How to Measure for Plantation Shutters

A steel tape measure (cloth tapes stretch and read short on long windows).

A notebook or a phone note for recording figures per window. Sketch each window on a separate row so the numbers do not get mixed up.

For bay windows: bring a torch. Reveal corners are often darker than the centre and you will want to see them properly.

Measure the full width of the opening at three places: top, middle, and bottom. Record the smallest of the three. Window openings are rarely perfectly square and we always size the shutter to the smallest dimension.

Measure the full height of the opening at three places: left, middle, and right. Again, record the smallest of the three.

Write the dimensions in millimetres, not inches or feet. Plantation shutters are specified in mm, and we take final survey measurements before manufacturing.

Reveal depth is how far back the glass sits from the front face of the wall. It determines whether the shutter can sit inside the reveal (a recessed fit) or has to overlap the wall (a face-fit frame).

Measure from the front of the wall to the front of the window frame or sash. Anything 60mm or deeper is comfortable for a recessed fit. Below 60mm we usually recommend a face-fit frame so the shutter clears handles, locks, and the window itself.

On sash windows, also measure from the front of the wall to the sash meeting rail - this is where the handle catches sit and is the tighter constraint.

Bay windows are several windows sharing a corner. Measure each face individually - width, height, reveal depth - and note the angle between adjacent faces (90 degrees for a square bay, 30 to 60 for an angled Victorian bay).

Photograph each face from inside the room and label the photos as you go. The corner geometry is the part we need to confirm at survey before manufacturing.

Window handles: where they are, how far they project into the room, and whether the shutter will need clearance to close fully past them.

Window opens: which way do the windows open inward (casements, tilt-and-turn)? The shutter has to clear the window operation, not just the frame.

Trickle vents, sensors, alarm contacts: these need to be considered for fixings and clearance.

Deep tiled sills, radiators below the window, or window seats: anything that affects how a frame meets the wall on the bottom edge.

Your rough measurements give us a starting point and let you use the price calculator with realistic dimensions. They are not what we manufacture to.

At survey we take our own measurements with a laser distance meter, confirm reveal squareness, plumb the frame against the wall, and finalise the spec. A shutter built to the wrong dimension has to be remade, which costs us, so we always re-measure.