Roofing for Baldwin homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In Baldwin, 72% of the 634 homes were built before 2000. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
Baldwin runs to about 35.3 square miles and roughly 1,170 people. It sits about 27 miles northwest of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1802. We cover ZIP codes 04024 and 04091.
No completed roof in Baldwin is logged in our job records yet.
We work across Baldwin rather than one corner of it — East Baldwin, West Baldwin, North Baldwin and Cornish Station included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
A rural town in the Saco River valley, once known for its apple orchards, with an apple-drying factory in East Baldwin. Sebago was split off from it in 1826.
From this stretch of building, houses in Baldwin 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.
By the Census Bureau's estimate there are 634 homes in Baldwin, with a median year built of 1979. 95 of them (15%) went up before 1940 — 39th of 64 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 176 (28%) in 2000 or later. The 1970s were the busiest decade, adding 164 of today's homes (26%). (Cumberland County as a whole: 23% before 1940.)
The Maine Bureau of Insurance's claims guide puts the useful life of a roof at usually about 25 years. On that yardstick the 458 homes in Baldwin built before 2000 (72%) have outlived at least one roof, and the 164 built before 1970 (26%) are usually on a third covering or later. Homes from the 2000s (111 in Baldwin) are reaching their first replacement, while the 65 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with. At that age it pays to know whether the last roof was torn off or laid over the one before it, because a second layer hides the deck.
79% of homes in Baldwin are single-family detached houses (504) and 0% attached ones such as townhouses (3). 6 homes (1%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings. The count also takes in 101 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. Owners live in 89% of the 527 occupied homes. Read together, those figures point toward deck and flashing checks on pre-war board sheathing and first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 95 | 15% | |
| 1940s | 4 | 1% | |
| 1950s | 62 | 10% | |
| 1960s | 3 | 0% | |
| 1970s | 164 | 26% | |
| 1980s | 48 | 8% | |
| 1990s | 82 | 13% | |
| 2000s | 111 | 18% | |
| 2010s | 51 | 8% | |
| 2020 or later | 14 | 2% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 634 homes, 527 occupied. Survey estimates.
Between 2016 and 2025 there was one report of 1-inch-plus hail within 5 miles of Baldwin’s center in the records of NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. The stone was 1 inch, on June 4, 2022, about 3.9 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.
Hail damage rarely shows from the ground; a storm inspection photographs each slope so you know either way.
Baldwin's Land Use Ordinance (section 4.2 B) says no permit is needed for repairs or improvements that involve no structural changes when the reasonable cost is less than $25,000. The town fee schedule lists maintenance and repair at no fee below $25,000 and $8 per $1,000 above $25,000. Any structural alteration needs a building permit from the Code Enforcement Officer.
Baldwin is not required to enforce a building code. Maine law leaves enforcement of its statewide code optional for a town of 4,000 or fewer people (10 M.R.S. 9724(1-A)), and Baldwin had 1,520 residents in the 2020 Census. A town that does enforce one may use only Maine's code, and the state says meeting the code is the building owner's responsibility either way.
The published number is 207-625-3581. The building official on record is Tayt Dame, Code Enforcement Officer and Licensed Plumbing Inspector. 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 Baldwin 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.
Baldwin borders Sebago, Standish, Hiram, Cornish, Limington and Saco River. Our pages for them:
Also in Cumberland County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1979 |
| Sebago | No | Enforcement optional | 1975 |
| Standish | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1980 |
| Cornish | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1976 |
| Limington | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1986 |
| Bridgton | No | 2021 IRC | 1985 |
| Brunswick | No | 2021 IRC | 1982 |
All 25 Cumberland County towns side by side →
Baldwin's Land Use Ordinance (section 4.2 B) says no permit is needed for repairs or improvements that involve no structural changes when the reasonable cost is less than $25,000. The town fee schedule lists maintenance and repair at no fee below $25,000 and $8 per $1,000 above $25,000. Any structural alteration needs a building permit from the Code Enforcement Officer.
Baldwin is not required to enforce a building code. Maine law leaves enforcement of its statewide code optional for a town of 4,000 or fewer people (10 M.R.S. 9724(1-A)), and Baldwin had 1,520 residents in the 2020 Census. A town that does enforce one may use only Maine's code, and the state says meeting the code is the building owner's responsibility either way.
The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates put the median year built at 1979: 15% of Baldwin's 634 homes predate 1940 and 28% were built in 2000 or later. At the usual 25-year roof life, 72% have needed at least one new roof already.
Yes, once in NOAA's records: the one report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Baldwin's center from 2016 through 2025 was 1 inch on June 4, 2022.
The building official on record is Tayt Dame, Code Enforcement Officer and Licensed Plumbing Inspector. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
Not yet: no completed roof in Baldwin 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: www.baldwinmaine.org · www.baldwinmaine.org · www.baldwinmaine.org · www.baldwinmaine.org · www.baldwinmaine.org · www.baldwinmaine.org · www.townofnaples.org · legislature.maine.gov · www2.census.gov · www.maine.gov · en.wikipedia.org · www.zip-codes.com · tigerweb.geo.census.gov · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
