Shutter BoysPlantation shutters in Paterson
Homes in Paterson
Apartments outnumber houses in Paterson: 80% of its 52,519 homes are in buildings of two or more units. Detached houses make up 16% and townhouses and other attached houses 4%.
More homes here were built before 1950 than in any later period we count: 45%. Only 12% date from 2000 or later. The median home dates from 1954. Most homes are rented: owners live in only 27%.
In Clifton, 4 miles away, 47% of homes are apartments, fewer than here. Nationally, Paterson's homes are older than those in 86% 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
80% 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.
Plaster walls and deep casings
45% 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 77% 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.
Renting?
73% 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.
A whole house in Paterson
The most common home in Paterson has two bedrooms: 37% of homes. Three-bedroom homes make up another 30%. 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 0.4% of the median home value here, $360,100 (owners’ estimates, 2020–2024).
Homes here are smaller than in 96% of the 881 US cities we have figures for: many orders are a few rooms, not a whole house.
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 windowsYoung children at home
8% of people in Paterson are under five, more than in 98% 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.
Paterson weather and your shutters
At Little Falls, NJ (4 mi away), July averages a high of 86.5°F and January a low of 21.6°F. Average highs reach 85°F in July and average lows sit at or below freezing from December to March.
About 22 days a year reach 90°F, 117 nights fall to freezing and 49.4 inches of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.
Among the New Jersey cities we have climate normals for, Paterson has the most freezing days.
That's more freezing nights than in 75% of the 881 US cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 15 h 7 min on the longest day to 9 h 14 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 73° above the horizon in June and 26° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Little Falls, NJ (temperature) and Hawthorne 1.0 Sse, NJ (precipitation, 2 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39.3°F | 21.6°F | 3.6 in |
| Feb | 41°F | 22.6°F | 3 in |
| Mar | 50.5°F | 30.7°F | 4.2 in |
| Apr | 62.6°F | 39.9°F | 4.3 in |
| May | 72.6°F | 50.5°F | 4 in |
| Jun | 81.7°F | 59.9°F | 4.6 in |
| Jul | 86.5°F | 65.3°F | 4.6 in |
| Aug | 83.8°F | 63.6°F | 4.7 in |
| Sep | 76.2°F | 56.3°F | 4.5 in |
| Oct | 65.2°F | 44°F | 4.2 in |
| Nov | 54.1°F | 35°F | 3.4 in |
| Dec | 44.2°F | 26.6°F | 4.3 in |
Cold winters
With 117 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.
Wet months
49.4 inches 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 Paterson
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 Paterson
- Clifton 4 mi
- Passaic 4 mi
- East Orange 11 mi
- West New York 12 mi
- Union City 12 mi
- Newark 13 mi
More about shutters in Paterson
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Paterson’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Paterson
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Paterson 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.