Shutter BoysCalifornia shutters in Sarnia
Homes in Sarnia
Sarnia is a city of houses: of its 32,190 occupied homes, 67% are detached, 10% are semi-detached and row houses and 23% are apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes.
More homes here were built 1960 or earlier than in any later period we count: 36%. Only 11% date from 2001 or later. 68% of homes are lived in by their owners.
Its housing is much like Chatham-Kent's, 63 km away. Nationally, Sarnia's homes are older than those in 95% 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 71% 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.
Whole-house orders
With 67% of homes detached, most orders here cover a whole house: bedrooms, a patio door, perhaps a bay. Put every window in one list in the designer so the louver size and colour match from the street.
Replacement windows
35% of homes went up between 1961 and 1980, and most of them have had their original windows replaced since. A replacement window often sits further into or out of the wall than the old one, so the depth you have for an inside mount may differ from window to window in the same house. Measure every opening rather than copying one.
A whole house in Sarnia
The most common home in Sarnia has three bedrooms: 38% of homes. 27% have four bedrooms or more, and 12% have one or none. Homes average 6.9 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 1.1% of the median home value here, $400,000 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 77% 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.
Sarnia weather and your shutters
At Sarnia (2 km away), July averages a high of 26.5 °C and January a low of −8.2 °C. Average lows sit at or below freezing from December to March.
About 15 days a year top 30 °C, 131 days drop to 0 °C or below and 871 mm of precipitation falls, spread fairly evenly through the year.
That's more 30 °C days than in 76% of the 160 Canadian cities we have climate normals for.
Daylight runs from 15 h 22 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: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, Sarnia. Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | −0.9 °C | −8.2 °C | 56.5 mm |
| Feb | 0 °C | −7.9 °C | 47.7 mm |
| Mar | 5 °C | −3.7 °C | 56.9 mm |
| Apr | 11.9 °C | 1.5 °C | 79.3 mm |
| May | 18.7 °C | 7.4 °C | 85.2 mm |
| Jun | 24 °C | 13 °C | 92.5 mm |
| Jul | 26.5 °C | 16 °C | 80.4 mm |
| Aug | 25.5 °C | 15.3 °C | 70.9 mm |
| Sep | 22.2 °C | 11.3 °C | 84.1 mm |
| Oct | 15.4 °C | 6 °C | 78.4 mm |
| Nov | 8 °C | 0.4 °C | 79.5 mm |
| Dec | 2.1 °C | −4.4 °C | 60 mm |
Summer sun
On the 15 days a year above 30 °C, closed louvers keep direct sun off the glass and out of the room. In a window that takes afternoon sun, white and light paint finishes stay cooler to the touch than dark stains.
Cold winters
With 131 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.
Fitting them in Sarnia
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 Sarnia
- Chatham-Kent 63 km
- Strathroy-Caradoc 64 km
- Lakeshore 87 km
- London 88 km
- Windsor 94 km
- St. Thomas 95 km
More about shutters in Sarnia
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Sarnia’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Sarnia
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Sarnia 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.