External shutters for the parts of the house the weather actually reaches. Alfrescos, patios, balconies, pool areas and coastal-facing windows, all in salt-air rated powder-coated aluminium. Free in-home measure and a fixed price.
Outdoor shutters explained
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On the Sunshine Coast that means powder-coated extruded aluminium, and only that. Timber in an outdoor position swells, lifts its finish and eventually stops closing square, no matter how well it was coated. PVC copes with the moisture but flexes across the wide spans an alfresco usually needs. Aluminium is the only material in the range that handles weather and span at the same time.
The most common thing they get used for here is turning a covered alfresco into a room you can use in January and in a southerly. Closed, the panels stop driving rain and afternoon sun at the edge of the slab. Angled, they give you shade and airflow at once. Open, the space is exactly as it was.
Why outdoor shutters
Between Caloundra and Noosa almost every home has an alfresco, a patio or a balcony that is unusable at some point in the day or the year. This is the fix.
Stopping sun at the edge of the alfresco is far more effective than any internal blind, because the heat never reaches the building. A west-facing patio is where customers notice the biggest change.
Powder-coated aluminium is the standard specification for coastal building products. Salt that pits and swells other materials sits on the surface until the next rain or a hose.
Driving rain, full sun, sprinklers and pool splash. Nothing in the panel absorbs water and nothing swells, so the shutter that fitted in March still fits in January.
On a typical Coast block the alfresco looks straight at a fence line or the next balcony. Angled louvres give you privacy without boxing the space in or losing the breeze.
A closed aluminium panel is a solid barrier across an opening. It will not certify as a cyclone screen, but it takes the sting out of wind-driven debris and stops the furniture getting soaked.
An alfresco you can use year-round is functionally another room. That is the argument that usually justifies the spend, and it shows in listing photos.
The build
Three specification decisions separate an external shutter that still looks right in twenty years from one that looks tired in three. All three are made before the panel is built.
The structure
Extruded sections rather than roll-formed sheet, giving a thicker wall and a stiffer panel. That is what lets an outdoor shutter stay square across a wide alfresco instead of racking over time.
The finish
Coated and oven-cured after fabrication so every face and edge is sealed, not just what you can see. This is the layer doing the real work against salt and UV.
The detail
Hinges, pins and fasteners are where a coastal shutter fails first if they are the wrong spec. Stainless and coated throughout, because one rusting screw stains a whole panel.
Where they go
Outdoor work is rarely a simple window. These are the situations that come up week after week on the Coast.
The most common job by a wide margin. Bi-fold or tracked panels across the opening so the space closes down against weather and opens completely for entertaining.
Wind and privacy are the drivers here rather than rain. Fixed panels with operable louvres often do the job without anything needing to swing.
Chlorine, splash and constant sun. Aluminium handles all three, and the panels give you privacy from the neighbours without walling the pool in.
Fixed louvre panels along a fence line, between properties or hiding a pool pump and bins. No opening required - they are simply a screen you can see through when you want to.
Right product, right position
Aluminium is the toughest thing we make and the wrong choice in most rooms inside the house. Knowing which openings are which is most of what happens at the measure.
Indoors, aluminium reads as hardware. Timber has the warmth and depth of finish that makes a shutter look like joinery rather than a window covering.
See timber shuttersAluminium copes with the moisture, but waterproof PVC costs less, wipes clean and looks more at home in a wet area.
See waterproof PVC shuttersSend a photo with your enquiry. Outdoor openings are usually obvious from a picture and we will tell you what we would spec before anyone comes out.
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
Outdoor shutters sit at the top of the range at roughly $550 to $900 per square metre installed. Aluminium costs more than timber or PVC, powder-coating is an extra manufacturing step, and outdoor panels need heavier hardware. A typical alfresco opening lands somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000.
What moves the number most is not the material though - it is the size of the opening and how the panels have to move. Alfresco openings are large by definition, and a tracked or bi-fold set adds 15 to 35 per cent over the same panels fixed or hinged.
Book my free measure & quote See what plantation shutters cost
Priced by the square metre of panel. An alfresco opening is usually the largest single item on any quote we write.
Fixed privacy screens are the most economical. Bi-fold and tracked sets need more hardware and more install time.
Standard powder-coat colours sit at the accessible end. Custom colour matching and marine-grade coating for front-line coastal positions both add to it.
Outdoor openings sometimes need a post or head reinforced before a shutter can hang off it. Second-storey balcony work adds 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
The lowest-maintenance product we make. In a coastal position the one habit that matters is rinsing salt off before it has time to sit.
Fresh water over the panels every few months, more often within a few streets of the surf. This single habit is what keeps a coastal powder coat looking new.
Warm water and a little dish soap on a soft cloth, then rinse. Never abrasive pads, solvents or anything sold for oven or bathroom scale.
Sand and leaf litter collect in bottom tracks on an alfresco faster than anywhere else in the house. Clear them yearly and a heavy set keeps moving easily.
One turn on a loose hinge or carrier screw keeps a big outdoor panel hanging square. If a panel drags or stops latching, call us - adjustments are covered.
FAQ
Powder-coated extruded aluminium, and on the Sunshine Coast we will not specify anything else for an external opening. Timber swells and lifts its finish in direct weather, and PVC flexes across the wide spans an alfresco usually needs. Aluminium is the only material that handles weather and span at once.
Not when they are specified correctly. Aluminium 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 stainless and coated fixings are used throughout. For front-line positions within a few streets of the surf we specify a marine-grade coating as standard.
That is the main reason people buy them here. Closed, the panels stop driving rain and afternoon sun at the edge of the slab, so the furniture stays dry and the space stays cool. Angled, you get shade and airflow at the same time. It effectively turns a covered alfresco into another room.
The panel warms up in direct sun the way any external surface does, which is exactly the point - that heat is being absorbed outside the building instead of inside your living room. Because the shutter sits away from the glass with air moving behind it, very little transfers into the space.
A closed aluminium panel is a solid physical barrier across an opening, and that 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.
Yes. There is 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 against the actual surfaces rather than guessing from a screen.
Roughly $550 to $900 per square metre installed, which puts a typical alfresco opening somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000. Aluminium sits at the top of the range because the material costs more, powder-coating is an extra step and outdoor panels need heavier hardware.
Properly installed, no. Rattle comes from panels that are not sitting square in the opening or hardware that has worked loose, and both are adjustment issues rather than product faults. Both are covered by the workmanship warranty.
Yes, and it is one of the more useful things they do on a typical Coast block. Fixed louvre panels along a fence line, between balconies or hiding a pool pump give you privacy you can see through when you want to, which solid fencing cannot.
Typically four to six weeks. 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.
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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