Plantation shutters in San Francisco

Plaster walls and deep casings

54% of homes date from before 1950, 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.

How to install

Apartments and condos

69% 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.

Patio door shutters

Out-of-square openings

With 76% 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.

How to measure

Renting?

62% of homes are rented. Shutters screw into the window frame or casing, so ask your landlord before you install; taking them down later leaves only screw holes to fill.

Working from home

31% of workers here worked from home in the 2020–2024 survey years, more than in 95% 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.

Choosing a louver size

Older homes, high values

Owners here value their homes higher than in 98% of the 881 US cities we have figures for, and 76% 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.

Repair or replace old shutters

A few windows and a door

41% of homes here have one bedroom or none, so many orders are a bedroom window, a living room window and a balcony door. Sliding doors take bypass or bifold panels; check your building's rules on what shows from outside first.

Shutters in condos

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.

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.

Choosing a louver size