Roofing for Windham homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In Windham, the 2021 IRC is in force and 73% of the 8,709 homes were built before 2000. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
Windham runs to about 46.6 square miles and roughly 19,188 people. It sits about 12 miles northwest of downtown Portland. The community dates back to 1762. We cover ZIP codes 04062 and 04082.
No completed roof in Windham is logged in our job records yet.
We work across Windham rather than one corner of it — North Windham, South Windham, Windham Center, Windham Hill, Newhall, Fosters Corner and Scotland included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
Windham lies beside Sebago Lake, and North Windham grew into the town's commercial center on traffic from lake vacationers and Portland commuters. South Windham grew up as a mill village around a brick paperboard and pulp mill on the Presumpscot River.
From this stretch of building, houses in Windham 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.
Windham has 8,709 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1985. 1,015 of them (12%) went up before 1940 — 47th of 64 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 2,379 (27%) in 2000 or later. The 1980s were the busiest decade, adding 1,476 of today's homes (17%). Across Cumberland County the pre-1940 share is 23%, so Windham sits below it.
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, 73% of Windham's homes — the 6,330 built before 2000 — are past their first roof; 2,385 of them (27%) predate 1970, old enough for two replacements already. First replacements are arriving on the 1,307 homes built in the 2000s, while the 1,072 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.
79% of homes in Windham are single-family detached houses (6,851) and 6% attached ones such as townhouses (520). 818 homes (9%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 248 (3%) in buildings of ten units or more, whose roofs are normally an owner's or a board's call rather than a resident's. The count also takes in 272 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. 85% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 15% rented. On a housing mix like this, the likely work is first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles and flat and low-slope sections, which turn up more on attached and multi-unit buildings.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 1,015 | 12% | |
| 1940s | 276 | 3% | |
| 1950s | 505 | 6% | |
| 1960s | 589 | 7% | |
| 1970s | 1,249 | 14% | |
| 1980s | 1,476 | 17% | |
| 1990s | 1,220 | 14% | |
| 2000s | 1,307 | 15% | |
| 2010s | 898 | 10% | |
| 2020 or later | 174 | 2% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 8,709 homes, 7,900 occupied. Survey estimates.
From 2016 through 2025, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center recorded 2 reports of hail of 1 inch or more within 5 miles of Windham’s center, all on one storm day. None was 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 1 inch, came on August 24, 2020, about 4.1 miles southeast of the center. These are reports, not a full record: they come from spotters and the public, so busier areas log more.
A bruised shingle can look fine for a season or two, which is why a storm inspection after a date like these is worth having.
Windham's building code chapter (Chapter 28) requires a permit to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move or demolish a building where a permit is required by town ordinance. Its list of permit-exempt work does not include roofing. Ordinary repairs need no application, as long as they do not cut or remove structural beams or load-bearing supports. The town fee schedule has a renovation and alteration permit priced by project value: $50 up to $5,000, $60 from $5,000 to $10,000, and $7 per thousand above $10,000.
Windham enforces the 2021 IRC. Chapter 28 of the Town Code adopts the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC), including later revisions made by the state Technical Building Codes and Standards Board. Since April 7, 2025, MUBEC is based on the 2021 International Residential Code and the other 2021 I-codes.
The published number is 207-894-5960. The building official on record is Jon Rioux, Code Enforcement Director. 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 Windham 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.
Windham borders Gorham, Standish, Westbrook, Falmouth, Cumberland and Gray. Our pages for them:
Also in Cumberland County:
| Town | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windham | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1985 |
| Gorham | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1988 |
| Standish | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1980 |
| Westbrook | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1975 |
| Falmouth | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1986 |
| Cumberland | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1984 |
| Gray | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1983 |
All 25 Cumberland County towns side by side →
Windham's building code chapter (Chapter 28) requires a permit to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move or demolish a building where a permit is required by town ordinance. Its list of permit-exempt work does not include roofing. Ordinary repairs need no application, as long as they do not cut or remove structural beams or load-bearing supports. The town fee schedule has a renovation and alteration permit priced by project value: $50 up to $5,000, $60 from $5,000 to $10,000, and $7 per thousand above $10,000.
Windham enforces the 2021 IRC. Chapter 28 of the Town Code adopts the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC), including later revisions made by the state Technical Building Codes and Standards Board. Since April 7, 2025, MUBEC is based on the 2021 International Residential Code and the other 2021 I-codes.
Older than most people guess: the Census puts 73% of Windham's homes before 2000 and 27% before 1970, with a median year built of 1985 (2020–2024 estimates). A roof usually lasts about 25 years, so the deck and the layers get checked before any quote.
Yes. The most recent report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Windham's center was 1 inch on August 24, 2020, one of 2 such reports from 2016 through 2025.
The building official on record is Jon Rioux, Code Enforcement Director. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
It can. Windham has Great Falls 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 Windham 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.windhammaine.us · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · windhammaine.us · www.windhammaine.us · public.mygov.us · 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.
