Shutter BoysCalifornia shutters in St. John's
Homes in St. John's
St. John's's 49,300 occupied homes are a mix: 42% detached houses, 41% apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes and 17% semi-detached and row houses.
The biggest building period was 1961 to 1980, which accounts for 30% of homes standing today; 25% are from 2001 or later. 61% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Of the 4 Newfoundland and Labrador cities we have census figures for, St. John's has the highest share of older homes and the highest share of apartments. Its housing is much like Mount Pearl's, 4 km away. Nationally, St. John's's homes are older than those in 70% 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.
Out-of-square openings
With 52% 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
41% 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.
Semis and row houses
17% of homes share a wall with the next one. Their front windows face the street side by side with the neighbours', so many owners pick a louver size and a white or off-white finish that sit well beside the houses on either side. Bay windows on semis usually need a separate panel set for each face.
Plaster walls and deep casings
22% 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.
A whole house in St. John's
The most common home in St. John's has three bedrooms: 39% of homes. 25% have four bedrooms or more, and 11% have one or none. Homes average 6.6 rooms.
Detached houses are the most common kind of home here. Across Canada, the middle home has 6 to 10 windows (NRCan, 2007). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $2,700 to $5,700 CAD. For scale, that's about 1.4% of the median home value here, $306,000 CAD (owners’ estimates, 2021).
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (bedrooms, rooms and value from the 25% sample; counts randomly rounded); Natural Resources Canada, Survey of Household Energy Use 2007, Table 4.5a (windows). NRCan SHEU 2007, Table 4.5a
A typical home6–10 windows
All of them shuttered$2,700 to $5,700 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 87% 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.
St. John's weather and your shutters
At St. John's (West) (4 km away), July averages a high of 21.3 °C and February a low of −7.7 °C. Average lows sit at or below freezing from December to April.
About 0 days a year top 30 °C, 154 days drop to 0 °C or below and 1,381 mm of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.
Among the Newfoundland and Labrador cities we have climate normals for, St. John's has the most hot days, the most freezing days and the most precipitation.
That's more days at or below freezing than in 52% of the 160 Canadian cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 15 h 58 min on the longest day to 8 h 26 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 66° above the horizon in June and 19° in December.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, St. John's (West). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0.1 °C | −7.2 °C | 139.6 mm |
| Feb | −0.3 °C | −7.7 °C | 130.7 mm |
| Mar | 1.8 °C | −5.2 °C | 128.7 mm |
| Apr | 6.3 °C | −1.4 °C | 105.1 mm |
| May | 11.5 °C | 2.3 °C | 82.9 mm |
| Jun | 16.4 °C | 6.8 °C | 73.4 mm |
| Jul | 21.3 °C | 11.7 °C | 85.7 mm |
| Aug | 21.3 °C | 12.6 °C | 89.3 mm |
| Sep | 17.4 °C | 9.1 °C | 116.9 mm |
| Oct | 11.8 °C | 4.7 °C | 130.3 mm |
| Nov | 7 °C | 0.5 °C | 137.8 mm |
| Dec | 2.6 °C | −3.5 °C | 161.1 mm |
Cold winters
With 154 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
1,381 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 St. John's
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 St. John's
- Mount Pearl 4 km
- Paradise 9 km
- Conception Bay South 15 km
More about shutters in St. John's
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using St. John's’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in St. John's
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in St. John's 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.
Apply to the dealer program · Dealers in Newfoundland and Labrador
Price your windows
Choose Canada in the designer, enter millimetres or inches, and we reply with your quote in Canadian dollars.