How to: Measure for Hurricane Shutters
If you are interested in hurricane shutters you can get a free estimate from a professional hurricane shutters company like us. This is the best way to get an actual cost for your project. But if you want to get a ballpark idea you can do a rough measurement yourself using a few simple tools. Doing a rough measurement for hurricane shutters is fairly simple. You just need to measure all the openings around you home that you want to install shutters. This will give you a rough idea of the total square feet of shutters you need. Once you get the total square feet you can use our hurricane shutters cost guide to get a rough idea of the cost for different shutter types.
Below we run through the process and give some tips and tricks. You can also check out the explainer video to see the process.
A helpful tip before you begin
It is helpful to record the measurements you take on a notepad, phone, or somewhere else.
If you are using a notepad then create 4 columns, which should labeled as follows:
- Opening # or ID – the first column should be used to identify each opening, such as the location of the opening (ie. front left window) or a number
- Width of each opening – use the second column to record the width of each individual opening
- Measure in inches and divide the inches by 12 to get the width in feet (ex: a 48 inch wide opening DIVIDED BY 12 inches/foot = 4 feet wide)
- Height of each opening – the third column should be used to record the height of each opening
- Measure in inches and divide the inches by 12 to get the height in feet (ex: a 96 inch tall opening DIVIDED BY 12 inches/foot = 8 feet tall)
- Area of each opening – the last column is where you put the area or square feet (width in feet x height in feet) of each opening. This way you can add up all the areas at the end of the process.
- Using our examples above the total area would be 4 foot wide X 8 feet tall = 32 square feet opening
TIPS Measurements & math
You can record the measurements in whatever units you feel more comfortable with. However, the number you want to end up with is square feet. To be more exact, you want to get the total square feet of all the openings you want shutters for.
Measuring PRO Tip:
The easiest way to get the square footage of each opening is to do the following:
- Measure Opening Width: Measure in inches and divide the inches by 12 to get the width in feet (ex: a 48 inch wide opening DIVIDED BY 12 inches/foot = 4 feet wide)
- Measure Opening Height: Measure in inches and divide the inches by 12 to get the height in feet (ex: a 96 inch tall opening DIVIDED BY 12 inches/foot = 8 feet tall)
Math PRO Tips:
You can calculate the square footage by doing the following:
- Each Opening’s Square Feet: Multiply each opening’s width (in feet) by it’s heights (in feet)
- Total Square Feet of All Openings: Find the sum of all the individual openings’ square feet to get your total square footage.
Process to measure for hurricane shutters:
- Set your notebook up as instructed above in order to capture your measurements.
- Identify the openings you want to measure. This will most likely be all of your windows and doors.
- Unless you know that every windows is exactly the same it is a good idea to measure each opening to get a better idea.
- Pick one opening and measure it’s width. To to clarify, when we say width we mean the width of the masonry opening and not the width of the actual window itself. If you have a block construction home you will most likely have a window opening that encases your windows. And this opening will usually always be a little wider than the window itself. Measure the entire opening. For doors, measure to the outside of the door and any frame or the masonry opening if it has one. Record the width in your notebook under the width column.
- Next, measure the height of the opening. Again, this is the height of the masonry opening and not the height of the door/window itself. Record the height in your notebook under the height column.
- Repeat the process for each opening of your home. Record each measurement in your notebook under the appropriate column.
- Calculate the areas of each opening in square feet. The formula for area is width x height. See the note on how to calculate this above.
- Add all the individual areas up to get a total area or square feet for your accordion shutters.
Conclusion
This process will allow you to get an approximate (or rough) square footage for your hurricane shutters. You can use our Hurricane Shutters Cost Guide to get a ballpark range of the cost for different types of hurricane shutters.
An alternative to measuring for shutters yourself is to call a professional hurricane shutter company, like Eurex Shutters. We can do the measurements and math for you and give you an actual cost based on the square footage we measure. Each company will want to take their own measurements before providing an estimate anyways. So this could save you some time.
If you are in Southwest Florida request a a no-obligation, FREE estimate.
