Made-to-measure shutters, fitted by us

They do two different jobs. A louvred shutter with adjustable slats gives shade and air at the same time, does not steal space inside the wall because it has no box, and when you want the window clear it opens fully. A roller shutter gives full darkness, is operated from inside without leaning out and can be motorised for little money.

In practice: if the problem is sleeping in the dark, roller shutter. If it is the afternoon heat and the air that has to circulate, louvred shutter. In many houses they live side by side, roller shutters in the bedroom and louvred shutters on the kitchen and the living room.

The difference is in the leaf. A persiana has slats, that is, angled louvres that let air and filtered light through even when it is closed. A scuro, also called antone or imposta, is a solid leaf: closed it makes total darkness and stops everything, air included.

Hence also the name gelosia, which in several areas means a shutter with fixed slats. There are also mixed leaves, solid at the bottom and slatted at the top, which sit halfway between the two.

Wood has a look no imitation quite reaches, and on a period house it remains the coherent choice. It is a living material, though: it takes up damp, it moves, and the paint has to be redone at regular intervals, more often on a south-facing front or near the sea. If the council requires wood, there is no alternative.

Aluminium does not rot, does not swell and does not have to be repainted: you just wash it. With the wood-effect finish it stands comparison even from a few metres away, which is why on the coast, where sun and salt work all year round, nearly everyone moves to it.

uPVC costs less and is reasonable on normal-sized windows: it does not oxidise and asks for no maintenance. The limit is rigidity, because on tall or wide leaves the slat bows and full south exposure makes it work harder than you would think.

Aluminium of the same thickness is stiffer, so it holds its shape on large leaves too, and it has a wider choice of colours and finishes. On a French door or a very sunny front the difference shows after a few years.

Adjustable ones tilt with a lever or a rod: you regulate light and air without opening the leaf. That is exactly why you choose a shutter instead of a roller shutter, so in most cases they are worth the extra.

Fixed ones have the slats locked at an angle set in production. They cost less and have fewer moving parts, meaning fewer things that can jam: they make sense on small windows, on utility rooms or where the leaf is kept open nearly all the time.

On a hinged leaf everything depends on the hinges: they are anchored into the reveal of the opening, plumb and square, with fixings chosen according to the wall, because solid brick, hollow brick and concrete do not hold in the same way. On sliding and folding shutters you start instead from the upper track, which has to be level or the leaf slides to one side on its own.

The tricky part is that old openings are almost never square: two windows that look the same differ by a few millimetres. That is why measurements are taken one by one on site and nothing is ordered before the site visit.

It depends what is left of the wood. If the frame is sound and the only problem is the paint, sanding and repainting is a sensible job that adds several years to the leaf. If instead the wood has rotted at the corners, the leaf has warped or the slats are coming out of their seats, restoration is a patch that will soon come back.

The sum has to be done over time, not just on today's spend: a properly done paint job knocks again after a few years. That is why people who restore twice change material on the third round.

Shutters are blackout closures. If you change them together with the window they fall within the window works and follow the same route, ENEA filing included. If you change them on their own, the route is that of solar shading and blackout closures, which has its own technical requirements to meet.

In both cases payment has to be made by dedicated bank transfer and the deduction is recovered in ten equal yearly instalments. Rates and ceilings change every year with the budget law, so they are checked for the year in which you pay.

Warm water and mild soap, with a soft cloth or a non-abrasive sponge, one slat at a time. No solvents, no acidic products and no scouring pads: powder coating is tough but it dulls if you scratch it.

Avoid the pressure washer too, which drives water into the slat seats and into the tilting mechanism. By the sea it is worth going over them more often with plain fresh water, because what ruins surfaces and hardware is the salt that settles, not the rain.

A security shutter is a reinforced leaf, with a structure and a lock designed to resist forcing: during the day you open it and the window is clear again, so the look of the house does not change. Bars are a fixed or openable grille, they protect even with the window wide open and are usually the cheaper route.

The serious yardstick is the burglar resistance class declared by the manufacturer, not the thickness you can see by eye. And it is worth deciding window by window: a ground floor at the back and a second floor facing the street have different needs.