Shutter BoysCalifornia shutters in Saanich
Homes in Saanich
Saanich's 48,050 occupied homes are a mix: 47% detached houses, 43% apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes and 10% semi-detached and row houses.
The biggest building period was 1961 to 1980, which accounts for 32% of homes standing today; 14% are from 2001 or later. 69% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Of the 33 British Columbia cities we have census figures for, Saanich has the third-highest share of older homes. In Victoria, 3 km away, 79% of homes are apartments, more than here. Nationally, Saanich's homes are older than those in 77% of the 167 Canadian cities we have census figures for.
Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population. Period of construction and tenure come from the 25% sample; counts are randomly rounded.
Out-of-square openings
With 56% of homes built in 1980 or earlier, many openings have had decades to settle. Measure each one's width at the top, middle and bottom, and both diagonals. If the diagonals differ by more than about 6 mm, add a mounting frame in the designer, or choose an outside mount so the shutter covers the uneven edges.
Condos and apartments
43% of homes are in buildings of two or more units. Balcony and patio doors suit bypass or bifold panels rather than hinged ones, which need floor space to swing. Check what your condo corporation allows to show from outside before you order: most rules are about the colour seen through the glass.
Plaster walls and deep casings
24% of homes date from 1960 or earlier, when walls were plaster on lath and windows sat in deep wood casings. Plaster cracks if you drive screws carelessly: drill a pilot hole, use fixings made for plaster, and fix into the casing or the framing behind it. A deep casing is good news for an inside mount; measure its depth before you choose a louver size.
A whole house in Saanich
The most common home in Saanich has four or more bedrooms: 32% of homes. Large houses are common too: 32% have four bedrooms or more. Homes average 6.3 rooms.
Detached houses are the most common kind of home here. Across Canada, the middle home has 6 to 10 windows (NRCan, 2007). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $2,700 to $5,700 CAD. For scale, that's about 0.5% of the median home value here, $930,000 CAD (owners’ estimates, 2021).
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (bedrooms, rooms and value from the 25% sample; counts randomly rounded); Natural Resources Canada, Survey of Household Energy Use 2007, Table 4.5a (windows). NRCan SHEU 2007, Table 4.5a
A typical home6–10 windows
All of them shuttered$2,700 to $5,700 CAD
Every window priced as a 36 × 48 in opening in our basic build (flat moulding, paint stage 1, 3½ in louvers), before tax and shipping. Your windows will differ; the designer prices each one.
Price your own windowsWorking from home
27% of workers here worked from home on census day in May 2021, during the pandemic, more than in 77% of the 167 Canadian cities we have figures for. Glare on a screen comes from direct sun and bright sky behind or beside it. Louvers tilted up throw daylight at the ceiling instead, so the room stays bright and the screen stays readable; wider louvers give the clearest view when you open them.
Older homes, high values
Owners here value their homes higher than in 87% of the 167 Canadian cities we have figures for, and 56% of homes were built in 1980 or earlier. If an older house still has good wood shutters, repair them before you replace them; if not, poplar painted to match the trim suits original casings.
Pricing a whole house at once
32% of homes here have four bedrooms or more. For a house that size, list every window in one go: type or paste the sizes, or upload them as a spreadsheet saved as CSV, and the designer prices each window and the total.
Ages, place of work and value: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population. Rankings compare the Canadian cities we have figures for.
Saanich weather and your shutters
At Victoria (University) (5 km away), July averages a high of 23.7 °C and February a low of 2.9 °C. No month averages a high above 29 °C or a low below freezing.
About 3 days a year top 30 °C, 19 days drop to 0 °C or below and 661 mm of precipitation falls, most of it around November and least in July.
Daylight runs from 16 h 7 min on the longest day to 8 h 18 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 65° above the horizon in June and 18° in December.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, Victoria (University). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8.2 °C | 3.4 °C | 109.6 mm |
| Feb | 8.8 °C | 2.9 °C | 59.6 mm |
| Mar | 11 °C | 3.9 °C | 52.6 mm |
| Apr | 14 °C | 5.5 °C | 35.6 mm |
| May | 17.9 °C | 7.9 °C | 29.2 mm |
| Jun | 20.6 °C | 10.2 °C | 19.7 mm |
| Jul | 23.7 °C | 11.7 °C | 10.7 mm |
| Aug | 23.5 °C | 11.8 °C | 15.6 mm |
| Sep | 20 °C | 10.1 °C | 30.4 mm |
| Oct | 14.3 °C | 7.2 °C | 77.2 mm |
| Nov | 10.3 °C | 4.7 °C | 123.2 mm |
| Dec | 8 °C | 3.1 °C | 97.8 mm |
Dry summers, wet winters
Barely any of the year's precipitation falls in June, July and August; most comes in the cool months. Wood takes on moisture in the wet season and gives it back in the dry one, so expect the panels to feel slightly tighter in winter than in summer. Fit them in the season you're in, and leave the hinge screws a quarter turn from tight until they've been through both.
Fitting them in Saanich
Shutter Boys shutters are made for you to fit yourself: an inside or outside mount takes a drill, a level and our step-by-step guide. If you'd rather hire someone, a finish carpenter or blinds installer can fit them; ask on your quote and we'll tell you if we know one near you. You arrange and pay the installer directly.
Near Saanich
- Victoria 3 km
- Langford 10 km
- North Cowichan 48 km
- Delta 74 km
- White Rock 76 km
- Richmond 80 km
More about shutters in Saanich
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Saanich’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Saanich
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Saanich can sell or refer Shutter Boys shutters: dealers buy at trade pricing with a protected area; referral partners earn a fee on each client they send. No fee to join.
Price your windows
Choose Canada in the designer, enter millimetres or inches, and we reply with your quote in Canadian dollars.