We Make It Easy to Find a Siding Contractor in Gorham, Maine

What actually eats a wall out here

Across Gorham's rural and farm areas, much of the siding damage I hear about isn't caused by weather. It comes from wildlife.

Each culprit leaves a signature.

Carpenter bees drill the round holes. They tunnel into wood to nest, and they strongly prefer bare, unpainted or weathered softwood on the sheltered underside of things: fascia, soffit, rake boards, porch ceilings, deck rails. One hole is not a structural problem. Twenty years of them, expanded each season, hollows a board out.

Woodpeckers make the second hole. They are not eating your house. They are eating the larvae in it, which is why a run of bee holes so often turns into a much larger woodpecker excavation the following spring. Fix the bee problem and the woodpecker usually loses interest.

Squirrels and red squirrels go for gaps. A soffit corner, an unsealed vent, a lifted trim end. They are chewing to get into a warm cavity rather than to eat the wood, so the fix is closing the opening properly rather than replacing the board.

Wasps and hornets use existing voids. Behind loose siding, in an open soffit, inside a corner post. They are a symptom of a gap, not a cause of one.

Ants are the ones that mean something worse. Carpenter ants want wood that is already damp and soft, so finding them in a wall is a moisture message rather than a pest message. Treating the ants without finding the water is treating a symptom.

What actually helps, in order. Keep the vulnerable surfaces finished, because a painted or well-coated board is a far less attractive target than a bare one. Close the gaps at soffits, vents and trim ends. Choose composite or non-wood trim in the places that get hit repeatedly. And deal with the moisture, because most of the serious damage happens where wood was already wet.

Ask every bidder to inspect the underside of your eaves and porch. The damage starts there.

Nobody photographs that part.

Two Gorhams, two different walls

The town has two housing stocks with very little in common.

The village and the farms carry older buildings, often assembled in sections over a long time, and that has consequences for cladding. A house that runs from a main block through an ell to a barn frequently has three different wall assemblies in a row, built to three different standards, sometimes with three different materials on them.

That difference matters when quoting a re-side because the sections don't behave alike. The main house may have sound board sheathing, while the back ell was never built for year-round conditions and may have the softest trim on the property.

One per-foot number for the entire run? A guess.

Older buildings on open farmland also face the most wildlife pressure. Fields and woods sit beside outbuildings, all close to your walls.

Older, unfinished softwood trim is exactly what the bees want.

Any pre-1978 property raises another issue. Removing old cladding disturbs painted surfaces, so federal lead-safe work practices apply.

Ask whether the crew holds the certification.

The subdivisions are the opposite. Post-1990 construction on former farmland, conventional framing, panel sheathing, simple geometry and flat staging. Those are predictable, quick jobs, and the pest question there is mostly about keeping soffit and trim sealed rather than repairing years of damage.

Send permit questions to Town of Gorham code enforcement.

Who hires a siding contractor in Gorham, ME

This includes farmhouse owners dealing with soft eave trim and woodpeckers every spring. It includes owners of connected farm buildings where one section is far worse than another, subdivision families replacing original builder siding and buyers whose inspection found insect damage in the fascia.

What does the job cover here?

The scope covers tear-off and disposal plus sheathing repair. It also includes a weather barrier and flashing, followed by cladding.

Include trim and fascia, especially the soffit where much of the local damage occurs.

On a rural property, include the vulnerable surfaces. The damage commonly appears on fascia and soffit, then along rake or porch trim.

When should you side a house in Gorham?

Plan installation from May through October. Fasteners and sealants have temperature ranges, as do finishes.

Carpenter bees are most active in late spring. If the trim is already being replaced, I'd rather see the new surfaces finished before the next season.

Why is Gorham different?

Half the town is subdivision housing; the other half is working land. An old farmhouse wall standing in a field faces pressure that a cul-de-sac house never does.

A statewide fact worth knowing: Maine does not license general contractors or builders. Only plumbers and electricians hold state licenses, so nothing certifies that somebody can read the difference between insect damage and rot. References and photographs of similar repairs tell you, and so do insurance, financial stability and reputation. My ten-step process verifies all four before I give you a name.

What questions come up most in Gorham?

What makes perfectly round holes in my trim? Carpenter bees. They tunnel into bare or weathered softwood, and they prefer the sheltered underside of fascia, soffit and porch trim.

Why did a woodpecker start on the same board? It is after the larvae inside. Dealing with the bees usually ends the woodpecker damage.

Does painting actually stop carpenter bees? It helps a great deal. A finished surface is much less attractive to them than bare or weathered wood.

I found carpenter ants in the wall. Is that a siding problem? It is usually a moisture problem. Ants move into wood that is already damp, so find the water as well as treating the ants.

Subdivision work falls in the lower half of these ranges because access is easier and framing is predictable. Fewer surprises.

Farm and village properties can fall beyond what the table suggests because a connected building is several jobs in a row. Ask for pricing by section.

You'll see which part is consuming the budget and can decide whether every section must be completed this year.