Roof replacement, leak repair and storm damage for homes in Richmond. In Richmond, a re-roof needs a permit and 32% of the 1,782 homes went up before 1940. It starts with a free inspection that photographs every slope.
Richmond runs to about 30.4 square miles and roughly 3,566 people. It sits about 38 miles northeast of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1823. We cover ZIP code 04357.
In the National Register historic area of Richmond's Village District, along the Kennebec River, no historic building may be changed on the outside until the Code Officer approves, after review by a registered architect and the Planning Board. The village rules also call for a building now roofed in wood shingles to be re-roofed with fire-resistant shingles or another roofing material when the time comes.
No completed roof in Richmond is logged in our job records yet.
The village holds a large collection of Greek Revival houses from the town's 1835 to 1857 shipbuilding and trade peak, along with later Victorian buildings.
That includes Richmond Village and Iceboro. Housing age and construction shift across Richmond, sometimes by decades within a few streets, which is why we look at the roof before we quote rather than after.
Richmond sits on the west bank of the Kennebec River at the head of Merrymeeting Bay, across from Swan Island and its state wildlife area. The town built more than 200 ships between 1815 and 1890, and its riverside village of homes and storefronts is a National Register historic district. Peacock Beach State Park is on Pleasant Pond.
The postwar housing in Richmond is mostly simple to roof, which is why it gets done badly so often. Decking is usually 1x6 boards or early plywood, still sound but worth walking rather than assuming. The recurring problems are the low-slope sections — porch roofs, carport tie-ins, the flat bit over an addition — where a shingle was installed below its rated pitch and has been failing quietly ever since. Attic ventilation on houses of this era is also routinely short of what current shingle warranties require, and under-venting cooks a roof from underneath. We measure intake against exhaust before we quote rather than just nailing on a ridge vent and calling it solved.
Richmond has 1,782 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1975. 567 of them (32%) went up before 1940 — the 5th-highest pre-1940 share of the 64 places on this site — and 416 (23%) in 2000 or later. More of today's homes date from before 1940 than from any decade since. Across Sagadahoc County the pre-1940 share is 27%, so Richmond sits above it.
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 Richmond's homes — the 1,366 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and 44% (791 homes) go back before 1970, two roof lives and more. Homes from the 2000s (322 in Richmond) are reaching their first replacement, while the 94 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.
By building type: 1,328 detached houses (75%), 11 attached (1%). 203 homes (11%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 31 (2%) in buildings of ten units or more, where the roof is usually a landlord's or an association's decision. The count also takes in 209 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. Owners live in 70% of the 1,599 occupied homes. On a housing mix like this, the likely work is full tear-offs on houses past two roof lives, deck and flashing checks on pre-war board sheathing and first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 567 | 32% | |
| 1940s | 134 | 8% | |
| 1950s | 45 | 3% | |
| 1960s | 45 | 3% | |
| 1970s | 184 | 10% | |
| 1980s | 189 | 11% | |
| 1990s | 202 | 11% | |
| 2000s | 322 | 18% | |
| 2010s | 79 | 4% | |
| 2020 or later | 15 | 1% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 1,782 homes, 1,599 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged no reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Richmond’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.
Richmond has its own Roofing Replacement Permit Application, and the town fee schedule lists a Re-Roofing Permit at $20. The application asks for the type of material, square footage, current number of layers and whether the job is a complete strip or roofing over, and it says that on projects over two stories the contractor will provide photos of the work to the inspector. An after-the-fact permit costs double the original fee.
Richmond is not required to enforce a building code. Maine law leaves enforcement of its statewide code optional for a town of 4,000 or fewer people (10 M.R.S. 9724(1-A)), and Richmond had 3,522 residents in the 2020 Census. A town that does enforce one may use only Maine's code, and the state says meeting the code is the building owner's responsibility either way. Richmond's Code Enforcement page lists the 2015 International Residential Code and the 2015 International Building Code. The town's Land Use Ordinance refers to the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC) for certificates of occupancy.
The published number is 207-737-4305. The building official on record is James Valley, Code Enforcement. 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 Richmond 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.
Richmond borders Bowdoinham, Bowdoin, Kennebec River, Merrymeeting Bay and Swan Island. Our pages for them:
Also in Sagadahoc County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | Yes | Enforcement optional | 1975 |
| Bowdoinham | No | Enforcement optional | 1985 |
| Bowdoin | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1992 |
| Arrowsic | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1985 |
| Bath | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1939 or earlier |
| Georgetown | Conditional | Enforcement optional | 1980 |
| Phippsburg | Yes | 2021 IRC | 1984 |
All 10 Sagadahoc County towns side by side →
Richmond has its own Roofing Replacement Permit Application, and the town fee schedule lists a Re-Roofing Permit at $20. The application asks for the type of material, square footage, current number of layers and whether the job is a complete strip or roofing over, and it says that on projects over two stories the contractor will provide photos of the work to the inspector. An after-the-fact permit costs double the original fee.
Richmond is not required to enforce a building code. Maine law leaves enforcement of its statewide code optional for a town of 4,000 or fewer people (10 M.R.S. 9724(1-A)), and Richmond had 3,522 residents in the 2020 Census. A town that does enforce one may use only Maine's code, and the state says meeting the code is the building owner's responsibility either way. Richmond's Code Enforcement page lists the 2015 International Residential Code and the 2015 International Building Code. The town's Land Use Ordinance refers to the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC) for certificates of occupancy.
Median year built 1975, by the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates. Of 1,782 homes, 1,366 were built before 2000 and 567 before 1940, so most roofs in Richmond are not the first one the house has had.
The building official on record is James Valley, Code Enforcement. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
It can. Richmond has Richmond 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 Richmond 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.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · legislature.maine.gov · www2.census.gov · www.maine.gov · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.richmondmaine.com · www.zip-codes.com · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
