Bay & Picture Windows in Portland, Maine

Views are the reason many Portland owners ask about bigger glass. From Munjoy Hill and the Western Promenade the outlook is the harbor and its islands, and on Peaks or Cliff Island a picture window facing the bay changes how a room feels. Bay windows were also a common feature of Victorian houses rebuilt after 1866, and many of those original bays are now drafty, sagging or rotted at the sill.

Large glass on an exposed wall has to handle wind load, so units facing the water need the right design pressure rating and solid framing around the opening. A bay window has its own small roof, which collects snow and ice in a 69-inch winter, and that roof needs proper flashing into the wall and a covering that sheds water rather than holding it. Orientation matters too: a big south or west window gains useful winter sun but can overheat a room in summer without the right glass. Replacing a bay on a historic-district house typically means matching its original projection and trim, and any change to its size or shape will be reviewed.

Portland has roughly 36,600 housing units, and the American Community Survey estimates a median year built of 1946. About 46 percent predate 1940 and about 61 percent predate 1960, while only about 16 percent date from 1960 to 1979 and about 11 percent from 2000 or later. Owners occupy about 47 percent of occupied homes, and single-family detached houses make up only about 36 percent of the stock, so multi-unit buildings are the norm rather than the exception. After the Great Fire of 1866 the peninsula was rebuilt largely in Victorian and Italianate styles, and wood-framed triple-deckers fill much of the older residential grid. Off the peninsula, Deering and the outer neighborhoods run to capes, colonials and mid-century houses. The census also counts nearly 1,900 seasonal units, many of them island cottages in Casco Bay.

The city runs from the Old Port and its restored brick warehouses to wood-frame neighborhoods like Munjoy Hill, the West End, Parkside and East Bayside, then out to Deering Center, Rosemont, Riverton and North Deering. Stroudwater, at the meeting of the Stroudwater and Fore rivers, grew around a mast landing founded by Thomas Westbrook in 1727. The Deering Street district holds architect-designed houses from the second half of the nineteenth century. Portland also governs Peaks, Great Diamond, Little Diamond, Cushing and Cliff islands. Peaks, about three miles from downtown by Casco Bay Lines ferry, swells by thousands of people each summer.

Building permits in Portland go through the city's Permitting and Inspections Department, which handles permits, licensing and inspections in one office. A new deck is structural work and needs a building permit; ask the department whether a given roof, siding or window job needs one before work starts. Portland also has a strong historic preservation ordinance. Properties in local districts including the West End, India Street, Congress Street, Deering Street, Stroudwater and the Old Port waterfront need a certificate of appropriateness for exterior alterations, reviewed by preservation staff or the Historic Preservation Board. Waterfront and island lots may also fall under shoreland zoning.

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 Portland exterior services overview, or see every town on our Cumberland County service areas page.