southern Maine the published ultimate design wind speeds run 115–120 mph, depending on where a house stands. The building department for Arundel can tell you which figure applies. Ground snow load is set for each address, not one figure for the whole area: the published figures here run 50–70 psf. What it does to a roof is in the roofing code guide.
Arundel borders Kennebunkport, Kennebunk, Lyman, Dayton and Biddeford. Our pages for them:
Also in York County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arundel | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1992 |
| Kennebunkport | No | 2021 IRC | 1982 |
| Kennebunk | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| Lyman | No | 2021 IRC | 1979 |
| Dayton | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1990 |
| Biddeford | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1952 |
| Acton | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1974 |
All 29 York County towns side by side →
Arundel's Land Use Ordinance (Section 12.1) requires a permit to erect, move, renovate or structurally alter a building. Its exemption (Section 12.1.1) says repairs, replacement and normal maintenance not requiring structural elements, and decorative changes, do not need a building permit, as long as they follow federal, state and local law and involve no change that needs a permit under the ordinance. The ordinance does not name roofing. Residential renovations cost $6 per $1,000, with a $75 minimum residential fee, and fees double (or a $250 penalty, whichever is more) when work starts before a permit is issued.
Arundel enforces the 2021 IRC. State law requires every Maine town of more than 4,000 people to enforce the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, and Arundel had 4,264 residents in the 2020 Census. Since April 7, 2025 that code is based on the 2021 International Residential Code.
Median year built 1992, by the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates. Of 1,803 homes, 1,203 were built before 2000 and 107 before 1940, so most roofs in Arundel are not the first one the house has had.
The last report near Arundel of hail 1 inch or bigger came on July 14, 2020; NOAA's records hold 2 of them within 5 miles since 2016.
The building official on record is Ryan Lawler, Code Enforcement Officer. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
Not yet: no completed roof in Arundel is in our job records, so this page shows no job count.
Researched 2026-10-24; housing, Census ACS 2020–2024; hail, NOAA SPC. Sources: arundelmaine.org · arundel.govoffice.com · arundelmaine.org · arundel.govoffice.com · legislature.maine.gov · www2.census.gov · www.maine.gov · en.wikipedia.org · www2.census.gov · www2.census.gov · prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
