Shutter BoysCalifornia shutters in Saint John
Homes in Saint John
Saint John's 31,825 occupied homes are a mix: 40% detached houses, 48% apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes and 10% semi-detached and row houses.
More homes here were built 1960 or earlier than in any later period we count: 36%. Only 14% date from 2001 or later. 54% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Of the 5 New Brunswick cities we have census figures for, Saint John has the highest share of older homes and the highest share of apartments. In nearby Fredericton, 91 km away, 48% of homes were built in 1980 or earlier, so Saint John's windows are on the whole older. Nationally, Saint John's homes are older than those in 93% 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.
Plaster walls and deep casings
36% 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.
Out-of-square openings
With 70% of homes built in 1980 or earlier, 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 6 mm, add a mounting frame in the designer, or choose an outside mount so the shutter covers the uneven edges.
Condos and apartments
48% 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 condo corporation allows to show from outside before you order: most rules are about the colour seen through the glass.
A whole house in Saint John
The most common home in Saint John has three bedrooms: 35% of homes. 17% have four bedrooms or more, and 16% have one or none. Homes average 5.8 rooms.
Apartments are the most common kind of home here. No Canadian survey counts windows by type of home; in the US, the middle apartment in a building of five or more units has 3 to 5 (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $1,300 to $2,900 CAD. For scale, that's about 1.2% of the median home value here, $174,000 CAD (owners’ estimates, 2021).
Homes here are smaller than in 96% of the 167 Canadian cities we have figures for: many orders are a few rooms, not a whole house.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (bedrooms, rooms and value from the 25% sample; counts randomly rounded); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, Table HC2.1 (apartment windows). EIA RECS 2020, Table HC2.1
A typical home3–5 windows
All of them shuttered$1,300 to $2,900 CAD
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 any other of the 167 Canadian 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.
Ages, place of work and value: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population. Rankings compare the Canadian cities we have figures for.
Saint John weather and your shutters
At Saint John (13 km away), July averages a high of 23 °C and January a low of −13.2 °C. Average lows sit at or below freezing from November to April.
About 1 days a year top 30 °C, 170 days drop to 0 °C or below and 1,271 mm of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.
Among the New Brunswick cities we have climate normals for, Saint John has the most precipitation.
That's more days at or below freezing than in 74% of the 160 Canadian cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 15 h 39 min on the longest day to 8 h 44 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 68° above the horizon in June and 21° in December.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, Saint John. Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | −2.5 °C | −13.2 °C | 116.1 mm |
| Feb | −1.6 °C | −12.6 °C | 91.9 mm |
| Mar | 2.6 °C | −7.7 °C | 107.3 mm |
| Apr | 8.8 °C | −1.6 °C | 100.2 mm |
| May | 15.3 °C | 3.5 °C | 93.9 mm |
| Jun | 20 °C | 8.1 °C | 86.8 mm |
| Jul | 23 °C | 11.6 °C | 89.5 mm |
| Aug | 23 °C | 11.2 °C | 73 mm |
| Sep | 18.8 °C | 7.4 °C | 108.8 mm |
| Oct | 13 °C | 2.6 °C | 138 mm |
| Nov | 6.9 °C | −2 °C | 138.2 mm |
| Dec | 1.3 °C | −8.3 °C | 127.6 mm |
Cold winters
With 170 days at or below freezing 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.
Wet months
1,271 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.
Fitting them in Saint John
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 Saint John
- Fredericton 91 km
- Riverview 130 km
- Moncton 134 km
- Dieppe 139 km
More about shutters in Saint John
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Saint John’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Saint John
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Saint John 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
Choose Canada in the designer, enter millimetres or inches, and we reply with your quote in Canadian dollars.