Roofing for Standish homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In Standish, the 2021 IRC is in force and 17% of the 4,925 homes went up before 1940. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
Standish runs to about 59.1 square miles and roughly 10,662 people. It sits about 18 miles northwest of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1785. We cover ZIP codes 04084 and 04085.
No completed roof in Standish is logged in our job records yet.
We work across Standish rather than one corner of it — Standish Corner, Sebago Lake Village, Steep Falls, Richville, Elmwood, Standish Neck, Harmon Beach, Wards Cove and Two Trails included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
Standish takes in Sebago Lake Village on the lake plus Standish Corner and Steep Falls, and much of the town is sandy plains covered with pine. Trains once met lake steamboats at Sebago Lake Station, and Frye Island in the lake was set off from Standish as its own town in 1998.
From this stretch of building, houses in Standish 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 4,925 homes in Standish, with a median year built of 1980. 822 of them (17%) went up before 1940 — 33rd of 64 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 1,138 (23%) in 2000 or later. More of today's homes date from before 1940 than from any decade since. That is below Cumberland County's 23%.
About 25 years is the usual useful life of a roof, by the figure in the Maine Bureau of Insurance's claims guide. By that measure, 77% of Standish's homes — the 3,787 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and the 1,678 built before 1970 (34%) are usually on a third covering or later. First replacements are arriving on the 684 homes built in the 2000s, while the 454 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: 4,224 detached houses (86%), 50 attached (1%). 300 homes (6%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings. The count also takes in 351 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. 3,417 of 3,746 occupied homes (91%) are lived in by their owners. On a housing mix like this, the likely work is deck and flashing checks on pre-war board sheathing and first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 822 | 17% | |
| 1940s | 125 | 3% | |
| 1950s | 408 | 8% | |
| 1960s | 323 | 7% | |
| 1970s | 766 | 16% | |
| 1980s | 673 | 14% | |
| 1990s | 670 | 14% | |
| 2000s | 684 | 14% | |
| 2010s | 419 | 9% | |
| 2020 or later | 35 | 1% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 4,925 homes, 3,746 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged one report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Standish’s center from 2016 through 2025. The stone was 1.5 inches, on July 21, 2022, about 3.7 miles northwest of the center. Counts follow people as much as storms, since every report is a spotter’s or a resident’s.
Hail damage rarely shows from the ground; a storm inspection photographs each slope so you know either way.
Standish's Land Use Ordinance (section 181-53) says no building or other structure may be installed, erected, moved, added to or structurally altered without a permit from the Code Enforcement Officer. Roof replacement is not named. Roof work that changes rafters, trusses or other structural parts is a structural alteration and needs a permit.
Standish 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 Standish had 10,244 residents in the 2020 Census. Since April 7, 2025 that code is based on the 2021 International Residential Code; the town's own code pages still describe requirements from the 2015 edition.
The published number is 207-642-4571. The building official on record is James Paul, Code Enforcement Officer. The department page is here.
The design wind speed a roof in Standish 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.
Standish borders Gorham, Windham, Buxton, Hollis, Limington and Baldwin. Our pages for them:
Also in Cumberland County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standish | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1980 |
| Gorham | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1988 |
| Windham | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1985 |
| Buxton | Conditional | 2021 IRC | 1981 |
| Hollis | Conditional | 2021 IRC | 1977 |
| Limington | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1986 |
| Baldwin | Not published | Enforcement optional | 1979 |
All 25 Cumberland County towns side by side →
Standish's Land Use Ordinance (section 181-53) says no building or other structure may be installed, erected, moved, added to or structurally altered without a permit from the Code Enforcement Officer. Roof replacement is not named. Roof work that changes rafters, trusses or other structural parts is a structural alteration and needs a permit.
Standish 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 Standish had 10,244 residents in the 2020 Census. Since April 7, 2025 that code is based on the 2021 International Residential Code; the town's own code pages still describe requirements from the 2015 edition.
Median year built 1980, by the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates. Of 4,925 homes, 3,787 were built before 2000 and 822 before 1940, so most roofs in Standish are not the first one the house has had.
Yes, once in NOAA's records: the one report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Standish's center from 2016 through 2025 was 1.5 inches on July 21, 2022.
The building official on record is James Paul, Code Enforcement Officer. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
It can. Standish has Standish Corner Historic District and Paine Neighborhood 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 Standish 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.standishme.gov · www.standishme.gov · www.standishme.gov · www.standishme.gov · www.standishme.gov · www.standishme.gov · standish.portal.iworq.net · standish.portal.iworq.net · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · www.townofnaples.org · legislature.maine.gov · 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.
