Roof replacement, leak repair and storm damage for homes in Berwick. In Berwick, the 2021 IRC is in force and 63% of the 3,413 homes were built before 2000. It starts with a free inspection that photographs every slope.
Berwick runs to about 37.5 square miles and roughly 8,175 people. It sits about 38 miles southwest of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1713. We cover ZIP code 03901.
No completed roof in Berwick is logged in our job records yet.
We work across Berwick rather than one corner of it — Berwick Village, Cummings and Diamond Hill included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
Berwick, incorporated in 1713 as the ninth town in what is now Maine, sits on the Salmon Falls River and is joined by bridge to the mill city of Somersworth, New Hampshire, with which it has shared an economy since the 1800s. Diamond Hill, at 490 feet, is its highest point, and the former Prime Tanning property is the site of a mixed-use development announced in 2021.
From this stretch of building, houses in Berwick 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.
The Census Bureau counts 3,413 homes in Berwick, with a median year built of 1989. 545 of them (16%) went up before 1940 — 35th of 64 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 1,247 (37%) in 2000 or later. The 2000s were the busiest decade, adding 913 of today's homes (27%). That is below York County's 20%.
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. By that measure, 63% of Berwick's homes — the 2,166 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and 26% (878 homes) go back before 1970, two roof lives and more. The 913 homes from the 2000s are where first replacements come up now, while the 334 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with. On houses that old, the question worth asking is how many layers are up there: a roof laid over an old one hides the deck.
74% of homes in Berwick are single-family detached houses (2,534) and 1% attached ones such as townhouses (42). 261 homes (8%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 146 (4%) in buildings of ten units or more, whose roofs are normally an owner's or a board's call rather than a resident's. The count also takes in 430 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. Owners live in 87% of the 3,367 occupied homes. Read together, those figures point toward deck and flashing checks on pre-war board sheathing, first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles and storm checks on newer roofs that look fine from the driveway.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 545 | 16% | |
| 1940s | 98 | 3% | |
| 1950s | 63 | 2% | |
| 1960s | 172 | 5% | |
| 1970s | 184 | 5% | |
| 1980s | 709 | 21% | |
| 1990s | 395 | 12% | |
| 2000s | 913 | 27% | |
| 2010s | 274 | 8% | |
| 2020 or later | 60 | 2% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 3,413 homes, 3,367 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged no reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Berwick’s center from 2016 through 2025. That is a gap in the reports rather than proof that no hail fell: reports come from spotters and the public.
Berwick publishes no rule either way on a like-for-like re-roof, so we ask the building department (207-698-1101) before we start and pull whatever it wants.
Berwick enforces the 2021 IRC. Berwick's Code Enforcement page says the applicable building code of the Town of Berwick is the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC). The town page does not name an edition; the state says MUBEC moved to the 2021 International Residential Code and other 2021 I-codes on April 7, 2025.
The published number is 207-698-1101. The building official on record is Terry Wilson, Code Enforcement Officer. The department page is here.
Wind design changes with location across greater Portland and southern Maine: the published ultimate design wind speeds run 115–120 mph, and the building department can say which figure applies to a given address. Ground snow load is set for each address, not one figure for the whole area: the published figures here run 50–70 psf. See the roofing code guide for what it governs.
Berwick borders North Berwick, South Berwick, Lebanon, Somersworth, New Hampshire, Rollinsford, New Hampshire and Rochester, New Hampshire. Our pages for them:
Also in York County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berwick | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1989 |
| North Berwick | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| South Berwick | No | 2021 IRC | 1982 |
| Lebanon | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1989 |
| Acton | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1974 |
| Alfred | Conditional | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| Arundel | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1992 |
All 29 York County towns side by side →
Nothing published settles it for Berwick, so the department gets the question before work starts and any permit it wants is pulled by us.
Berwick enforces the 2021 IRC. Berwick's Code Enforcement page says the applicable building code of the Town of Berwick is the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC). The town page does not name an edition; the state says MUBEC moved to the 2021 International Residential Code and other 2021 I-codes on April 7, 2025.
The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates put the median year built at 1989: 16% of Berwick's 3,413 homes predate 1940 and 37% were built in 2000 or later. At the usual 25-year roof life, 63% have needed at least one new roof already.
The building official on record is Terry Wilson, Code Enforcement Officer. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
Not yet: no completed roof in Berwick 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.berwickmaine.gov · www.berwickmaine.gov · www.berwickmaine.gov · www.berwickmaine.gov · www.berwickmaine.gov · www.berwickmaine.gov · www.berwickmaine.gov · www.maine.gov · en.wikipedia.org · www2.census.gov · 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.
