Shutter BoysPlantation shutters in Grand Rapids
Homes in Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids's 84,894 homes are a mix: 56% detached houses, 38% apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes and 5% townhouses and other attached houses.
More homes here were built before 1950 than in any later period we count: 46%. Only 11% date from 2000 or later. The median home dates from 1953. 54% of homes are lived in by their owners.
In nearby Wyoming, 6 miles away, 64% of homes were built before 1980, so Grand Rapids's windows are on the whole older. Nationally, Grand Rapids's homes are older than those in 84% 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.
Plaster walls and deep casings
46% 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.
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.
Apartments and condos
38% 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.
A whole house in Grand Rapids
The most common home in Grand Rapids has three bedrooms: 37% of homes. 17% have four bedrooms or more, and 19% have one or none. The median home has 5.6 rooms.
Detached houses are the most common kind of home here. Across the US, the middle home among detached houses has 10 to 15 windows (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $3,200 to $6,000. For scale, that's about 1.9% of the median home value here, $244,500 (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 home10–15 windows
All of them shuttered$3,200 to $6,000
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 windowsOne room at a time
Homes here cost less than in 79% of the 881 US cities we have figures for, and many owners do a house in stages. Start with the rooms where light and privacy matter most, usually bedrooms and the street-facing front, and keep the same louver size and colour so later rooms match. Your saved design keeps every size.
Young children at home
6.3% of people in Grand Rapids are under five, more than in 70% of the 881 US cities we have figures for. Shutters have no cords or chains at all: the louvers tilt with a rod or by hand, so there's nothing to hang within a child's reach. US rules for cords on custom blinds and shades are still being rewritten; ours never had any.
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.
Grand Rapids weather and your shutters
At E Grand Rapids, MI (2 mi away), July averages a high of 82.4°F and January a low of 17°F. Average lows sit at or below freezing from November to March.
About 9 days a year reach 90°F, 143 nights fall to freezing and 39.6 inches of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.
That's more freezing nights than in 90% of the 881 US cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 15 h 21 min on the longest day to 9 h on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 70° above the horizon in June and 24° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, E Grand Rapids, MI (temperature) and E Grand Rapids, MI (precipitation, 2 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30.5°F | 17°F | 2.7 in |
| Feb | 33.8°F | 17.8°F | 2.1 in |
| Mar | 44.1°F | 24.4°F | 2.6 in |
| Apr | 57.2°F | 34.7°F | 4.1 in |
| May | 69.3°F | 45.8°F | 4.4 in |
| Jun | 78.5°F | 56.3°F | 4 in |
| Jul | 82.4°F | 60°F | 3.3 in |
| Aug | 80.7°F | 58.1°F | 3.1 in |
| Sep | 73.6°F | 50.6°F | 3.5 in |
| Oct | 60.8°F | 40°F | 3.7 in |
| Nov | 46.9°F | 30.5°F | 3.3 in |
| Dec | 35.5°F | 23.2°F | 2.8 in |
Cold winters
With 143 freezing nights a year, warm room air meets cold glass for months. Shutters closed tight overnight hold that air against the window, so condensation can collect on the sill: tilt the louvers open in the morning, and wipe the sill on windows that often run wet.
Fitting them in Grand Rapids
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 Grand Rapids
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Grand Rapids’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Grand Rapids
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Grand Rapids 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.