Del Webb upgrades: what to choose at design, and what to add after closing in a 55+ home

Updated October 25, 2026

The short version: choose what goes into the walls and floors at your design appointment, ask for wiring at the pre-drywall stage, and add window coverings after closing, picking ones you’ll find easy to use in ten and twenty years, not just this year.

Shutter Boys and Shade Boys aren’t connected with Del Webb. What follows about Del Webb comes from its own published pages, linked in the sources; the rest is our own advice.

How a Del Webb home comes together

Del Webb, PulteGroup’s brand for buyers 55 and over, sets out the same five steps as its sister brand Pulte: find your home, make design selections, build, close, and understand your warranty^[1]. At the design appointment you “choose the finishes that showcase your style”^[1]; Del Webb’s design page says you’ll work with experts who help you choose fixtures and finishes “room by room”, from kitchen cabinets and bathroom fixtures to flooring and lighting^[2].

During construction, Del Webb lists four touchpoints: an introduction to your Field Manager, a Pre-Drywall Orientation, a Pre-Closing Orientation, and a Celebration^[1]. Pulte’s description of the same process puts the pre-drywall review where “insulation, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical work” are checked before the walls close, and the celebration as a tour of the finished home^[7]. After closing, Del Webb schedules a Built-to-Last Checkpoint to review warranty work for one year^[1].

The Del Webb timeline, and where window coverings fit

The first two columns come from Del Webb’s and Pulte’s pages; the last is our suggestion.

A home designed to be easy, and window coverings that match

Del Webb’s own design guide for retirees talks about “wide open spaces for easy navigation”, owner’s suites with zero-entry showers, and new Smart Homes pre-wired with features like motion sensors and secure door locks^[3]. Its design page adds that the homes have accessible storage throughout^[2]. Window coverings deserve the same thinking. The question isn’t only how they look on move-in day, but whether they’ll still be easy to use with stiff hands, from a chair, or for a visiting grandchild who shouldn’t be near a cord.

Our checklist for 55+ homes (the reasoning is in our aging-in-place guide):

• No cords. Shutters have none: the louvers tilt and the panels swing open on hinges. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s advice to families is to go cordless with window coverings^[14].
• A tilt you can work easily. A front tilt rod gives you something to hold. Hidden tilt has no rod at all: move any louver and the rest follow. You choose the side the rod sits on, so put it nearest where you stand or sit.
• Motorize what you can’t reach. For a tall window or a clerestory over the great room, a motorized shade on a remote is easier than any shutter. Shade Boys’ motorized roller shades come with a remote and a rechargeable battery by default, with plug-in and hard-wired options.
• Glare from the patio door. A wide slider is often better with a patio door shade that stacks out of the way than with shutter panels that swing into the room. If you prefer shutters there, a 72 × 80 in sliding door in our basic build is $1,080 – $1,320.

What to choose at design, and what can wait

Our rule of thumb, not Del Webb’s advice:

• Choose at the design appointment: cabinetry and layout, flooring, tile, the shower and bath fixtures, lighting, and any structural option like the extra room or loft Del Webb’s guide mentions^[3]. These are hard to change once you’ve moved in.
• Ask for before drywall: fan-rated ceiling boxes, outlets near windows you may motorize, and blocking for anything heavy you’ll hang, like a TV mount. The pre-drywall review is the cheap moment to add a box or an outlet^[7].
• Leave until after closing: window coverings, much of the decor, and smart-home add-ons beyond what’s pre-wired. You’ll choose better once you’ve seen how the light falls in each room through a few seasons.

Fitting shutters without creating a warranty question

Del Webb offers a 10-year limited warranty^[1]. Its highlights sheet describes the 10-year structural part as covering “footings, bearing walls, beams, girders, trusses, rafters, bearings, columns, lintels, posts, structural fasteners, subfloors, and roof sheathing”, alongside shorter coverage for mechanical systems, water infiltration and leaks, and materials and workmanship; it says terms, conditions and exclusions apply, that the full terms are at delwebb.com, and that the sheet doesn’t apply to homes in California or New Jersey^[4]. Read the documents for your own home.

Damage caused while fitting anything to a window is generally yours, not the builder’s. So:

• Photograph every window before anything is fitted. Dated photos of clean frames settle who caused what.
• Get window problems fixed first. A sash that sticks or a lock that’s stiff is a warranty item, and it’s also the window you’ll use every day. Raise it before the Built-to-Last Checkpoint^[1] and before a shutter frame covers it.
• Have it fitted if you’d rather not climb a ladder. Our shutters are made to fit yourself, with an install guide; a handyman or installer can fit them for you just as well.

Your HOA, and what goes outside

Del Webb communities have homeowners associations, and their pages list what the dues pay for. At Del Webb Orlando that includes boulevard maintenance and landscaping, a 24-hour staffed entrance gate, common areas and the clubhouse and amenities^[5]. At Del Webb at Rancho Del Lago near Tucson, it includes private streets, weekly garbage and recycling pickup, and the recreation centre, sports courts, pools and trails^[6]. The HOA pages we read don’t describe architectural review, so ask your association for its guidelines before you add anything to the outside of the house. Inside window coverings are rarely restricted, but some associations ask that what shows from the street be white or neutral.

Matching shutters to Del Webb trim

Shutters look best when they read as part of the trim. White is our standard colour; if your trim isn’t close to it, the designer lets you name a paint colour to match. Ask your design studio for the trim paint brand, colour and sheen before closing; the same colour in a different sheen looks different on louvers.

Questions to ask your Del Webb design studio

These are questions, not claims about what Del Webb offers; answers vary by community.

• Which features on my plan are standard and which are upgrades?
• Does this community offer window coverings, and are they fitted before closing?
• What paint brand, colour and sheen is the interior trim?
• Which smart-home features are pre-wired, and can I add an outlet near a tall window before drywall?
• How deep are the window openings from the trim to the glass, and which way do the windows open?
• What does the HOA require for anything visible from the street or fixed outside?

After closing: what owners add

The first year is when most owners settle in with upgrades. Timing and approval below are our rule of thumb; your HOA’s rules decide anything on the outside.

What window coverings add up to

A single bedroom window of 36 × 60 in, in poplar with flat moulding and 3½ in louvers, is $400 – $500 before tax and shipping. Your home may have fewer windows than the example below, so price your own sizes in the designer; the stages show how a whole house builds up:

Each window is priced on its own, so the stages add up to the whole; splitting an order only means each part ships separately. Keep the louver size, moulding and colour the same from the first order so later rooms match. The designer prices your own sizes in a few minutes.

Outside, and the rooms where shades suit better

Shutter Boys makes wood shutters. Our sister company, Shade Boys, makes windproof motorized patio shades that run in side tracks, for a covered patio, fitted yourself or by a local installer, plus indoor roller and solar shades made to measure. A shade on a remote can take the late-afternoon sun off the patio without anyone climbing up to it. Anything fixed outside goes to your HOA first; Shade Boys’ HOA guide covers what boards usually look for on windows.

Del Webb communities near you

Del Webb builds in many states. Our state pages show local housing and weather figures and what they mean for shutters: Arizona and Florida, among others. Buying a Pulte home instead? See our Pulte guide.