Short, practical videos covering the questions people ask most before they order — and the checks that are far cheaper to do now than to discover after your shutters are made. Every one is under a minute and a half.
Width at three points, height at three points, then use the smallest figure of each. We deduct nothing — our recommendation is that you allow 3mm, but the final figure is your decision, and whatever you enter is precisely what you will receive.
You never measure a bay — you measure each section on its own. Sketch it from above, number the sections left to right, take three points on each, and give every section the same height. Then tell us whether the bay is square, splayed or curved.
Most are not, especially in older houses — walls settle, plaster builds up in the corners and sills sag. Measure the width at the top, middle and bottom, and the height at the left, centre and right, then always use the smallest figure, because the panel has to pass the tightest point.
It depends on where your window handle is. Handle on the left and the panel opens to the right, so the hinges go on the right-hand side; handle on the right and it is the mirror image. You hinge away from the handle so the open panel never sits over the thing you need to reach.
Bi-fold means the panels are hinged to each other, so they concertina back as a group and leave the opening almost completely clear. T-posts mean separate panels divided by uprights, each opening on its own, with the post lining up behind your window's own frame.
You do not — you send us the shape. Trim cardboard against the opening until it drops into the recess cleanly with no gaps and no forcing, then mark TOP and ROOM SIDE before sending it. An unmarked template can be read four ways, and a mirrored arch is a remake.
Tell us. The eye lines up the horizontal bars across a wall, but we cannot see that from two sets of measurements. Say on the order which items should align and which bar should match what, and give us the drop if one opening starts lower than the other.
Lay any straight edge across the opening. If the handle sticks out past it, the louvres will foul. It is the most expensive mistake on a self-fit order, because a shutter made to your sizes cannot be altered afterwards — and it takes thirty seconds to rule out.
A shutter sits in the opening and the louvres rotate towards the room, so a shallow reveal stops them opening fully. Check the depth before you order — and if it is not there, a face-fit Z frame puts the panel in front of the opening instead.
Two independent panels stacked one above the other, each opening and tilting on its own. Close the bottom tier to the street for privacy and leave the top open for light — something a single full-height panel cannot do at once.
They cover the lower portion and leave the top clear — privacy at eye level from the street, daylight from the open upper window all day. When ordering, enter the height of the shutter you want covered, not the full height of the window.
They do. They are hinged into the frame exactly like our louvred shutters, so fold them back and the window is completely clear. The difference is when they are shut: with no louvres to tilt, closed means closed — the darkest, most private option available.
A classic front rod sits on the face of the panel and turns every louvre at once. A hidden tilt moves the mechanism inside the stile, so the panel reads as one clean surface. Neither closes better and neither lasts longer — it is purely how you want it to look.
The louvre is the moving blade, and three widths are available: 63mm, 76mm and 89mm. The choice changes how the shutter looks far more than how it works — all three tilt and close the same way. 63mm gives the finest, most period face; 89mm interrupts the window least.
The frame is fixed to the opening and never moves. The panel is hinged to it. The panel's border is stiles (vertical) and rails (horizontal), a mid-rail is a divider across the middle, the louvres are the moving slats, and the tilt rod links them so they turn together.
Assemble the frame flat on the floor, never in the opening. Offer it up, check it with a spirit level, and start every screw before you drive any of them home. Hang the panels and prove they swing without catching — if one snags, the frame is not yet square.
Posts are cut to the angles you give us and assembled flat as one piece — the neatest finish and the least forgiving, because errors add up around the bay. Individual frames take longer and show more upright, but nothing depends on an angle being exact.
Measure from the sill to the centre of the meeting rail and tell us, and the shutter is made with a matching mid-rail so the two line up. Then the trap: the sides of a sash box are hollow, where the counterweights run, so a fixing there has nothing to bite on.
Yes, but they are generally face-mounted onto the moving door frame so they travel with the door. The measurement that decides the layout is how far the handle swings when you operate it, not just how far it projects — the shutter has to clear that arc completely.
Yourself, in seconds. There is a tension screw at the louvre pivot on the side of every panel. Clockwise stiffens so they hold position, anticlockwise loosens. Turn a quarter-turn, re-test, repeat — far easier than undoing an overtightened panel.
Mostly just dust them. For marks, a cloth wrung out in warm water with a drop of mild washing-up liquid, then a dry cloth — wrung out is the important part, damp and never wet. Never solvents, bleach or abrasives; they dull painted and timber finishes for good.
No. No wall is perfectly flat and no opening is perfectly square, so a gap is a finishing job. Up to about 8mm, run a bead of decorator's caulk down the joint and smooth it off. Wider than that, dress it with a 20mm trim first, then caulk the trim's own edges.
Everything up to this point is reversible; the moment a bit goes into a wall it is not. Scan the drilling paths for pipes and cables along every line, glasses on, dust sheets down, then dry fit and prove the corners lock cleanly and the top is level before anything is driven home.
If any step remains unclear, review the relevant measuring guide before ordering. Shutters are made to the measurements submitted, so the final measurement check remains the customer's responsibility.
Made to your measurements — bespoke orders carry no 14-day cancellation right. Covered by our guarantee — see the guarantee terms.
