Plantation shutters for the vertical sashes on Spratt Hall Road terraces

A terrace sash is narrower than a villa bay, so a neat pair of full height panels inside the reveal is the usual answer, and café style is the alternative if you want daylight above eye level. Redbridge’s Wanstead Village enhancement scheme calls the Victorian terraces on Spratt Hall Road a highlight of the area and says their original windows “are predominantly vertical sliding sashes with various patterns of glazing bar”.

Houses in a row sit close to the pavement. Café style shutters cover only the lower half of the window, from the sill up. You get privacy where people look in and clear glass above.

Two checks on a terrace:

1. How far the sash sits back from the face of the wall. This decides whether the frame can sit inside the reveal.
2. Whether the window next door is the same size. Houses in a terrace often are not, even when they look alike from the street.

Choosing shutters for the canted and square bays on early 1900s semis near Leicester Road

Full height shutters with a mid-rail are usually the cleanest fit for a bay with angled sides. Wanstead Grove’s appraisal describes two-storey houses built in the early twentieth century, mostly semi-detached, in the area that includes the Counties Estate roads such as Leicester Road, Buckingham Road, Rutland Road, Warwick Road, Hereford Road and Gloucester Road. It says “most houses have canted or square bay windows”.

In a canted bay, each face is a separate panel set at an angle. That means:

• We measure every face on its own, and the angles between them
• The side panels need to fold clear of the front ones, so the whole bay can open
• A mid-rail puts a rail at the same height all the way round, which looks tidy from the street

A square bay is simpler, but each side is still measured separately. Our guide to blinds for bay windows compares shutters with other options if you are still deciding.

How do shutters work with casement windows on Arts and Crafts houses?

They work well if the handle and hinge side are planned for. A casement swings open on hinges, so a shutter has to leave room for the window to move or for you to reach the handle. The Wanstead Grove appraisal says casement windows “are common in the area particularly on the Arts and Crafts style buildings”, and it points to Nos. 57 to 63 Nutter Lane as a good local example of the Arts and Crafts style. Aldersbrook’s own appraisal also notes casements with mullions, the vertical bars, on later houses there.

In practice:

• A window that opens outwards leaves the room side clear, so a panel can sit close to the glass.
• A window that opens inwards needs more clearance, so we may suggest a face fit on the wall around the opening.
• With a mullion, one set of panels can often cover each pane, so you can open one side only.

We decide between fitting inside the recess and fitting on the wall around it once we have seen the window.

Shutters for a flat above a High Street shop

If your flat sits above a shop on Wanstead High Street, Nightingale Lane or Cambridge Park, café style or full height shutters usually fit best, and uPVC frames upstairs are common. Redbridge’s enhancement scheme records the “replacement of original timber casements and sashes by PVCU windows to the upper floors of these older parades”. The Wanstead Grove appraisal also describes shops on Nightingale Lane with homes above.

A flat raises different questions from a house:

• You may be looking across at a flat opposite, or down to a bus stop. Café style keeps the lower half private and the sky view open.
• A uPVC frame can be shallower than an old timber one, so we check how much room the panels have to turn.
• If you rent or hold a lease, fixing into the frame or wall often needs a written yes from the landlord or managing agent. Ask first.

Our shutters range across East London shows every style, including sliding shutters for patio and French doors if you have a door onto a balcony.

Questions to ask before ordering for a listed or steel windowed block

Ask whether your building is listed, and ask your managing agent before you order. The Wanstead Grove appraisal says The Shrubbery on Grosvenor Road was built in 1935, is Art Deco, and is now Grade II listed. It also says “the majority of the flats retain their green painted Crittall windows”. Crittall windows have steel frames.

That raises three questions:

• Listing. Redbridge Council says that when a building is listed, the entire building is protected, including the interior, and it is a criminal offence to alter a listed building without listed building consent. Shutters are screwed into the frame or wall, so ask the council before you go ahead.
• The lease. Flats in blocks are usually leasehold or rented, and many leases cover windows. Ask the managing agent.
• The frame. Steel frames are slimmer than timber and may leave little depth. We look at that at the visit before we suggest a style.

