Shutter BoysPlantation shutters in San Marcos
Homes in San Marcos
San Marcos's 32,557 homes are a mix: 52% detached houses, 27% apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes and 10% townhouses and other attached houses.
Much of San Marcos is new: 43% of homes were built 2000 or later, and only 27% before 1980. The median home dates from 1996. 64% of homes are lived in by their owners.
In nearby Vista, 6 miles away, 37% of homes were built before 1980, so San Marcos's windows are on the whole newer. Nationally, San Marcos's homes are newer than those in 78% 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.
Manufactured homes
10% of homes are mobile or manufactured homes, whose windows usually sit in thin walls with little depth inside the opening. An outside mount on a frame is the reliable choice there, fixed into the framing around the window rather than the thin wall panel.
Shallow openings
43% of homes were built in 2000 or later. Newer windows are often set close to the room side of the wall, and handles, cranks and alarm sensors stick out into the space a louver swings through. Measure the depth to the glass and to anything that sticks out; the designer checks it against the louver size you pick.
Rounded drywall corners
73% of homes here were built from 1980 on, and many houses of that era have rounded ("bullnose") drywall corners around the windows instead of square returns. A shutter can't sit flat against a curve: choose an outside mount with a frame that clears the corner, or an inside mount if the flat part of the opening is deep enough for your louvers.
San Marcos weather and your shutters
At Escondido #2, CA (5 mi away), August averages a high of 89°F and December a low of 43.8°F. Average highs reach 85°F from July to September.
About 54 days a year reach 90°F, 2 nights fall to freezing and 14 inches of precipitation falls, most of it around February and least in August.
That's more 90°F days than in 59% of the 881 US cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 14 h 21 min on the longest day to 9 h 58 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 80° above the horizon in June and 33° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Escondido #2, CA (temperature) and San Marcos 2.5 Ene, CA (precipitation, 2 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 68.8°F | 44.8°F | 2.3 in |
| Feb | 68.7°F | 45.9°F | 3.3 in |
| Mar | 71°F | 48.9°F | 2.2 in |
| Apr | 74.2°F | 51.8°F | 1.3 in |
| May | 76.7°F | 56.4°F | 0.4 in |
| Jun | 81.9°F | 60.2°F | 0.1 in |
| Jul | 87.2°F | 64.4°F | 0.1 in |
| Aug | 89°F | 65.3°F | 0 in |
| Sep | 86.9°F | 63.1°F | 0.1 in |
| Oct | 80.8°F | 57.3°F | 0.8 in |
| Nov | 74.6°F | 49.1°F | 0.9 in |
| Dec | 68°F | 43.8°F | 2.5 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 Marcos
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.
More about shutters in San Marcos
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 Marcos’s own figures.
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.