Livermead Sands
Steps lead down from the sea wall on Torbay Road to Livermead Sands. The red sand vanishes at high tide, and dogs are welcome all year.
Learn more about Livermead Sands on Google MapsFitted Wardrobes In Livermead
Still living with the 1960s built-in wardrobes your Livermead house came with?
New fitted wardrobes for post-war houses, bungalows and flats on Livermead Hill and above Torbay Road
Livermead is mostly a twentieth-century place. After Torquay Corporation bought a large part of the Cockington estate in 1939 and sold it on for housing, detached houses and bungalows went up the hill above Torbay Road, many built to face the bay. Some still have their original built-in wardrobes, now around sixty years old: hardboard backs, sliding doors that jump the track and a single rail at one height. We replace those with fitted wardrobes made to measure in our Barton workshop. The rooms here are easier than a Victorian villa in some ways, with lower, flatter ceilings, but blockwork and concrete walls and the occasional sea-facing bedroom bring their own details.
Price New Wardrobes In Livermead
Tell us roughly what you have in mind and we will arrange a time to come and measure. A photo of the space on your phone is usually enough to start with.
The Joiner Behind It
Wardrobes for post-war Livermead
Livermead is mostly twentieth-century, and plenty of its houses, bungalows and flats still have their original built-ins. Many owners want them replaced with something made to the room.
Luke has done joinery since childhood, and his family has the trade in common. That experience is what turns a tired fitted cupboard into a wardrobe that works properly. Luke and the team make each one in the Barton workshop.
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Livermead
Post-war bedrooms with a view of the bay
The houses above Torbay Road were planned around big windows and balconies, so the main bedroom often has its best wall taken up with glass. That leaves the wall opposite, or the wall shared with the landing, for storage. In a mid-century house that is usually a straight, plastered blockwork wall with a standard ceiling height, which suits a full run of doors from end to end. The awkward part is often the old built-in: stripping it out can reveal unplastered patches, old wiring or a floor that was never finished under the units.
Flats are the other big group. Some on Livermead Hill are purpose-built blocks; others were converted from small hotels. Concrete walls in the blocks take a different fixing from the stud partitions in the conversions, and we check which we are dealing with at the survey. If the balcony doors or picture windows in the same flat are past their best, our page on timber windows and doors in Livermead covers the outside.
The Case For It
What new fitted wardrobes do for a Livermead home
Old built-ins taken out properly
We remove the 1960s units, make good the wall behind and fit the new wardrobe to a clean surface, instead of building over the old frame.
Hinged doors that stay put
Hinged doors on good hinges replace sliding tracks that jump and stick, and they let you see the whole interior at once.
Layouts for how you live now
Double hanging, deep drawers and shoe shelves instead of one long rail. The inside is planned around what you actually own.
Fixings to suit the wall
Concrete, blockwork and stud partitions each get the right fixing, so the wardrobe stays tight and the wall is not damaged.
Bungalow-friendly heights
In a single-storey home we can keep top cupboards low enough to reach, and add a pull-down rail if you want hanging space up high.
Damp-aware on sea walls
If a wardrobe has to go on an outside wall facing the bay, we leave an air gap behind it and seal the back so clothes stay dry.
Before You Choose
What to check before replacing wardrobes in Livermead
Ask whether the quote includes removing the old built-ins and making good. In many Livermead houses that is half a day's work on its own, and a quote that leaves it out is not a full price.
Walls vary more than you would think on Livermead Hill. A purpose-built block of flats may have concrete walls that need masonry anchors; a converted hotel may have light partitions with nothing solid behind the plaster. The fixing should be chosen for the wall, not for convenience.
Ask to see the interior on the drawing. Mid-century wardrobes were usually one rail and a shelf, and the point of replacing them is to get a better layout. Our fitted wardrobes page sets out the hanging and shelf sizes we use.
Compared
Replacing 1960s wardrobes in Livermead: your options
These are the routes Livermead owners usually consider when the original built-ins have had their day.
| New made-to-measure wardrobes | New doors on old carcasses | Modular fitted range | Freestanding furniture | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deals with old built-ins | Removed and made good | Kept behind new doors | Removed | Removed or left |
| Interior layout | Planned to your clothes | Unchanged | From set options | Fixed |
| Fits wall to wall | Yes | As before | With fillers | No |
| Lifespan | Long | Limited by old carcass | Moderate | Varies |
| Disruption | One or two days | Half a day | One or two days | Delivery only |
| Relative cost | Middle | Lowest | Lower | Low to middle |
Our Process
Our wardrobe process for Livermead homes
In Livermead, the seven stages below usually begin with taking something out before we put anything in.
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Survey, including what is there now
We measure the room, look behind the existing built-ins where we can, and identify the wall construction.
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Planning the inside
Hanging, drawers and shelves set out around your clothes, with any special needs such as a low rail in a bungalow.
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Drawing and fixed price
A plan and elevation with doors, handles and finishes shown, plus a price that includes removal and making good.
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Materials conditioned
Boards and timber settle in the workshop before machining, so the doors stay flat in a warm bedroom.
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Built and assembled
Carcasses, doors and drawers are made and test-assembled at Barton before delivery.
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Finished in the workshop
Sprayed or painted off site, so on the day there is only fitting, not finishing.
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Old out, new in
We remove the old units, make good the wall, fit and scribe the new wardrobe and take the waste away. A follow-up visit settles any door that has moved.
