How to Measure for Exterior Vinyl Shutters
- 1). Decide what type of shutter you want accenting your windows. Ask yourself if you want them to look functional, so that they would sit inside the window frame if closed, or just decorative. Look around your neighborhood to see the kinds of shutters common to your area and if you want to fit in with that look. Think about the character of your home, determining whether you are trying to go for the historic look as opposed to a modern look.
- 2). Measure the width of all of your windows that you will be shuttering. Plan on installing the same width of shutters for all windows since you want a uniform look. Average out the window width of your windows by adding all the widths and dividing that number by the number of windows. Find a shutter that will be between 25 and 30 percent of that average in width, unless you are trying to achieve the historic look of a real shutter, in which case try for closer to 50 percent of the average width.
- 3). Find the height of your windows from the top of the exterior trim to the bottom to find the height of your shutters. Each window needs shutters that are the exact height of the window frame, not an average as in the width.
- 4). Plan on functional shutters being half the width of the actual window and as tall as the window is high. Measure in three places in case the window opening is not perfectly square. Use the smallest measurement of the three taken.
