How to Measure Exterior Shutters

Shutters add curb appeal to a house.

A nice set of exterior shutters on each window of your house can add to the curb appeal and value of your property. Shutters that are too short or tall, or too wide or narrow, however, can distort the overall appearance. For a professional look, accurate measurements are a must and are easy to do.

Things You'll Need

• Metal tape measure
• Pencil
• Paper

Instructions

1. Start by making a rough sketch of the outside of your house with the location of each window. This will be used to record the measurements. Decide if you want your shutters to appear as though, if shut, they would cover just the window glass or the entire window including the trim.

2. Measure the width of the windows to the nearest 1/16 of an inch in two places using a metal tape measure. Take one measurement across the top and one across the bottom. This measurement will be just the window glass or the glass plus the trim depending on your decision in Step 1.

3. Divide the smaller of the two measurements by two if you have a single window. Divide by four if you have a double window and divide by six if it's a triple window. This will be the width of each shutter.
   Transfer this number to you reference diagram.

   For example, if the width of the window measures 36 inches and the height is 75 inches, the correct size for each exterior shutter will be 18 inches wide by 75 inches tall.

4. Measure the height of the windows to the nearest 1/16 inch. Take two measurements, one on the left side, top to bottom and one on the right side. Do not include the window sill in this measurement. Transfer the smaller of the two numbers to your reference diagram. Your diagram should now have all the measurements needed for ordering the shutters.

Tips & Warnings

• If the width measurement of a double window is closer to a single-window width, use the single-window shutter width measurement for that window.

• If a window's width measurement is larger than the height measurement, divide the width measurement by four.

References

• Sunbelt Shutters: How to Measure for your Exterior Shutters