Attic insulation, air sealing, crawl spaces and walls for homes in Richmond — starting with a free assessment that measures the R-value you actually have. The typical home here dates to the mid-1970s, and 32% of its 1,782 homes went up before 1940.
Richmond runs to about 30 square miles and roughly 3,566 people. It sits about 38 miles northeast of downtown Portland. There are around 1,782 housing units here. The community dates back to 1823. We cover ZIP code 04357.
We have not logged a completed job in Richmond yet. We would rather say so than put a number on this page that is not real.
The typical home in Richmond dates to around the mid-1970s. Postwar building here often meant three or four inches of fiberglass and no attempt at air sealing. If nobody has touched it since, that is what is still up there.
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 in the attic before quoting 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 Census Bureau estimates 1,782 homes in Richmond. 567 of them (32%) went up before 1940 — the 5th-highest share of pre-1940 housing among the 64 places on this site. More of today's homes date from before 1940 than from any single decade since, and 55% predate 1980. For Sagadahoc County as a whole the pre-1940 share is 27%, so Richmond sits above it.
Of 1,599 occupied homes, 1% heat with utility gas and 6% with electricity; another 17% burn propane or other tank gas. Electric heat here is less common than across the county (11%), and ranks 45th of 64 on this site. The heating fuel does not change the Efficiency Maine rebate, but it does change what each inch of insulation is worth, which is why the boiler, furnace or heat pump is the first thing an assessment looks at.
70% of occupied homes are owner-occupied and 75% of all homes are single-family detached houses, with 209 mobile homes in the count. On a housing mix like this, the likely starting points are wall insulation for walls built empty and a vermiculite check before anything is disturbed.
| 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% |
1,782 homes, Census ACS 2020–2024 (B25034, B25040, B25003); 1,599 occupied.
274 of Richmond's 1,782 homes (15%) date from 1950 through 1979. The leaks in houses of that era repeat: nothing over the top plates, wire and pipe holes left open, an unsealed hatch, a bath fan venting into the attic, and in ranches and split-levels, heat lost at the garage ceiling and over cantilevered floors. Sealing the plates, holes and fans comes before any more fiber, and it is usually a day's work, not a renovation.
Richmond does not publish the energy code edition it enforces, so this page does not name one. Richmond's Code Enforcement page lists the 2015 residential and building codes, and its Land Use Ordinance points to the state code for certificates of occupancy; with 3,522 residents the town is not required to enforce the state code. Maine has one energy code for the whole state, the 2021 IECC with Maine's changes. A town of 4,000 or fewer people does not have to enforce it, but the state says it still applies to every building, and meeting it is the owner's responsibility.
Richmond publishes no answer either way. Insulation and air sealing appear on neither the permit-required list nor the exempt list. Richmond publishes a permit form of its own for exterior covering replacement, but its pages say nothing about insulation either way. We confirm it with the department before we start and pull whatever is needed. We would rather write that here than guess on your behalf.
The published number is 207-737-4305. The department page is here.
Permitting is on us, not on you.
69% of the occupied homes in Richmond burn fuel oil or kerosene for heat, 6% use electricity and 17% propane or other tank gas (Census ACS 2020–2024). For Richmond homeowners the rebate is Efficiency Maine's: $2,000 for each attic, wall or basement zone of 500 square feet or more at any income ($3,000 moderate, $4,000 low income), with $150 to $300 for attic air sealing on top. The work has to be done by an Efficiency Maine Residential Registered Vendor, and the attic has to start at R-21 or below and finish at R-49 or more. Income-qualified households in Sagadahoc County can apply to Kennebec Valley Community Action Program (207-859-1500) for free weatherization through MaineHousing instead. Every condition is in the rebate guide. The Sagadahoc County page compares the towns.
Every layer of an insulated attic, explained
Richmond borders Bowdoinham, Bowdoin, Kennebec River, Merrymeeting Bay and Swan Island. These are the ones we also cover, each with its own energy code and permit rule:
Elsewhere in Sagadahoc County we also cover:
Maine sets the residential energy code statewide, so the attic figure is R-60 wherever it is published here; what changes is the permit desk, and 1 of the 7 publishes a permit rule for insulation.
| City | Energy code | Attic R required | Permit to insulate | Building dept. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | Not published | — | Not published | 207-737-4305 |
| Bowdoinham | Not published | — | Not published | 207-666-5531 |
| Bowdoin | Not published | — | Not published | 207-250-2399 |
| Arrowsic | Not published | — | Not published | 207-295-4332 |
| Bath | Maine code, 2021 IECC | R-60 | Not published | 207-443-8334 |
| Georgetown | Not published | — | Not published | 207-295-4332 |
| Phippsburg | Maine code, 2021 IECC | R-60 | Yes | 207-389-2653 |
All 10 Sagadahoc County jurisdictions side by side →
Richmond does not publish the energy code edition it enforces, so we do not state a required figure here. The Department of Energy recommends R60 for an uninsulated attic in this climate zone and R49 where there are already a few inches.
Richmond publishes no rule either way, so we ask its building department at 207-737-4305 before the job is scheduled.
Efficiency Maine's: $2,000 per attic, wall or basement zone of 500 square feet or more at any income, $3,000 at moderate income and $4,000 at low income, plus $150 to $300 for attic air sealing, on work completed by one of its Residential Registered Vendors on or after October 1, 2026. The federal 25C credit ended for work placed in service after December 31, 2025.
The typical home in Richmond dates to around the mid-1970s; the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 median year built is 1975. Of its 1,782 homes, 32% went up before 1940 and 23% in 2000 or later. Half the homes here are older than that and half newer; yours may sit at either end.
Code and permit facts checked October 24, 2026, rebates October 24, 2026; housing: Census ACS 2020–2024. Sources: richmondmaine.com (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12) · legislature.maine.gov · www2.census.gov · maine.gov · en.wikipedia.org (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) · zip-codes.com · efficiencymaine.com (2, 3, 4) · energystar.gov · data.census.gov. These change; confirm with the building department at 207-737-4305 or Efficiency Maine at 866-376-2463 first.
Free assessment, measured at the hatch, with the photographs and the number in writing.
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