Bay & Picture Windows in Long Island, Maine

Views are the reason many people bought on Long Island, whether across Hussey Sound toward the outer islands, back toward Portland, or over one of the beaches. Large picture windows and bay units are the most direct way to bring that inside, and they are common requests on houses built in the summer boom, where rooms were laid out around small windows sized for a wood-heated cottage.

Glass on this island has to stand up to wind. Picture and bay units should carry design-pressure ratings suitable for an exposed coastal site, and widening an opening usually means a new structural header. A projecting bay adds a small roof and a floor projection of its own, each of which needs careful flashing, and the roof has to carry snow sliding from the main roof above. Placement matters, too: south-facing glass gathers winter sun, while north- and east-facing walls take storm rain. Low-E coatings and insulated frames keep a wall of glass from undoing the rest of a winterizing project, and on an unheated summer house they also cut condensation that can stain sills and trim.

Census estimates count about 423 housing units, and the median year built is 1938. About 66 percent of units predate 1940, and about 68 percent predate 1960. Almost nothing was built between 1960 and 1979, only around 3 percent, and about 15 percent went up in 2000 or later. Roughly 95 percent of units are single-family detached houses, and about 88 percent of year-round households own their home. Seasonal use dominates: about 307 units, nearly three-quarters of the stock, are held for seasonal or occasional use. The town's comprehensive plan counts about 50 homes converted from year-round to summer-only use over a recent 25-year stretch and describes many summer houses as unheated or poorly heated. Many trace back to the summer-cottage boom of the 1890s and 1900s.

Summer steamboats turned Long Island into a resort in the 1890s, with hotels such as the Granite Spring, the Dirigo House and the Mountfort Inn and summer cottages built by rusticators. A 1914 fire destroyed the Granite Spring Hotel, Ponce's wharf and most of the business district. During World War II the Navy built a fuel annex in the island's center, and nearly 90 homes and cottages were destroyed or moved to make room. Much of that land is now town conservation property. The comprehensive plan notes no National Register listings, but the island keeps the remains of Civil War veterans' retreats and a beach whose sand sings underfoot.

The Code Enforcement Officer meets by appointment through the Town Clerk. The town's building permit application covers new structures, additions, alterations, replacements and repairs, and it must include a scaled site plan and proof that a construction debris container has been delivered to be barged off the island. Every job gets at least three inspections: foundation, framing and final. Height is capped at 35 feet, and several zones limit structures to 15 percent of the lot. In the shoreland zone, new structures sit at least 75 feet from the upland edge of a coastal wetland, and the permit form warns that shoreland work may also need a Maine DEP permit.

Picture windows are large fixed units that frame a view and pour light into a room. Bay and bow windows project out from the wall, adding floor space and light from three or more directions. Both are heavier and more exposed than an ordinary window, so the structure, support, roof and flashing around them matter. The Cumberland Center colonial on this site received Andersen 400 Series bay, double-hung and picture windows.

• The opening, header and framing are checked; widening an opening may need a new header.
• Bay and bow units are supported with cables, brackets or a framed seat so they do not sag.
• The small roof over a bay is flashed into the wall and roofed or capped to match the house.
• Insulation goes into the seat and head so the projection is not a cold spot.
• Interior seat boards, casing and exterior trim are finished to match.

• A view you want to see more of from the main living space
• An old bay that sags, leaks at the roof, or feels cold at the seat
• Fogged glass in a large fixed unit
• A dark room that needs more daylight

• Size and configuration: picture, bay or bow, number of units
• Whether the rough opening changes size
• Support method and seat or roof finish
• Glass package and brand
• Interior finish carpentry

Every job is priced from a free on-site visit. Typical ranges for the trade are on our window replacement page, and the details of this service are on the bay and picture windows overview.

Back to the Long Island exterior services overview, or see every town on our Cumberland County service areas page.