Roof replacement, leak repair and storm damage for homes in Harrison. In Harrison, the 2021 IRC is in force and 20% of the 1,798 homes went up before 1940. It starts with a free inspection that photographs every slope.
Harrison runs to about 33.2 square miles and roughly 2,513 people. It sits about 36 miles northwest of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1805. We cover ZIP code 04040.
No completed roof in Harrison is logged in our job records yet.
That includes Bolsters Mills. Housing age and construction shift across Harrison, sometimes by decades within a few streets, which is why we look at the roof before we quote rather than after.
A historic resort town that straddles Long Lake and Crystal Lake, at the far end of the old Cumberland and Oxford Canal route from Portland. Summer inns opened from 1860 on, children's summer camps use its lakeshores, and Deertrees Theatre dates to 1936.
From this stretch of building, houses in Harrison 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 1,798 homes in Harrison, with a median year built of 1980. 356 of them (20%) went up before 1940 — 19th of 64 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 473 (26%) in 2000 or later. More of today's homes date from before 1940 than from any decade since. (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, 74% of Harrison's homes — the 1,325 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and 39% (704 homes) go back before 1970, two roof lives and more. The 345 homes from the 2000s are where first replacements come up now, while the 128 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 89% (1,597); attached houses and townhouses 2% (31). 26 homes (1%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings. The count also takes in 144 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. 1,167 of 1,295 occupied homes (90%) 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 | 356 | 20% | |
| 1940s | 7 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 107 | 6% | |
| 1960s | 234 | 13% | |
| 1970s | 200 | 11% | |
| 1980s | 125 | 7% | |
| 1990s | 296 | 16% | |
| 2000s | 345 | 19% | |
| 2010s | 90 | 5% | |
| 2020 or later | 38 | 2% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 1,798 homes, 1,295 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged 2 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Harrison’s center from 2016 through 2025, on 2 different days. None was 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 1 inch, came on June 5, 2024, about 3.8 miles southwest of the center. Counts follow people as much as storms, since every report is a spotter’s or a resident’s.
If one of those storms crossed your street and nobody has been on the roof since, a storm inspection photographs what it did.
Harrison's Building Permit Requirements Ordinance (revised June 10, 2026) requires a permit to build any new structure or to modify or add to an existing structure. It says permits are not required for routine minor maintenance such as painting or replacing an existing heating system. Roof replacement is not named either way. The fee schedule charges alterations or renovations $0.15 per square foot of finished space and $0.10 per square foot of unfinished space, with a $25 minimum.
Harrison enforces the 2021 IRC. Harrison chose to adopt the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC) by its own Building Code Ordinance, adopted June 11, 2019, which names the 2015 Maine Uniform Building Code and 2009 Energy Code. Since April 7, 2025, the state requires towns that enforce MUBEC to use the 2021 I-codes, including the 2021 International Residential Code. With 2,447 residents in the 2020 Census, Harrison is not required to enforce the code under state law, and has chosen to.
The published number is 207-583-0923. The building official on record is James (Jim) Fahey, 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.
Harrison borders Bridgton, Naples, Otisfield, Waterford, Norway and Long Lake. Our pages for them:
Also in Cumberland County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1980 |
| Bridgton | No | 2021 IRC | 1985 |
| Naples | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1988 |
| Baldwin | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1979 |
| Brunswick | No | 2021 IRC | 1982 |
| Cape Elizabeth | No | 2021 IRC | 1967 |
| Casco | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1988 |
All 25 Cumberland County towns side by side →
Harrison's Building Permit Requirements Ordinance (revised June 10, 2026) requires a permit to build any new structure or to modify or add to an existing structure. It says permits are not required for routine minor maintenance such as painting or replacing an existing heating system. Roof replacement is not named either way. The fee schedule charges alterations or renovations $0.15 per square foot of finished space and $0.10 per square foot of unfinished space, with a $25 minimum.
Harrison enforces the 2021 IRC. Harrison chose to adopt the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC) by its own Building Code Ordinance, adopted June 11, 2019, which names the 2015 Maine Uniform Building Code and 2009 Energy Code. Since April 7, 2025, the state requires towns that enforce MUBEC to use the 2021 I-codes, including the 2021 International Residential Code. With 2,447 residents in the 2020 Census, Harrison is not required to enforce the code under state law, and has chosen to.
Older than most people guess: the Census puts 74% of Harrison's homes before 2000 and 39% before 1970, with a median year built of 1980 (2020–2024 estimates). A roof usually lasts about 25 years, so the deck and the layers get checked before any quote.
2 reports of 1-inch-plus hail fell within 5 miles of Harrison between 2016 and 2025, the biggest 1 inch on June 5, 2024 (NOAA Storm Prediction Center).
The building official on record is James Fahey, Code Enforcement Officer. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
Not yet: no completed roof in Harrison 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.harrisonmaine.org · www.harrisonmaine.org · www.harrisonmaine.org · www.harrisonmaine.org · harrisonme.govoffice3.com · www.harrisonmaine.org · www.townofnaples.org · www.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · www2.census.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.
