Who comes
One person from ShutterLove, not a sales agent working to a commission target and not a stranger sent by a call centre. The same business that surveys your windows is the business that makes and installs the shutters, which matters mainly because there is nobody to pass the blame to later.
What we bring
- Physical louvre samples in 64mm, 76mm, 89mm and 114mm, so you can hold them against your own window.
- Material samples covering the painted and stained ranges, including the waterproof option for bathrooms.
- Colour and stain references, including the custom colour matching range.
- Hinge finishes: Vivid White, Natural White, Off White, Black, Brass, Antique Brass and Stainless Steel.
- Photographs of comparable installations, and a laser measure.
How the hour goes
We start by walking the rooms rather than opening a folder. What do you use each room for, when are you in it, what is the problem you are actually trying to solve? Privacy from a pavement is a different brief from glare on a television, and they lead to different specifications.
Then style. Standing at the window we will show you what full height, tier-on-tier and café style would each do to that opening, including what they would cost relative to each other. This is where most of the useful thinking happens.
Then the details: louvre size against your own light, material, colour against your existing woodwork rather than against the walls, tilt mechanism, hinge finish.
Then measuring. Every opening is measured to the millimetre, along with reveal depth, handle positions, whether the window opens inward, and how far out of square the recess is, which in most houses built before 1980 is more than people expect. Those numbers are what confirm the final price.
What you need to prepare
Nothing. Genuinely. You do not need to measure anything, you do not need to have chosen a style, and you do not need to clear the windowsills, though it helps if we can reach the glass.
The one thing worth doing is deciding in advance which rooms are definitely in scope and which are maybe. It keeps the visit focused and it keeps the quotation legible.
Pricing on the day
You will get a clear indication of cost while we are with you, based on the actual measurements rather than a guess. Our quotations include VAT, delivery and installation, and the survey is what turns an estimate into a real number for your windows.
A written quotation follows, broken down window by window with the style, material, louvre size and finish for each, so you can compare it properly against anything else you have been sent.
What happens after you say yes
A 60% deposit starts manufacture. Standard lead time is around nine weeks on express shipping, counted from the day that deposit is paid, and shaped or specialist panels can take longer, which we tell you up front rather than afterwards.
30% is due on delivery, and the final 10% once installation is complete and you are happy with it. Fitting is booked on a date that suits you once delivery is confirmed, and it is usually a single day for a typical house. The fitters adjust the panels on site and take all the packaging away with them.
Why the survey matters
A sunburst arch on a landing is a good illustration of what a proper survey is for. A shape like this is templated on site rather than measured with two numbers, because the arch is rarely a true radius and the panel has to follow the opening it is actually in. Nothing about that job could have been quoted accurately from a photograph.
From our projects
A sunburst arch on a landing
The window most companies quote around. Templated on site and made to fit it exactly.
See the project
