Bay & Picture Windows in Old Orchard Beach, Maine

Census estimates put Old Orchard Beach's median home built around 1982, with about 23 percent of the housing predating 1940 and roughly 31 percent predating 1960. Much of the town's older stock sits close to the beach and the pier, where small cottages and converted motels have been rebuilt and re-clad repeatedly over decades of storm exposure and changing ownership. Ocean Park, the historic Chautauqua-era summer community on the town's south end, holds a cluster of older cottages with more traditional New England detailing. Away from the immediate shorefront, Old Orchard Beach's year-round neighborhoods run to more ordinary capes and ranches typical of coastal York County.

The town grew up around its beach and amusement pier starting in the late 1800s, and Palace Playland and the Pier still anchor the summer economy today. Ocean Park, founded as a Methodist and Chautauqua-style summer colony in 1881, holds a quieter cluster of cottages and a historic assembly hall on the town's southern end. Away from the beachfront and pier district, Old Orchard Beach's inland neighborhoods are more residential and year-round, holding the kind of ordinary coastal Maine housing that doesn't see the summer crowds at all.

Building permits in Old Orchard Beach go through the Code Enforcement Department at the Town Hall on Portland Avenue, covering building, electrical, plumbing and sewer-connection work through one office. Because the whole town sits on the coast, a Shoreland Overlay Zone extends 250 feet from the ocean's normal high-water line, with a stricter Highest Annual Tide overlay layered on top in areas like Ocean Park, both of which affect how close new construction and rebuilding can sit to the water. Not every property is on the town's municipal sewer system, so some permits still reference individual septic systems.

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.

For a deeper walkthrough of materials, code details and photos, see our full Bay & Picture Windows: The Structural Support Most Homeowners Never See guide.

Back to the Old Orchard Beach exterior services overview, or see every town on our service areas page.