Shutter BoysCalifornia shutters in Vancouver
Homes in Vancouver
Apartments outnumber houses in Vancouver: 80% of its 305,335 occupied homes are in buildings of two or more units, 31% of all homes in buildings of five or more storeys. Detached houses make up 15% and semi-detached and row houses 5%.
Much of Vancouver is new: 30% of homes were built 2001 or later, and only 43% in 1980 or earlier. 45% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Of the 33 British Columbia cities we have census figures for, Vancouver has the highest share of apartments. In West Vancouver, 8 km away, 39% of homes are apartments, fewer than here. Nationally, Vancouver's homes are older than those in 52% 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.
Condo towers
31% of homes are in buildings of five storeys or more, where floor-to-ceiling window walls are common. Tier-on-tier panels let you open the top for light and keep the bottom closed for privacy, and a mounting frame gives the panels a square edge on glass that runs wall to wall. Many buildings ask you to book the elevator for deliveries and keep to set work hours, so check with management before install day.
Plaster walls and deep casings
20% 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.
Vancouver weather and your shutters
At Vancouver (Harbour) (4 km away), July averages a high of 23 °C and December a low of 3.2 °C. No month averages a high above 29 °C or a low below freezing.
About 1 days a year top 30 °C, 17 days drop to 0 °C or below and 1,538 mm of precipitation falls, most of it around November and least in July.
Daylight runs from 16 h 15 min on the longest day to 8 h 11 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 64° above the horizon in June and 17° in December.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, Vancouver (Harbour). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7.4 °C | 3.3 °C | 236.6 mm |
| Feb | 8.4 °C | 3.3 °C | 117 mm |
| Mar | 10.5 °C | 4.6 °C | 162.5 mm |
| Apr | 13.9 °C | 6.9 °C | 117.7 mm |
| May | 17.8 °C | 10.2 °C | 72.6 mm |
| Jun | 20.2 °C | 12.8 °C | 65.7 mm |
| Jul | 23 °C | 14.9 °C | 43.5 mm |
| Aug | 23 °C | 14.8 °C | 48.6 mm |
| Sep | 19.4 °C | 12.1 °C | 71.4 mm |
| Oct | 13.9 °C | 8.6 °C | 156.8 mm |
| Nov | 9.7 °C | 5.3 °C | 245.2 mm |
| Dec | 7.1 °C | 3.2 °C | 199.9 mm |
Wet months
1,538 mm of precipitation a year keeps the air damp for long stretches. Steam and condensation are hard on any joint, so in kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms keep the air moving and wipe water off the sill before it sits.
A mild year
Few days here are very hot or very cold, so louvers spend most of the year on everyday work: angling daylight off the TV, giving privacy from the street, and opening wide on a fine morning. That makes louver size more a matter of view than of shade; bigger louvers leave more open glass.
Fitting them in Vancouver
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 Vancouver
- West Vancouver 8 km
- Burnaby 10 km
- Richmond 11 km
- New Westminster 16 km
- Delta 20 km
- Port Moody 21 km
More about shutters in Vancouver
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Vancouver’s own figures.
Price your windows
Choose Canada in the designer, enter millimetres or inches, and we reply with your quote in Canadian dollars.