Roofing for Gray homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In Gray, the 2021 IRC is in force and the median home was built in 1983. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
Gray runs to about 43.3 square miles and roughly 8,429 people. It sits about 18 miles north of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1778. We cover ZIP code 04039.
No completed roof in Gray is logged in our job records yet.
Subdivisions and commercial building have come at a growing pace since the early 1990s.
We work across Gray rather than one corner of it — Dry Mills, East Gray, North Gray, South Gray and West Gray included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
Gray includes most of Little Sebago Lake and Crystal Lake, and its mills on Collyer Brook included the first successful water-powered woolen mill in North America, started in 1791. It shares a school district with New Gloucester and still has families living on land their ancestors farmed.
From this stretch of building, houses in Gray 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 4,442 homes in Gray, with a median year built of 1983. 533 of them (12%) went up before 1940 — 48th of 64 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 1,198 (27%) in 2000 or later. The 1970s were the busiest decade, adding 745 of today's homes (17%). (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. That puts 3,244 homes in Gray, the 73% built before 2000, past at least one full roof life, and 30% (1,318 homes) go back before 1970, two roof lives and more. The 717 homes from the 2000s are where first replacements come up now, while the 481 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.
Detached single-family houses make up 78% (3,460); attached houses and townhouses 4% (183). 422 homes (10%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 153 (3%) in buildings of ten units or more, where a resident rarely gets to choose the roofer. The count also takes in 204 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. 82% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 18% rented. Read together, those figures point toward first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 533 | 12% | |
| 1940s | 98 | 2% | |
| 1950s | 165 | 4% | |
| 1960s | 522 | 12% | |
| 1970s | 745 | 17% | |
| 1980s | 612 | 14% | |
| 1990s | 569 | 13% | |
| 2000s | 717 | 16% | |
| 2010s | 392 | 9% | |
| 2020 or later | 89 | 2% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 4,442 homes, 3,656 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged one report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Gray’s center from 2016 through 2025. The stone was 1 inch, on March 17, 2016, about 4.9 miles west 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 that is worth having.
Gray's Code Enforcement FAQ says a building permit is required when you do anything structural to a building or add a structure to a property. Its examples are moving or removing walls, new doors or windows where the frame or header changes, replacing stairs, replacing or adding a deck, and adding a shed. Roofing is not mentioned, and the town asks residents to call the Community Development Department with permit questions.
Gray enforces the 2021 IRC. Gray's Code Enforcement page says the office adheres to MUBEC, the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code. Since April 7, 2025, MUBEC is based on the 2021 International Residential Code and the other 2021 I-codes.
The published number is 207-657-3112. Gray's Code Enforcement page lists two Assistant Code Enforcement Officers, Rodney Belanger and Fred Collins Jr., and the town is recruiting a Lead 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 Gray 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.
Gray borders Windham, Cumberland, North Yarmouth, New Gloucester and Raymond. Our pages for them:
Also in Cumberland County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| Windham | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1985 |
| Cumberland | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1984 |
| North Yarmouth | No | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| New Gloucester | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1991 |
| Raymond | No | 2021 IRC | 1976 |
| Baldwin | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1979 |
All 25 Cumberland County towns side by side →
Gray's Code Enforcement FAQ says a building permit is required when you do anything structural to a building or add a structure to a property. Its examples are moving or removing walls, new doors or windows where the frame or header changes, replacing stairs, replacing or adding a deck, and adding a shed. Roofing is not mentioned, and the town asks residents to call the Community Development Department with permit questions.
Gray enforces the 2021 IRC. Gray's Code Enforcement page says the office adheres to MUBEC, the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code. Since April 7, 2025, MUBEC is based on the 2021 International Residential Code and the other 2021 I-codes.
The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates put the median year built at 1983: 12% of Gray's 4,442 homes predate 1940 and 27% were built in 2000 or later. At the usual 25-year roof life, 73% have needed at least one new roof already.
One report of 1-inch-plus hail fell within 5 miles of Gray between 2016 and 2025: 1 inch on March 17, 2016 (NOAA Storm Prediction Center).
It can. Gray has Freeman Farm Historic District. Inside a designated district, changing a visible roof material or color can need preservation review before the permit is issued. Like-for-like replacement usually raises fewer questions, but we check before quoting.
Not yet: no completed roof in Gray 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.graymaine.org · www.graymaine.org · www.graymaine.org · www.graymaine.org · www.graymaine.org · www.maine.gov · 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.
