Shutter BoysPlantation shutters in San Diego
Homes in San Diego
San Diego's 568,668 homes are a mix: 43% detached houses, 46% apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes and 10% townhouses and other attached houses.
The biggest building period was 1950 to 1979, which accounts for 43% of homes standing today; 19% are from 2000 or later. The median home dates from 1979. 47% of homes are lived in by their owners.
In nearby La Mesa, 7 miles away, 73% of homes were built before 1980, so San Diego's windows are on the whole newer. Nationally, San Diego's homes are older than those in 55% of the 881 US cities we have census figures for.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024. Estimates carry margins of error.
Apartments and condos
46% 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 HOA or building allows to show from outside before you order: most rules are about the colour seen through the glass.
Replacement windows
43% of homes went up between 1950 and 1979, and most of them have had their original windows replaced since. A replacement window often sits further into or out of the wall than the old one, so the depth you have for an inside mount may differ from window to window in the same house. Measure every opening rather than copying one.
Out-of-square openings
With 52% of homes built before 1980, 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 ¼ inch, add a mounting frame in the designer, or choose an outside mount so the shutter covers the uneven edges.
A whole house in San Diego
The most common home in San Diego has two bedrooms: 32% of homes. Three-bedroom homes make up another 26%. The median home has 4.5 rooms.
Apartments are the most common kind of home here. Across the US, the middle home among apartments in buildings of five or more units has 3 to 5 windows (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $900 to $2,000. For scale, that's about 0.2% of the median home value here, $906,700 (owners’ estimates, 2020–2024).
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 (bedrooms B25041, rooms B25018, value B25077); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, Table HC2.1 (windows). EIA RECS 2020, Table HC2.1
A typical home3–5 windows
All of them shuttered$900 to $2,000
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
21% of workers here worked from home in the 2020–2024 survey years, more than in 78% of the 881 US 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 92% of the 881 US cities we have figures for, and 52% of homes were built before 1980. 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.
Ages (B01001), working from home (B08301) and value (B25077): U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates, 2020–2024. Rankings compare the US cities we have figures for.
San Diego weather and your shutters
At San Diego Montgomery Fld, CA (1 mi away), August averages a high of 82°F and December a low of 45.3°F. No month averages a high above 85°F or a low below freezing.
About 16 days a year reach 90°F, 0 nights fall to freezing and 11.1 inches of precipitation falls, most of it around February and least in August.
Daylight runs from 14 h 19 min on the longest day to 9 h 59 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 81° above the horizon in June and 34° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, San Diego Montgomery Fld, CA (temperature) and San Diego Montgomery Fld, CA (precipitation, 1 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 67.3°F | 46°F | 2.3 in |
| Feb | 67.3°F | 46.9°F | 2.7 in |
| Mar | 68.5°F | 49.6°F | 1.6 in |
| Apr | 70.7°F | 52.4°F | 0.8 in |
| May | 72.1°F | 56.6°F | 0.3 in |
| Jun | 74.7°F | 60°F | 0.1 in |
| Jul | 79.8°F | 64°F | 0.1 in |
| Aug | 82°F | 65.3°F | 0 in |
| Sep | 81.4°F | 63.6°F | 0.2 in |
| Oct | 77.8°F | 57.8°F | 0.5 in |
| Nov | 72.7°F | 50.1°F | 0.9 in |
| Dec | 67.3°F | 45.3°F | 1.6 in |
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 San Diego
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 San Diego
- La Mesa 7 mi
- Santee 8 mi
- El Cajon 9 mi
- National City 11 mi
- Chula Vista 16 mi
- Encinitas 17 mi
More about shutters in San Diego
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using San Diego’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in San Diego
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in San Diego 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
Pick your look once, add every window, and see each one drawn and priced. Send it to us and we reply with your quote.