Livermead Sands
Livermead Sands has a water-ski area offshore and the nearest toilets at Corbyn Head. Check the tide first, as the beach disappears when it is in.
Learn more about Livermead Sands on Google MapsTimber Windows & Doors In Livermead
Want timber back in the big bay-facing windows of a Livermead house?
Picture windows, casements, French doors and front doors for post-war homes and flats above Torbay Road
The houses on the slopes of Livermead were built for one thing: the view across the bay. Most date from after 1939, when the town council bought part of the Cockington estate and sold it on for housing, so instead of sashes you find wide picture windows, casements either side and doors out onto balconies. Many have already gone to uPVC or aluminium. Timber is still an option, and on these south-east elevations it has to be detailed with care, because the glass is large, the morning sun is strong and the wind comes straight off the water. We make timber windows and doors for Livermead with deep sections where the glass needs them and finishes chosen for that exposure.
Ask For A Livermead Window Quote
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
Picture windows built for the view
Livermead's slopes were built for the view across the bay, so instead of sashes you find wide picture windows, casements and French doors facing straight into the weather.
Luke has worked with timber since he was a child, and it's in his family. A big frame in an exposed spot has to be built to stay true, and that's learned through experience. He and the team make each one for its opening.
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Livermead
Glass facing open water
Hotels and flats line Torbay Road, and above them the detached houses and bungalows climb Livermead Hill, most of them pointed at the sea. A typical picture window here is a large fixed pane flanked by opening casements, sometimes with a top light. In timber, that fixed pane needs a frame stiff enough to carry the weight of a modern sealed unit without sagging, and glazing beads that keep water out of the rebate. Get those right and a timber picture window will outlast the plastic one it replaces, and can be repainted when it fades.
Livermead is not one of Torbay's named conservation areas, so for a single house the planning side is usually simple. Flats are another matter, which we cover in the questions below. Inside the same houses, the original built-in bedroom furniture is often due for replacement, and our page on fitted wardrobes in Livermead deals with that.
The Case For It
Why timber still makes sense in Livermead
Frames sized for large glass
Mullions and transoms are designed for the weight of big sealed units, so a wide picture window stays square and the casements beside it keep closing.
Glazing that keeps rooms cool
South-east fronts take the morning sun. Solar-control glass in the fixed panes cuts glare and heat without darkening the view.
French doors that drain
Balcony doors get a sloping, drained threshold and a weatherboard, so rain driven up the face of the door runs out instead of in.
Light colours for long life
Pale microporous paint reflects heat and lasts longer between coats on a sunny sea-facing elevation than a dark stain.
Hardware that does not rust
Stainless or bronze hinges, stays and handles on every opening that faces the bay.
Repairable for decades
A damaged bead or a tired cill can be replaced on a timber window. A failed plastic frame usually means a new window.
Before You Choose
What to ask a window maker about a Livermead house
Ask how the frame will carry the glass in a wide picture window. A thin timber section with a heavy double-glazed unit in it can deflect over time. The maker should be able to explain the section sizes and any reinforcement in plain terms.
Ask about the glass, not just the timber. On a south-east front, solar-control or low-iron options change how the room feels on a summer morning, and they are easier to choose before the frames are made than after.
For a flat, ask who is dealing with the freeholder and the council. External changes to a flat usually need planning permission and the freeholder's agreement. A maker who has worked in the blocks along Torbay Road will raise this before taking a deposit.
Compared
Frame materials for a Livermead picture window
Most Livermead owners are choosing between these four. The table compares them for a large, sunny, sea-facing window.
| Accoya | Hardwood | Aluminium | uPVC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stiffness for big glass | Good with the right section | Good | Very good | Needs steel inside |
| Response to strong sun | Stable, holds paint | Moves more, holds paint | Gets hot to touch | Can fade or bow |
| Salt air | Copes well when painted | Copes well when painted | Coating must be marine grade | Copes, hardware may rust |
| Repainting | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Repairable | Yes | Yes | Limited | Limited |
| Relative cost | Upper | Middle to upper | Upper | Lowest |
Our Process
Fitting timber windows in Livermead
Every window and door job in Livermead follows the seven steps below. Glass choice and access are settled early.
