Roofing for Cumberland homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In Cumberland, the 2021 IRC is in force and 71% of the 3,282 homes were built before 2000. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
Cumberland runs to about 22.9 square miles and roughly 8,647 people. It sits about 9 miles north of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1821. We cover ZIP codes 04021 and 04110.
No completed roof in Cumberland is logged in our job records yet.
We work across Cumberland rather than one corner of it — Cumberland Center, Cumberland Foreside and West Cumberland included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
The town runs from Cumberland Foreside on Casco Bay inland to West Cumberland at the Windham line. It split from North Yarmouth in 1821, still holds the yearly Cumberland Fair, and keeps a few working farms and orchards; Chebeague Island left to become its own town in 2007.
From this stretch of building, houses in Cumberland 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 3,282 homes in Cumberland, with a median year built of 1984. 502 of them (15%) went up before 1940 — 37th of 64 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 937 (29%) in 2000 or later. The 1990s were the busiest decade, adding 529 of today's homes (16%). (Cumberland County as a whole: 23% 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. By that measure, 71% of Cumberland's homes — the 2,345 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and 32% (1,047 homes) go back before 1970, two roof lives and more. First replacements are arriving on the 442 homes built in the 2000s, while the 495 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.
By building type: 2,687 detached houses (82%), 272 attached (8%). 175 homes (5%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 83 (3%) in buildings of ten units or more, where a resident rarely gets to choose the roofer. The count also takes in 65 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. 2,825 of 3,109 occupied homes (91%) are lived in by their owners. 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 | 502 | 15% | |
| 1940s | 35 | 1% | |
| 1950s | 173 | 5% | |
| 1960s | 337 | 10% | |
| 1970s | 453 | 14% | |
| 1980s | 316 | 10% | |
| 1990s | 529 | 16% | |
| 2000s | 442 | 13% | |
| 2010s | 486 | 15% | |
| 2020 or later | 9 | 0% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 3,282 homes, 3,109 occupied. Survey estimates.
Between 2016 and 2025 there were 2 reports of 1-inch-plus hail within 5 miles of Cumberland’s center in the records of NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, on 2 separate days. None was 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 1.5 inches, came on July 20, 2025, about 4.8 miles south 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.
A bruised shingle can look fine for a season or two, which is why a storm inspection after a date like these is worth having.
Cumberland's fee schedule charges $14 per $1,000 of cost for renovations and alterations (and solar arrays), with a $50 minimum. Building without a required permit is charged double the fee for a first offense and triple for a second.
Cumberland enforces the 2021 IRC. The Code Enforcement page says all construction must meet the 2021 International Residential Code and the 2021 International Building Code as required by the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC), and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code. The building permit checklist names MUBEC, IRC-2021, IBC-2021 and IEBC-2021 as adopted by the State of Maine.
The published number is 207-829-2207. The building official on record is William Longley, Code Enforcement Officer, Building Inspector, Licensed Plumbing Inspector. The department page is here.
The design wind speed a roof in Cumberland is built to depends on where the house stands: across greater Portland and southern Maine the published ultimate design wind speeds run 115–120 mph. Ground snow load is set for each address, not one figure for the whole area: the published figures here run 50–70 psf. The building department can confirm the figure, and the code guide explains what it governs.
Cumberland borders Falmouth, Yarmouth, North Yarmouth, Gray, Windham and Chebeague Island. Our pages for them:
Also in Cumberland County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1984 |
| Falmouth | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1986 |
| Yarmouth | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1973 |
| North Yarmouth | No | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| Gray | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| Windham | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1985 |
| Baldwin | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1979 |
All 25 Cumberland County towns side by side →
Cumberland's fee schedule charges $14 per $1,000 of cost for renovations and alterations (and solar arrays), with a $50 minimum. Building without a required permit is charged double the fee for a first offense and triple for a second.
Cumberland enforces the 2021 IRC. The Code Enforcement page says all construction must meet the 2021 International Residential Code and the 2021 International Building Code as required by the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC), and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code. The building permit checklist names MUBEC, IRC-2021, IBC-2021 and IEBC-2021 as adopted by the State of Maine.
Older than most people guess: the Census puts 71% of Cumberland's homes before 2000 and 32% before 1970, with a median year built of 1984 (2020–2024 estimates). A roof usually lasts about 25 years, so the deck and the layers get checked before any quote.
Yes. The most recent report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Cumberland's center was 1.5 inches on July 20, 2025, one of 2 such reports from 2016 through 2025.
The building official on record is William Longley, Code Enforcement Officer, Building Inspector, Licensed Plumbing Inspector. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
Not yet: no completed roof in Cumberland 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.townofcumberlandmaine.gov · www.townofcumberlandmaine.gov · www.townofcumberlandmaine.gov · www.townofcumberlandmaine.gov · www.townofcumberlandmaine.gov · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · 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.
