How to measure for shutters

Shutters are one of those purchases where the price can feel like a mystery until someone has been round with a tape measure. Measuring your own windows first takes most of the mystery away. You can put real sizes into the cost calculator, you will know straight away if a quote looks out of line, and when the surveyor comes you can talk about the room rather than the numbers.

For budgeting and comparing quotes only. A professional installer should always re-measure before shutters are made.

Step by step

1. Get a steel tape and work in millimetres. A steel tape stays straight across a recess. Millimetres avoid rounding errors, and they are what most installers work in.
2. Decide inside or outside the recess. Inside the recess is the most common fit and looks neat. Outside, on the wall, can suit shallow recesses or windows with handles that stick out.
3. Measure the width three times. Inside the recess at the top, middle and bottom. Write down all three.
4. Measure the height three times. On the left, in the middle and on the right, from the top of the recess to the sill.
5. Use the smallest of each. For an inside-recess fit, the smallest width and smallest height are the figures that matter, because few recesses are perfectly square.
6. Measure the depth and the handles. Note how deep the recess is and how far the window handles stick out. Shutter panels need room to open without catching.
7. Write down anything in the way. Handles, radiators, sockets, tiled sills, curtain poles and alarm sensors can all change the design.

Inside or outside the recess?

Most shutters are fitted inside the window recess, sitting on a frame within it. That needs enough depth for the frame and for the louvres to tilt without hitting the glass or the handles. If the recess is shallow, or the handles stick out a long way, the installer may suggest fitting outside the recess on the wall, or a deeper frame. Write down the depth and the handle projection, and they can tell you at the survey.

Bay windows

Measure each section of the bay as if it were its own window, numbering them left to right, and note the angle where each section meets the next. A sketch from above, looking down on the bay, makes this much clearer for an installer. Bays often need extra frames, trims or battens, which is why they can cost more: see bay window shutter costs, or use the bay window planner to print a sheet on screen.

Turning measurements into a budget

Most installers price by the square metre of shutter area. Multiply the width by the height in metres (for example 1.2 m × 1.4 m = 1.68 m²) and put that into the cost calculator with the material and style you like. See plantation shutter prices for our indicative ranges per m², which are not a quote.

Questions

Book a free measuring survey Open the cost calculator