Shutters in condos and HOA homes

Updated October 22, 2026

The short version: read your building’s rules before you order, send drawings with any approval request, measure each pane of a window wall on its own, and keep air moving across the glass in winter.

Condo corporations and homeowners’ associations often have rules on what window coverings look like from the street or the courtyard. Shutters are usually allowed, but the rules can cover colour, what shows from outside, and how they’re fixed. None of that is hard to get right, as long as you check before you order rather than after the panels arrive.

Who decides

Two things decide what you can put on your windows: the building’s own documents, and the law they sit under. The documents are the declaration, the by-laws and the rules in a condo, or the covenants and architectural guidelines in an HOA. They say what owners may change, and many say something about window coverings.

The law matters when your shutters touch something that isn’t yours. In a condo, that can be the window frame itself: whether it’s part of your unit or part of the common elements depends on your declaration. In Ontario, the Condominium Act, 1998 sets the process for owner changes to the common elements. An Ontario condo law firm summarises section 98: the change must be “consistent with the declaration and the Condo Act”, the board must approve it by resolution “before changes are made”, and the owner must “enter into a written agreement with the corporation”, which “is registered on title to the unit”^[1]. A property management firm puts the general rule more simply: “Owners generally need board approval before making additions, alterations, or improvements” to the common elements^[2].

Most shutter installations never get that far: they fix into the drywall return around the window, inside your unit, and the building only cares what they look like. But if the only solid fixing is the window frame, ask first. This is general information, not legal advice; your declaration and your property manager are the authority for your building.

What to check

• The declaration, by-laws and rules (or the HOA’s covenants and guidelines). Search them for “window coverings”.
• Whether the side facing the glass has to be white or a neutral colour.
• Whether you need written approval before installing anything, and how long approval takes.
• Whether you can drill into the window frame, or only into the drywall around it.
• Any rules on when work can be done, and on booking the elevator for deliveries.
• Whether the building has scheduled window or balcony door work coming up that would mean taking the shutters down.

What to send with an approval request

One thing to think about: a board that has to approve your shutters will look at them from the street. A white or neutral colour on every window keeps the approval simple, and white is our standard colour. You can still have any colour inside the room, on a feature wall’s trim.

HOA townhouses and houses

In an HOA community the question is usually narrower than in a condo tower, because the windows are part of your home. What the association tends to care about is what shows from the street: the colour you see through the glass, and whether every window on the front looks consistent. Many HOAs send exterior changes to an architectural review committee; whether interior window coverings need that step depends on your covenants and guidelines, so search them for “window treatments” or “window coverings” and ask the manager if they’re silent.

The same package works: the drawings and colour from your quote, and a line saying the shutters are interior. If the street side has to be white and you want colour inside, white shutters with a coloured room behind them are the usual answer.

Window walls and floor-to-ceiling glass

Condo windows are often tall, divided by metal mullions, with a door to a balcony in the same wall. Some practical rules:

• Measure each section of glass separately, mullion to mullion, three times each way. Window wall sections often differ in width from one to the next, even when they look the same.
• Use tier-on-tier on tall sections, so you can open the top for light and keep the bottom closed for privacy. On a low floor that faces another tower, that’s the arrangement you’ll use most.
• Next to the balcony door, a bypass track lets panels slide past each other instead of swinging into the room. Patio and balcony door shutters
• Check the depth between the glass and the drywall return; condo openings can be shallow, which points to narrower louvers or an outside mount. Choosing a louver size
• Check what sticks out: door handles, window locks and any operable vent sash need clearance from an open louver.

A one-bedroom condo, priced

Here’s a typical small condo order: a bedroom window, a living room window section and a balcony door, each in our basic build.

The three together: $2,210 – $2,710 in the US, or $3,170 – $3,880 CAD in Canada.

Regular prices for American poplar, before tax and shipping, from the same price list as your quote. The basic build is flat moulding, paint stage 1, 3½ in louvers. Each opening is priced at its size; the designer shows how the panels are split and opened for your own windows.

A window wall with several sections adds up section by section, so put each one into the designer at its own measured size rather than one overall width.

Condensation on condo glass

Condo glass runs wet in winter more than people expect: a small, well-sealed space with cooking, showers and people in it holds a lot of moisture. Natural Resources Canada explains that condensation forms when “moist air inside the home comes into contact with cooler surfaces”, and that it gets worse “as the weather gets colder and/or the inside humidity rises”^[3].

Window coverings play a part. NRCan notes that “closed drapes and blinds, and even nearby furniture can block air movement”, and recommends “proper air circulation near windows”^[3]. Shutters closed tight on a cold night do the same. So:

• Tilt the louvers open at night in the coldest weeks, even if the panels stay closed.
• Keep the suite’s ventilation running. NRCan’s advice, for homes that have one, is “Make sure your Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) is on”^[3].
• Wipe the sill and the bottom rail if water collects; don’t let it dry on the wood.

Shutters and window condensation, in more detail

Bathrooms and humid rooms

Our poplar shutters are fine in a condo bathroom with a working fan: run it during and after a shower, and tilt the louvers open afterwards. Inside a shower, or over a tub that gets soaked, wood isn’t the right choice. Our aluminum interior shutters, coming in 2027, are made for bathrooms and humid rooms.

Sun and glare

High floors get sun with nothing in the way, and a south- or west-facing window wall can make a room hard to use on a summer afternoon. Tilting louvers lets you keep the daylight and lose the glare. Each of our city pages shows how high the sun gets at noon in summer and winter there. Find your city

Delivery and installation day

• Book the elevator, and check whether the building wants deliveries through a service entrance.
• Check the building’s permitted hours for drilling before you plan the day.
• If any panels are long, as they can be for a window wall, measure the elevator and the turn into your hallway.
• Keep your approval letter handy in case the concierge asks.

How to install your shutters