How are shutters fitted onto Sash windows?
If you have a sash window that slides up and down and it’s fitted within a recess, it’s treated like a normal window. So the shutter frame could be screwed directly to the sash window or fixed sideways into the recess.
Most sash windows have a decorative architrave that surrounds them which is flush with the wall. With this design, the shutter frame is mounted on the box frame sash just inside the architrave.
With this style fitting, when you open the shutters up, it is possible to fold them flat against the wall.
As the shutter fits onto the Sash windows, it’s important to keep the frame depth as small as possible so it does not protrude. So using a blackout frame for example will not look as good on a Sash window due to the large 85mm deep frame it has.
If your sash window has glazing bars within the glass dividing it into sections, your shutters should match, so two glazing beads would create three panes of glass, so you would need three shutters. One shutter would open on its own, the other two would need to be bi-folded.
If you had three glazing beads, you could either have two shutters as they would meet in the middle over the centre glazing bead, or for a more traditional look you could have four shutters. Four shutters would need to be bi-folding, so two folding left and two folding right.
Sash windows are normally taller than they are wide, so using a halfway middle rail is popular. A rail will divide the louvres in half allowing you to tilt the louvres above and below the rail independently, a rail provides a more traditional look.
A lot of customers are choosing a split in the hidden tilt mechanism rather than a horizontal dividing rail, this still gives you the option to tilt the louvres independently but also provides more light and a simpler modern look.
When using dividing rails in your shutter design, it’s important to remember that the final height of the rail might not be inline with the feature on your window. The final height will depend on the louvre size and order height, as there is only a certain amount of louvres that can be fitted within a shutter, so rail heights can vary by about half a louvre size.
Just be aware of the Sash pulls at the bottom of the window, ie the handles used to slide the sash up, normally they are fitted down low and fit within the bottom rail of the shutter so won’t affect the louvres tilting.
They can be larger or fitted up higher and in some cases when the window is slid open, the handles can hit the louvres, in this case, you would just slide the window into such a position that they don’t hit.