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Survey of each elevation
We note which way each window faces, check the cills and frames, and measure openings and any balcony thresholds.
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Design and sections
Frame sizes are worked out for the glass, and drawings show the layout of fixed and opening panes.
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Glass and finish chosen
Solar-control, toughened or laminated glass as needed, plus a paint colour suited to the sun on that side.
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Approvals for flats
For flats we provide drawings for the freeholder and, where needed, a planning application to Torbay Council.
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Made from conditioned timber
Timber settles in the workshop before it is cut, then frames are jointed, glazed and checked.
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Painted before delivery
All faces primed and coated, with stainless fittings installed at the workshop.
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Installed and sealed
Openings are replaced one at a time, sealed to the wall and checked for smooth operation. After a winter by the sea we inspect the seals.
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
Window and door prices in Livermead
£1,400 – £9,000
per opening, made and fitted
Wide picture windows with large sealed units sit in the upper half of our per-opening range, and French doors with drained thresholds sit near them. Smaller casements cost less. Easy access on most residential roads helps, while seafront blocks can add time. See our timber windows and doors page for timber and glass choices.
Guide range only, VAT included. Your figure comes from the measured visit and the drawing you sign off.
What moves the priceSize of the glass
Large fixed panes need heavier sections and bigger sealed units, and specialist glass such as solar control adds to the cost.
Seafront access
Blocks on Torbay Road may need scaffold, a lift booking and an agreed parking spot, while houses on Livermead Hill are usually straightforward.
Balcony doors
French doors with weatherboards and drained thresholds take longer to make and fit than a window of the same size.
Questions
Livermead window and door questions
- Do I need planning permission for new windows in Livermead?
- For a single house, usually not, as Livermead is not one of Torbay Council's named conservation areas. Flats are different: they have no householder permitted development rights, so external changes usually need planning permission, and the lease will normally need the freeholder's consent. Chelston and Cockington, which are conservation areas, lie close by. Torbay Council offers pre-planning advice if you are unsure.
- Can timber cope with the sun on a Livermead picture window?
- Yes, if the timber is stable and the paint is light. Accoya moves very little, and a pale microporous paint reflects heat. Dark stains on a south-east front fade and crack faster.
- Can you replace uPVC with timber in a Livermead flat?
- Often, but it needs the freeholder's agreement and usually planning permission. Matching timber across a whole block is the easiest case to make.
- What glass do you recommend for a sea-facing window?
- Double-glazed units with a solar-control coating on the fixed panes, and toughened or laminated glass where safety rules require it, such as in doors and low panes.
- Do timber French doors leak in driving rain?
- Not when they are detailed properly. A weatherboard on the bottom rail, a sloping threshold that drains outwards and good seals keep water out even in an easterly.
- How long do timber windows last facing the bay?
- Many decades with regular care. Recoat the sunniest and most exposed side every few years, before the paint cracks, and check the cills each spring.
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
From Livermead you are minutes from three good stretches of shore. Here they are.
Corbyn Head
The council took over Corbyn Head in 1907. A local story links the name to a hanged pirate, though nobody has proved it.
Learn more about Corbyn Head on Google Maps
Hollicombe Park and Beach
Torquay's gasworks ran at Hollicombe from the early 1860s until 1968. The site is now a park on the South West Coast Path.
Learn more about Hollicombe Park and Beach on Google MapsLivermead On The Map
Coverage
Areas We Cover
We fit windows and doors in Livermead and across all the districts and towns below.
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
Talk to us about bay-facing windows
Tell us which way your windows face and send a photo of the elevation. We will survey, suggest timber and glass, and price each opening.