Modern blocks of flats at the west end of Grosvenor Road are described separately. For those the lease is the main thing to check, and the council can tell you if you are unsure about listing.

Do Article 4 directions in Wanstead stop you fitting shutters indoors?

Not by what the council’s own documents say, but ask the planning team about your address before you order. Redbridge says an Article 4 direction “creates extra planning controls in particular locations”, and the changes it lists are outside ones: new porches, replacement windows and doors, replacement roof coverings and exterior painting. Shutters sit inside your home, so they are not on that list. Where the rules usually bite is if you change the windows themselves.

These are the Wanstead directions we found published on the council’s website. We have read the documents, not the current status of each, so check before relying on them.

None of the three documents mentions interior works. Where a building is listed, the council treats the inside as protected too, so that is the case where you need a clear answer first. Whatever your street, phone Redbridge’s planning team or use its online conservation area map before you order, and tell your landlord if you rent. That is the only answer that covers your address.

Where we measure and fit in Wanstead, Snaresbrook and Aldersbrook

We visit homes across E11 and E18, from Wanstead High Street to Snaresbrook and Aldersbrook. Free measuring and free fitting apply anywhere in London, and we have worked across East London for over 10 years from our base in Dagenham.

Streets named in the council’s documents show how mixed the housing is:

• Wanstead Grove area: Grosvenor Road, Grove Park, The Avenue, Nutter Lane, Nightingale Lane and the Counties Estate roads
• Wanstead Village: Spratt Hall Road, Wanstead Place, The Green and Cambridge Park
• Snaresbrook: The Drive, which the council’s Snaresbrook enhancement scheme describes as lined with detached houses of varied size
• Aldersbrook: Aldersbrook Road, Empress Avenue and Harpenden Road, where the council’s appraisal calls projecting bays an archetypal feature of the conservation area

If you live just outside, our pages on shutters in Leytonstone, shutters in Woodford and shutters in Ilford cover the windows there. For blinds in other rooms, see blinds across East London, and ask us to measure both at the same visit.

What do Wanstead homeowners ask about plantation shutters?

Q: Can you fit plantation shutters on sash windows in Wanstead?

Yes, in most cases. Plantation shutters in Wanstead are fitted inside the window, so the sash can still slide behind them once the panels are open. We check the reveal depth, catches and cords at the free visit. If a particular sash will not take shutters, we will tell you plainly.

Q: Should I choose tier on tier or full height for a sash bay?

Tier on tier suits a tall bay facing the street, as you can close the lower half for privacy and open the top half for light. Full height gives one clean panel per section, and a mid-rail still lets the top and bottom louvres move separately. We show both on your own window.

Q: Do plantation shutters work on casement windows?

Yes. What matters is which way the window opens and where the handle sits. Inward opening casements need clearance, so we might fit to the wall around the opening instead of inside the recess. We decide that on the day, once we can see the window.

Q: Are plantation shutters and window shutters the same thing?

Yes. Window shutters, plantation shutters and shutter blinds are different names for interior shutters with tilting louvres. We make them in real wood (basswood) or faux wood (PVC), and in whites, off-whites, wood finishes or a colour of your choice. Faux wood copes better with kitchen steam.

Q: Can I put plantation shutters in a flat above a shop in Wanstead?

Often yes, but check your lease or tenancy first. Shutters are screwed to the frame or wall, and many agreements need a written yes for that. Ask the landlord or managing agent, then book the visit. We can measure while you wait for the reply.

Q: Do Article 4 directions in Wanstead cover shutters fitted indoors?

The documents we read list outside work such as windows, doors, porches and roofs, and do not mention interior shutters. That is not the council’s answer for your house. Ask Redbridge’s planning team about your address, and ask first if your building is listed.

Arrange a free measure for window shutters in Wanstead

Tell us which windows you want covered and what type they are, and we will arrange a time to measure. The visit is free, the quote is plain with no sales tricks, and our own team does the fitting, which is free too. You can read more on our plantation shutters page first.

• Phone: 07852 257 307, open Monday to Saturday 9am to 9pm and Sunday 10am to 6pm
• Email: info@londonblinds4u.co.uk
• Online: book a free measuring visit