Shutter BoysPlantation shutters in Vancouver
Homes in Vancouver
Vancouver's 85,421 homes are a mix: 51% detached houses, 39% apartments or units in buildings of two or more homes and 8% townhouses and other attached houses.
The 1980s and 1990s built 33% of today's homes, more than any other period we count. 40% are older than that and 27% newer. The median home dates from 1988. 51% of homes are lived in by their owners.
In nearby Portland, 7 miles away, 63% of homes were built before 1980, so Vancouver's windows are on the whole newer. Nationally, Vancouver's homes are newer than those in 63% 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
39% 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.
A whole house in Vancouver
The most common home in Vancouver has three bedrooms: 39% of homes. 14% have four bedrooms or more, and 16% have one or none. The median home has 5 rooms.
Detached houses are the most common kind of home here. Across the US, the middle home among detached houses has 10 to 15 windows (EIA, 2020). Shuttering that many windows at a typical bedroom-window size comes to roughly $3,200 to $6,000. For scale, that's about 1% of the median home value here, $462,400 (owners’ estimates, 2020–2024).
Homes here are smaller than in 77% 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 home10–15 windows
All of them shuttered$3,200 to $6,000
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 windowsWorking from home
18% of workers here worked from home in the 2020–2024 survey years, more than in 66% of the 881 US cities we have figures for. Glare on a screen comes from direct sun and bright sky behind or beside it. Louvers tilted up throw daylight at the ceiling instead, so the room stays bright and the screen stays readable; wider louvers give the clearest view when you open them.
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.
Vancouver weather and your shutters
At Vancouver Pearson AP, WA (3 mi away), August averages a high of 81.6°F and January a low of 34.4°F. No month averages a high above 85°F or a low below freezing.
About 15 days a year reach 90°F, 45 nights fall to freezing and 44.3 inches of precipitation falls, most of it around December and least in July.
Daylight runs from 15 h 42 min on the longest day to 8 h 41 min on the shortest, and the midday sun stands 68° above the horizon in June and 21° in December.
Source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Vancouver Pearson AP, WA (temperature) and Vancouver 1.9 NE, WA (precipitation, 2 mi away). Daylight and sun height: calculated from the city’s latitude.
Monthly figures
| Month | Average high | Average low | Precipitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47°F | 34.4°F | 6.4 in |
| Feb | 51°F | 35.1°F | 4.3 in |
| Mar | 56.1°F | 38.4°F | 4.6 in |
| Apr | 61.2°F | 42.2°F | 3.4 in |
| May | 68.3°F | 48.2°F | 3.1 in |
| Jun | 73.5°F | 53°F | 2.1 in |
| Jul | 80.9°F | 57.1°F | 0.6 in |
| Aug | 81.6°F | 57.2°F | 0.6 in |
| Sep | 75.8°F | 52°F | 1.6 in |
| Oct | 63.7°F | 44.8°F | 4 in |
| Nov | 53°F | 39.4°F | 6.4 in |
| Dec | 46.5°F | 35°F | 7.2 in |
Dry summers, wet winters
Barely any of the year's precipitation falls in June, July and August; most comes in the cool months. Wood takes on moisture in the wet season and gives it back in the dry one, so expect the panels to feel slightly tighter in winter than in summer. Fit them in the season you're in, and leave the hinge screws a quarter turn from tight until they've been through both.
Fitting them in Vancouver
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.
More about shutters in Vancouver
Each page takes one question further (fitting your windows, room by room, sizes and colours, louvers, or how shutters compare with other choices), using Vancouver’s own figures.
For designers, contractors and stores in Vancouver
Interior designers, contractors, window covering stores, realtors and property managers in Vancouver 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.