Your home. Our craftsmanship. Built to last.
Derek Demaree ConstructionKENNEBUNK, MAINE (207) 569-6069
New deck framing and railing on a coastal Maine home raised on concrete piers

Carpentry that holds up to the coast

Trusted carpentry, repairs and improvements for Maine's coastal homes. Frame through finish, with one person on the job from start to finish.

Call for a free estimate
Fully insured High-end home expertise References available Serving southern Maine

Salt air, wind and freeze–thaw take apart the outside of a house faster than most owners expect — and it usually starts somewhere nobody looks.

Rot in a porch ceiling. A railing gone soft at the posts. A sill that has been wicking water behind the casing for years. Details matter, and so does trust — especially when you are not here to watch the work. Everything below is the same house before and after.

Before and after

Every job on this page is my own, done solo start to finish. Same spot, same angle, nothing staged.

Porch ceiling with rotted boards and a hole open to the roof structure
The same porch ceiling rebuilt and finished in clear cedar

Porch ceiling. Water had come through and taken out the boards and the framing behind them. Rebuilt and finished in cedar, with the beam and trim repainted.

Second-story deck with weathered, failing railing and rotted trim
The same deck with a new cedar railing and rebuilt painted trim below

Second-story deck and rail. The railing was past repair and the trim below it had gone soft. New cedar rail, rebuilt trim and soffit, posts and fascia painted out.

Old timber retaining wall pulling apart and spilling soil
The same retaining wall rebuilt in new cedar between the original posts

Retaining wall. The old timbers had given out and the bank was coming through. Rebuilt in cedar between the original posts, with the grade reset behind it.

Window in a stone wall with peeling paint and rot in the head casing and sill
The same opening with a new window, new casing, apron panel and a carved star medallion

Window in a stone wall. Rot in the head casing and sill, and paint letting go everywhere. New window set and trimmed out, with an apron panel and a star medallion under the sill.

Recent work

Deck framing, posts and railing on a coastal home raised on concrete piers
Deck framing and rail on a shorefront home raised on piers.
Finished lattice enclosure and gravel under a raised coastal deck
Lattice enclosure, lighting and gravel under the same raised deck.

Specializing in

Whole jobs or single repairs. If it is carpentry on the outside or the inside of a coastal home, it is probably on this list.

And much more

Who you are hiring

I am Derek Demaree. I have been doing high-end residential carpentry since the mid-2000s — first in Oregon, then a long stretch in Montana at the Yellowstone Club, working for builders including GE Johnson, Dick Anderson, Blue Ribbon Builders and Dovetail Construction on homes in the eight- and nine-figure range.

That work was frame through finish: structure, exterior, trim, built-ins, and the kind of detail that gets looked at closely. I now run my own jobs out of Kennebunk.

For owners who are not in Maine year-round, the useful part is simple. You get one person who answers the phone, looks at the problem, and does the work. Nothing gets handed down a chain, and the site gets left clean.

New window, casing and star medallion set into a stone wall

Get in touch

(207) 569-6069

Call for a free estimate

Call or text. Email derek@derekdemaree.com.
Send photos of the problem if you have them — it saves a trip and gets you a straighter answer.

Working out of Kennebunk, Maine. Serving Kennebunkport, Arundel, Wells, Ogunquit, Cape Neddick, York, Biddeford and Saco. Fully insured, references available.