Roof replacement, leak repair and storm damage for homes in Lyman. In Lyman, the 2021 IRC is in force and the median home was built in 1979. It starts with a free inspection that photographs every slope.
Lyman runs to about 39.0 square miles and roughly 4,612 people. It sits about 22 miles southwest of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1780. We cover ZIP code 04002.
No completed roof in Lyman is logged in our job records yet.
We work across Lyman rather than one corner of it — Goodwins Mills, Days Mill and Spang Mills included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
Lyman, incorporated in 1780 as Coxhall, is a town of many ponds, including Kennebunk Pond, Swan Pond, Bunganut Pond and Roberts-Wadley Pond, where early sawmills ran at the pond outlets. Goodwins Mills, its only trade center, sits partly in Dayton, and the Great Fires of 1947 devastated part of the town.
From this stretch of building, houses in Lyman 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.
Lyman has 2,268 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1979. 184 of them (8%) went up before 1940 — 57th of 64 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 524 (23%) in 2000 or later. The 1970s were the busiest decade, adding 543 of today's homes (24%). (York County as a whole: 20% 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, 77% of Lyman's homes — the 1,744 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and the 671 built before 1970 (30%) are usually on a third covering or later. First replacements are arriving on the 272 homes built in the 2000s, while the 252 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.
85% of homes in Lyman are single-family detached houses (1,926) and 0% attached ones such as townhouses (9). 43 homes (2%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings. The count also takes in 290 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. 95% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 5% rented. On a housing mix like this, the likely work is first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 184 | 8% | |
| 1940s | 174 | 8% | |
| 1950s | 206 | 9% | |
| 1960s | 107 | 5% | |
| 1970s | 543 | 24% | |
| 1980s | 372 | 16% | |
| 1990s | 158 | 7% | |
| 2000s | 272 | 12% | |
| 2010s | 192 | 8% | |
| 2020 or later | 60 | 3% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 2,268 homes, 1,861 occupied. Survey estimates.
From 2016 through 2025, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center recorded one report of hail of 1 inch or more within 5 miles of Lyman’s center. The stone was 1 inch, on June 28, 2020, about 2.3 miles southwest of the center. Counts follow people as much as storms, since every report is a spotter’s or a resident’s.
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.
Lyman's Zoning Ordinance (Section 7.2.1) says a building permit is not required for the replacement of roofing, siding and windows if no structural changes to the building are required as part of the work. It also says the Code Enforcement Officer should be consulted before starting the work.
Lyman enforces the 2021 IRC. State law requires every Maine town of more than 4,000 people to enforce the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, and Lyman had 4,525 residents in the 2020 Census. For houses that code is the 2021 International Residential Code; the town's building permit instructions cite the 2021 International Building Code and the town's Zoning Ordinance.
The published number is 207-247-0647. The town lists a CEO, Plumbing and Building Inspector at 207-247-0647, without a name. 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.
Lyman borders Hollis, Dayton, Arundel, Kennebunk, Alfred and Waterboro. Our pages for them:
Also in York County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyman | No | 2021 IRC | 1979 |
| Hollis | Conditional | 2021 IRC | 1977 |
| Dayton | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1990 |
| Arundel | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1992 |
| Kennebunk | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| Alfred | Conditional | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
| Waterboro | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
All 29 York County towns side by side →
Lyman's Zoning Ordinance (Section 7.2.1) says a building permit is not required for the replacement of roofing, siding and windows if no structural changes to the building are required as part of the work. It also says the Code Enforcement Officer should be consulted before starting the work.
Lyman enforces the 2021 IRC. State law requires every Maine town of more than 4,000 people to enforce the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, and Lyman had 4,525 residents in the 2020 Census. For houses that code is the 2021 International Residential Code; the town's building permit instructions cite the 2021 International Building Code and the town's Zoning Ordinance.
The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates put the median year built at 1979: 8% of Lyman's 2,268 homes predate 1940 and 23% were built in 2000 or later. At the usual 25-year roof life, 77% have needed at least one new roof already.
One report of 1-inch-plus hail fell within 5 miles of Lyman between 2016 and 2025: 1 inch on June 28, 2020 (NOAA Storm Prediction Center).
Not yet: no completed roof in Lyman 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: lyman-me.gov · lyman-me.gov · lyman-me.gov · lyman-me.gov · en.wikipedia.org · 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.
