Powder-coated aluminium shutters built for the side of the house the weather actually hits. Salt-air rated, rigid enough for wide alfresco spans, and unbothered by rain, humidity and afternoon sun. Free in-home measure and a fixed price.
Aluminium shutters explained
An aluminium plantation shutter is the same idea as a timber one - a framed panel of wide, adjustable louvres you tilt for light and privacy - built out of extruded aluminium instead of wood. The frame, the louvres and the tilt mechanism are all metal, then the whole panel is powder-coated in an oven before it ever reaches your house.
That coating is the entire point. Baked-on powder coat seals the metal against salt, moisture and UV, which is why aluminium is the only shutter we will put on an opening that gets weather. Timber in that position swells and lifts its finish. PVC handles the moisture but flexes over a wide span. Aluminium handles both.
It is also the strongest thing in the range. Because the extrusion carries load that timber cannot, panels go wider and taller before you need an extra stile, so a long alfresco opening can be covered in fewer panels with fewer join lines interrupting the view.
Why aluminium
Between Caloundra and Noosa, most homes have at least one opening that timber has no business being in. This is what goes there.
Powder-coated aluminium is the standard specification for coastal building products for a reason. Salt that pits, stains and swells other materials simply sits on the surface until the next rain or a hose.
Aluminium carries its own weight far better than timber or PVC, so alfresco and patio openings can be covered in fewer, wider panels. Fewer panels means fewer stiles blocking the view.
Driving rain, full sun, sprinklers, pool splash. There is nothing in the panel that absorbs water and nothing that swells, so the shutter that fits in March still fits in January.
Stopping sun before it reaches the glass is far more effective than any internal blind. Closing the louvres on a western alfresco keeps the heat outside the room entirely rather than trapping it against the window.
A closed aluminium panel is a solid physical barrier over an opening. It will not stop a determined intruder on its own, but it stops opportunists and takes the sting out of wind-driven debris.
A powder coat is baked into the metal, not brushed onto it. It does not need repainting, and on a north or west elevation it holds its colour years after a painted timber frame would have chalked.
The build
Three things separate an aluminium shutter that lasts twenty years on a coastal alfresco from one that looks tired in three. All three are decisions made before the panel is built.
The structure
Extruded sections rather than roll-formed sheet. Extrusion gives a thicker, more consistent wall and a stiffer panel, which is what lets an outdoor shutter stay square across a wide opening instead of racking over time.
The finish
Panels are coated and oven-cured after fabrication, so every face and edge is sealed rather than just the visible surfaces. This is the layer doing the real work against salt and UV.
The detail
Hinges, pins and fasteners are where a coastal shutter usually fails first. Stainless and coated components throughout, because one rusting screw will stain a whole panel and seize a hinge.
Colours & louvres
Panels are finished before they leave the factory, so the coating is even and there is nothing to paint on site. These are the colours we specify most on the Coast.
Blends into white window frames and rendered walls. The default for most homes.
Warmer than a pure white. Sits well against light brick and timber decking.
Recedes into the shade of a covered alfresco and hides coastal dust between washes.
Near-black charcoal. The most-requested colour on contemporary builds by a wide margin.
Custom colour matching to a specific powder-coat code is available. We bring samples to the measure so you can hold them against your fascia, frames and render before deciding.
Narrow louvre for smaller outdoor openings and privacy screens where you want more slats and a finer look.
The all-rounder, and the one we specify most. Balanced view through the panel with a clean slat count.
Wide louvre for big alfresco spans. Fewest slats and the most unobstructed view when the louvres are open.
Configurations
Outdoor openings are rarely a simple window. How the panels move matters more here than anywhere else in the house, because you will be walking through most of them.
Panels swing on a frame. The simplest and most economical option for windows and narrower patio openings.
Panels concertina back against themselves so an alfresco opening clears completely for entertaining, then closes down against weather.
Panels glide aside on a top or bottom track. The answer where there is no room to swing a panel, or where you want to move a large panel one-handed.
Fixed panels with operable louvres, used as a permanent privacy or sun screen between properties, along a boundary or across a pool pump area.
Right product, right room
Aluminium is the toughest product in the range, and it is the wrong choice in most of the rooms inside your house. Knowing which openings are which is most of what we do at the measure.
Indoors, aluminium reads as commercial. Timber has the warmth and the finish depth that make a shutter look like joinery rather than hardware.
See timber shuttersAluminium copes fine with the moisture, but waterproof PVC costs less, wipes clean and looks more at home in a wet area.
See waterproof PVC shuttersMost homes we quote end up with two or three products across the house. We spec the whole place in one visit rather than selling you one range for every opening.
Ask us what to specHow it works
A free measure, a fixed price and a proper install - so the shutters go in once, sit square, and keep working for decades.
Suburb, shutter type, how many openings and your timeline. 60 seconds online - add a photo and we can quote even sharper.
A shutter specialist comes to you, measures every opening to the millimetre and leaves you with an exact, all-in price. No pressure, no obligation.
Your panels are built to your measurements, then fitted and adjusted on site. Most Sunshine Coast homes are installed 4-6 weeks after measure-up.
