California shutters in Prince Albert

Out-of-square openings

With 61% 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.

How to measure

Plaster walls and deep casings

24% 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.

How to install

Whole-house orders

With 65% 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.

Bay window shutters

Replacement windows

37% 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.

Choosing a louver size

One room at a time

Homes here cost less than in 96% 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.

Design your shutters

Young children at home

7% of people in Prince Albert are under five, more than in 96% of the 167 Canadian 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. Canada has limited cord length on corded coverings since May 1, 2021; ours never had any.

Cordless window coverings and child safety

Pricing a whole house at once

33% of homes here have four bedrooms or more. For a house that size, list every window in one go: type or paste the sizes, or upload them as a spreadsheet saved as CSV, and the designer prices each window and the total.

Design your shutters

Deep cold

January nights average −22.8 °C. Closed shutters trap a layer of still air against the glass, which keeps the room warmer, but the glass behind them gets colder too, and frost can form on the inside of older windows. Tilt the louvers open in the morning to let room air reach the glass, and wipe the sill if water collects.