Paignton Zoo
Paignton Zoo began in Herbert Whitley's own grounds. The planting is as much a part of a visit as the animals.
Learn more about Paignton Zoo on Google MapsFitted Wardrobes In Paignton
Downsizing to a Paignton bungalow, or squeezing a growing family into a Preston semi?
Wardrobes for twentieth-century houses and bungalows in Preston, Goodrington and central Paignton, and for flats behind the seafront
A lot of Paignton was built in the twentieth century for two kinds of household: families, and couples settling here in retirement. Between Preston, Goodrington and the town centre, the semis, bungalows and short terraces reflect that, and so do the wardrobe briefs we get. A family wants storage for five people's clothes and a child's room that will last into their teens. A couple moving into a bungalow wants rails they can reach, drawers that glide and lighting inside so nothing hides at the back. Behind the seafront, owners of flats and holiday lets want something tough. We plan each one around the people using it, then make it at our Barton workshop, about twenty minutes up the road.
Arrange A Paignton Wardrobe Visit
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 how Paignton lives
Much of Paignton was built in the twentieth century for families and for couples settling here in retirement. Wardrobes in Preston, Goodrington and the town centre need to suit both.
Luke started young, in a family where joinery runs. Knowing what height a rail should sit at, or how deep a drawer needs to be for the person using it, comes from experience. Luke and the team ask before they assume.
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Paignton
Who the wardrobe is for
Preston only came under Paignton's urban council in 1922, and much of the housing between there and Goodrington followed over the rest of the century. Bedrooms in those houses are a sensible size, with fairly straight walls and standard ceilings, so the fitting is rarely the hard part. The thought goes into the layout. In a bungalow bought for retirement, for example, we might set the main rail a little lower, add a pull-out shoe rack at waist height and put the heavier items in drawers instead of on a high shelf.
Families have different priorities: more drawers than rails in a young child's room, adjustable shelving, and doors that survive being swung on. The seafront is a third world again, where many big guest houses are now flats or holiday lets. In the old town around Winner Street the houses are older and the walls less forgiving, and if your windows there need attention, our page on timber windows and doors in Paignton explains the conservation rules.
The Case For It
What a fitted wardrobe gives a Paignton household
Rails at a comfortable height
For anyone who would rather not reach high, we set rails lower and keep the most-used things between hip and shoulder.
Lighting inside
Strip lights that come on with the door make it easy to see what is at the back, which helps at any age.
Easy-glide drawers
Full-extension, soft-close runners mean drawers open all the way with a light pull and close without slamming.
Children's rooms that adapt
Shelves and rails on adjustable supports move as the child grows, so the wardrobe does not need replacing.
Tough enough for lets
Heavy hinges, solid edges and wipe-clean finishes for flats and holiday lets behind the seafront.
Straight walls, tidy fit
Twentieth-century Paignton walls are fairly true, so wardrobes go wall to wall with very little scribing.
Before You Choose
Comparing wardrobe makers in Paignton
Tell the maker who will use the wardrobe and ask how the design reflects that. A good one will ask about reach, eyesight and how many people share the room, and the drawing will show the answer.
Ask which runners, hinges and lights are included, by name. Soft-close fittings and internal lighting make a big difference in daily use, and cheaper versions wear out quickly.
For a holiday let, ask how the wardrobe will be repaired if a guest damages it. Spare doors and a recorded finish make that a quick job. Our fitted wardrobes page has more on interiors and finishes.
Compared
Wardrobe features for different Paignton homes
Paignton households often need quite different things from a wardrobe. This table shows what we usually suggest for each.
| Retirement bungalow | Family semi | Holiday let or flat | Old town house | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main rail height | Lowered | Standard plus double hanging | Standard | To suit the room |
| Drawers | Waist-height, full-extension | Plenty, for children's clothes | A few, heavy-duty | As needed |
| Lighting | Recommended | Optional | Optional | Optional |
| Finish | Painted or veneered | Painted, easy to touch up | Hard-wearing lacquer | Painted to match woodwork |
| Wall condition | Usually straight | Usually straight | Varies | Often uneven |
| Relative cost | Middle | Middle | Lower middle | Middle to upper |
Our Process
How we build a wardrobe for a Paignton home
These seven steps take a Paignton wardrobe from the first conversation to a finished room.
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Visit and conversation
We measure the room and talk about who uses it, what they store and anything that makes reaching or bending awkward.
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Planning the interior
Rails, drawers, shelves and lights are placed around those answers, not a standard template.
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Drawing and price
You see the wardrobe drawn with heights marked, and get a fixed price.
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Materials prepared
Boards and timber condition in the workshop before they are cut.
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Workshop build
The wardrobe is made and trial-assembled at Barton, with lights and fittings tested.
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Finish applied
Painted or lacquered off site, ready to install.
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Fitting and handover
We fit it, show you how the lights and runners work, and come back after the first winter to adjust the doors.
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 prices in Paignton
£2,500 – £12,000
typical fitted wardrobe run
Most Paignton wardrobes sit in the lower to middle part of our range, because the rooms are straightforward. Internal lighting, extra drawers and soft-close fittings add to it. Old town houses with uneven walls take longer to fit. The joinery cost guide gives typical ranges.
Guide range only, VAT included. Your figure comes from the measured visit and the drawing you sign off.
What moves the priceParking behind the seafront
Flats and lets near Torbay Road can be slow to reach in summer, while Preston and Goodrington streets are usually easy.
Fittings and lights
Full-extension runners, lights and pull-down rails each add a modest amount and make daily use easier.
Older walls
Houses near Winner Street and Church Street can have breccia or cob walls that need more care when fixing and scribing.
Questions
Paignton wardrobe questions
- Do I need permission to fit wardrobes in a Paignton home?
- Not for internal joinery in an unlisted house, even in one of Paignton's conservation areas. Torbay Council's controls there, including the Polsham Article 4 direction, apply to the outside. A listed building is the exception, as fixed joinery inside can need listed building consent. Leasehold flats may also need the freeholder's agreement. The council's page on listed building consent explains when to apply.
- Can you design a Paignton wardrobe that is easy to use as we get older?
- Yes. We lower the main rail, put drawers at waist height on full-extension runners and add internal lighting. Heavier items go low, so nothing needs lifting from a high shelf.
- Is a fitted wardrobe worth it in a holiday let?
- Usually. Guests expect somewhere to hang clothes, and a well-made fitted wardrobe takes far more use than a freestanding one before it needs attention.
- Does salt air near the seafront affect wardrobes?
- Indoors, not much, though a flat left shut up over winter can get damp. We seal the backs of carcasses and suggest some heat and ventilation when it is empty.
- How long does a wardrobe take for a Paignton house?
- Around six to nine weeks from approved drawing to fitting. Most go in within a day.
- Can you remove our old wardrobes?
- Yes. We take out the old units, tidy up behind them and take them away when we fit the new ones.
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 Paignton
Paignton is full of things to do away from the sand. Three favourites:
Dartmouth Steam Railway
British Rail gave up the Kingswear branch in 1972, and a heritage company has run steam trains on it ever since. The station is near the seafront.
Learn more about Dartmouth Steam Railway on Google Maps
Oldway Mansion
Isaac Singer had Oldway built in the 1870s. The gardens are free to wander, and the colonnaded front is hard to miss.
Learn more about Oldway Mansion on Google MapsPaignton On The Map
Coverage
Areas We Cover
Paignton is one of the towns we cover across Torbay. Here is the full list.
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
Tell us who the wardrobe is for
Let us know who will use it and send a photo of the room. We will visit, measure and send a design with a fixed price.