Pricing
Aluminium generally sits above timber per square metre. The material costs more, the powder-coating process is an extra step, and outdoor panels need heavier hardware. What changes the number most is not the material though - it is the size of the opening and how the panels have to move.
The process is the same as everything else we quote. A shutter specialist measures every opening, you get an itemised fixed price per opening before we leave, and the figure on the quote is the figure on the invoice. Free, about half an hour, no obligation.
Book my free measure & quote See what plantation shutters cost
Priced by the square metre of panel, so one wide alfresco opening can cost more than every bedroom window in the house put together.
Fixed and hinged panels are the most economical. Bi-fold and tracked sliding sets need more hardware and more labour on install day.
Standard colours sit at the accessible end. Custom colour matching and marine-grade coating for front-line coastal work both add to it.
Second-storey work, and openings that need a structural post or head fixed before the shutter goes on, add install time.
Reviews
Feedback from Sunshine Coast customers who've had plantation shutters measured, made and installed by us.
“Our west-facing lounge was unusable by three in the afternoon. They did timber shutters across the whole front of the house and it’s a completely different room - cooler, and the light is beautiful.”
“We’re two streets from the beach so they talked us into aluminium for the alfresco and PVC in the bathrooms instead of timber. Two summers on - no swelling, no rust, no fuss.”
“Measured, made and installed exactly when they said. The raked window above the stairs is why we chose them - nobody else wanted to touch it.”
Care
Genuinely the lowest-maintenance product we make. In a coastal position the one habit that matters is rinsing salt off before it sits.
Fresh water over the panel every few months, more often if you are close to the surf. This is the single thing that keeps a coastal powder coat looking new.
Warm water and a little dish soap on a soft cloth, then rinse. Never use abrasive pads, solvents or anything labelled for oven or bathroom scale.
Move the louvres from the centre of the slat rather than the ends. It keeps the tilt tension even across a wide outdoor panel.
Sand and leaf litter collect in bottom tracks. Clear them out yearly, and call us if a panel starts to drag - adjustments are covered.
FAQ
On the Sunshine Coast, yes. Outdoor shutters and external shutters are the everyday names for what we build in powder-coated aluminium, because it is the only material in the range that belongs on an opening exposed to weather and salt air. Same adjustable louvres as an indoor shutter, different material and hardware behind them.
Not when they are specified correctly. The aluminium itself does not rust the way steel does, and the baked powder coat seals it against salt. What fails on cheap coastal shutters is the hardware, which is why we use stainless and coated fixings throughout. For front-line positions within a few streets of the surf we specify a marine-grade coating as standard.
The panel warms up in direct sun the way any external surface does, which is exactly what you want - the heat is being absorbed outside the glass instead of inside your living room. Because the shutter sits away from the window with air moving behind it, very little of that heat transfers into the room.
Yes. We carry a standard range covering the colours most Sunshine Coast homes use, and we can colour match to a specific powder-coat code for fascia, gutter or window frames. We bring samples to the measure so you can hold them up against the actual surfaces rather than guessing from a screen.
Wider than timber or PVC, which is the main structural reason to choose it. The exact limit depends on the panel height, the louvre size and how the panel is hung, so we work it out at the measure. In practice a long alfresco opening usually needs noticeably fewer panels in aluminium than the same opening would in timber.
A closed panel is a solid physical barrier across the opening, and that alone deters opportunistic entry in a way a flyscreen or blind does not. They are not certified security screens, so if security is the primary goal rather than a useful side effect, say so at the measure and we will tell you honestly whether shutters are the right spend.
Properly installed, no. Rattle comes from panels that are not sitting square in the opening or hardware that has worked loose. Both are install and adjustment issues rather than product issues, and both are covered by the workmanship warranty.
They can, and occasionally we do it in a bathroom or a garage conversion. In living areas we usually talk people out of it. Aluminium reads as hardware indoors, where timber reads as joinery, and the price difference rarely justifies it.
Typically four to six weeks, the same as the rest of the range. Every panel is made to your measurements and powder-coated to your colour, so there is a manufacturing window. We confirm the install date at measure-up and the same team that measured does the fit.
Product and workmanship are both covered, in writing, on your quote before you commit. That includes the powder-coat finish and the panel hardware, plus adjustments such as hinge tightening and track cleaning.
The rest of the range
If a room isn't right for one range, another is - and we quote the whole house in a single visit.
Service areas
Local installers covering every suburb from Caloundra to Noosa and out through the hinterland. Tell us what you need and we'll get a shutter specialist out to measure and quote, fast.
MaroochydoreMooloolabaAlexandra HeadlandCotton TreeBuddinaMinyamaWaranaBirtinyaTwin Waters+ all surrounding suburbs
Noosa HeadsNoosavilleSunshine BeachTewantinPeregian BeachCoolum BeachMarcoolaSunrise Beach+ all surrounding suburbs
CaloundraGolden BeachPelican WatersCurrimundiMoffat BeachDicky BeachAroonaLittle Mountain+ all surrounding suburbs
BuderimNambourPalmwoodsMalenyMontvilleWoombyeYandinaEumundiMooloolah Valley+ all surrounding suburbs
If you're anywhere between Caloundra and Noosa we can get an installer to you. See the full service area or get a quote now.
Tell us about your windows and we'll book a free in-home measure and a fixed quote.
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