Reassurance
What We Stand Behind
- Timber moved before it was cut
- Boards come into the workshop and sit there before anything is machined. Cutting a wide oak panel on the day it arrives is how you end up with a door that has cupped by Easter. In a bay where spring humidity runs high, that waiting period is not optional.
- Scribed to your walls, not shimmed to them
- Older Torquay walls are rarely square and almost never plumb. Every fitted piece is scribed to the actual surface on site. If you can see daylight behind a filler strip, the job was measured once and hoped over.
- Ironmongery rated for the job it is doing
- A drawer in a holiday flat gets pulled open forty times a week in August. We fit runners and hinges specified for that, and we tell you which ones we used, so in eight years you can buy the same part rather than replacing a whole unit.
- If it moves, we come back
- Solid timber is a material that responds to the room it lives in, and occasionally something needs easing in its first year. That visit is part of the job, not a callout. Say so and we will book it.
Budget
Fitted wardrobe costs in Livermead
£2,500 – £12,000
typical fitted wardrobe run
Wardrobes in Livermead's post-war houses tend to sit in the lower to middle part of our range. Ceilings are standard heights, walls are fairly straight and access is usually easy, which keeps fitting time down. Removing old built-ins and making good is a separate line on the quote. See the joinery cost guide for typical ranges.
Guide range only, VAT included. Your figure comes from the measured visit and the drawing you sign off.
What moves the priceTaking out the old units
Removing 1960s built-ins and plastering or filling behind them adds labour, and we price it from what we see at the survey.
Flats on Livermead Hill
Converted hotel flats on Livermead Hill may have stairs and narrow corridors; purpose-built blocks usually have lifts. Both affect delivery time.
Parking on Torbay Road
Parking is hard on Torbay Road itself, so seafront jobs may need an early arrival or a carry from a side road.
Questions
Questions about wardrobes in Livermead
- Do I need permission to replace wardrobes in a Livermead flat?
- Not planning permission. Fitted wardrobes are internal work, and Livermead is not one of Torbay Council's named conservation areas. Your lease may still require the freeholder's consent for fixed joinery, so check it first. If you are changing anything on the outside of a flat, Torbay Council is the planning authority and offers pre-planning advice.
- Can you remove the original built-in wardrobes in my Livermead house?
- Yes. We take them out, deal with any wiring or gaps we find behind them, make good the wall and take the old units away.
- My bedroom faces the sea. Is that a problem for a wardrobe?
- Only if it goes on the outside wall. Walls facing the bay get colder in winter, so we prefer an internal wall. Where that is not possible, we leave an air gap behind the wardrobe.
- Can you fix a wardrobe to a concrete wall?
- Yes. We use masonry anchors suited to concrete, which are common in purpose-built blocks. We check for buried cables and pipes before drilling.
- Is a sliding-door wardrobe a good idea in a small Livermead bedroom?
- Sometimes. Sliding doors save swing space but only show half the interior at a time and need a level floor and ceiling. Hinged doors are usually better if there is room to open them.
- How quickly can old wardrobes be replaced?
- Allow six to nine weeks for making after you approve the drawing. Removing the old units and fitting the new ones normally takes one or two days per room.
Feedback
What Customers Say
Rated 5 out of 5
“Our bedroom is in one of the old Warberries villas and the back wall bows by about an inch and a half across four metres. Two national firms measured it, quoted, then went quiet. These came, measured, and said it needed scribing rather than filling. The wardrobes go right into the corner and there is no gap anywhere. My husband keeps running his hand down the join.”
Rated 5 out of 5
“We run a bar on the harbourside and needed the counter and back fittings replaced without losing a summer weekend. They built the lot off site, came in on a Sunday night and had us trading by Tuesday lunchtime. Knowing the whole thing was made before they ever shut our doors is what sold it.”
Rated 5 out of 5
“Sash windows on the front elevation, and we are in a conservation area so it had to be timber and it had to match. They took a profile off the original, made new boxes in accoya, and the planning side went through without a query. From the pavement you genuinely cannot tell which is which.”
Rated 5 out of 5
“Two alcoves either side of the chimney, and they turned out to be 40mm different in width, which explains why the flat-pack ones we tried first never sat right. Made as a pair but to two different sets of measurements. Small thing, but it is the difference between looking fitted and looking bought.”
Rated 5 out of 5
“We let our place out over the season so everything gets hammered. I asked them to over-specify the drawer runners and they did, and told me exactly which ones so I can order spares. Three summers in, nothing has sagged. The last kitchen we had did not last two.”
Local
What To Do In Livermead
Livermead sits right on the shore between Torquay and Paignton. These three are a short walk along the front.
Corbyn Head
Corbyn Head is a wave-cut red sandstone headland with plenty of seats along the top. The remains of an old fishermen's landing pier lie just off the beach.
Learn more about Corbyn Head on Google Maps
Hollicombe Park and Beach
Hollicombe Park opened in 1979 on the site of the old gasworks. Go under the railway bridge to reach the beach locals still name after them.
Learn more about Hollicombe Park and Beach on Google MapsLivermead On The Map
Coverage
Areas We Cover
Livermead is one of the Torquay districts we cover. These are all the places we work.
Across Torquay
- Wellswood
- The Warberries
- The Lincombes
- Chelston
- Babbacombe
- St Marychurch
- Cockington
- Shiphay
- Torre
- Ellacombe
- Livermead
- Maidencombe
And across South Devon
Or go straight to a service
Swap out the old built-ins
Send us a photo of your current wardrobes and the room they are in. We will measure up, price the removal and the new wardrobe together, and send a drawing.