From first call to install day
How a coastal order actually runs.
Four steps: you call, we measure in your home for free, the order is built to your openings, our crew installs it. On this coast the measure is where the job is won or lost, because salt air, humidity and deep window jambs all change the answer. Installation is included on most products. 50% deposit to activate, balance due when the work is finished.
Our process
Four steps, and the coastal questions in each one.
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I
You call, we ask about the water
Call 850-889-7772, text the same number, or send the form. You get a response within the hour, six days a week. Then we ask the handful of questions that decide the whole spec on this coast: how close are you to open water, which way does the worst glass face, is the house a primary residence or a rental on a turnover calendar, and is there a condo or homeowners association with a rule about what the covering looks like from outside. Four answers and we already know roughly what we will be carrying to your door.
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II
Free in-home measure, with a salt and humidity read
We bring real samples: basswood shutter panels in 2.5 inch, 3.5 inch and 4.5 inch louvers, poly shutter panels in the same louvers, faux wood blind slats, woven wood pieces, shade swatches. Then we do the part a mail-order catalog cannot. We measure every opening twice, we measure the jamb depth at every opening, we look at what the existing hardware has done after a few seasons of salt, and we check the rooms that stay damp. You get a written quote before we leave, at no charge and with nothing owed.
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III
Built to your openings and your association's rule
When you say yes, the order is activated the same day at your exact measurements, with the louver width, the finish and the liner color chosen room by room. If your association requires a uniform look on the street side or the water side, that choice goes into the order rather than being discovered at install. Lead times run five to six days for blinds, 14 to 16 days for shades, and five to six weeks for plantation shutters. If you have a hard date, a closing, a guest arrival or a turnover, say it on the first call and we work backward from it.
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IV
Our crew installs, and shows you the upkeep
Installation takes hours, not days, and it is our own crew, not a subcontractor. We set the clearances so a bottom rail is not dragging through sand at a slider that gets used forty times a day, we operate every panel and every shade in front of you, and we leave the manufacturer warranty labels on the product where you can find them later. Before we go we show you the two bits of coastal upkeep nobody tells you about: how to rinse the salt film off exposed hardware, and how to get sand out of a track without scoring it. Final payment is due when the work is finished.
What changes on the coast
Four things we decide at your window that an online order cannot.
Which material each room gets
We do not pick one material for the house. Poly goes in the rooms that hold moisture, which on a coastal floor plan usually means baths, the laundry, the kitchen window over the sink and anything on a shaded north wall that never fully dries out. Basswood goes where the air is drier and the span is wide, because it is lighter and holds a taller panel without sag. The split is decided room by room at the measure, and our basswood carries a lifetime warranty against warp and twist. Our basswood versus poly comparison walks through the same decision in detail.
Which hardware survives your address
Salt in the air corrodes fasteners, tilt rods, hinges and lift mechanisms, and it does it faster the closer you are to open water and the more your windows stay open. The hinge and fastener choice we make for a bay-front house in Pensacola is not the one we make for a house a few miles inland in Milton. We look at what has already corroded on your existing treatments, because that is better evidence than any map.
Whether the frame fits inside the opening
Newer coastal construction often has noticeably deeper window jambs than older stock, because the wall assembly and the window unit are both thicker. Deep jambs are good news for shutters, since a frame can sit fully inside the opening and the trim reads clean. Shallow jambs on an older cottage are the opposite problem and need a build-out or a different mount. This is a tape-measure fact, not an opinion, and it is one of the main reasons we will not quote a shutter job over the phone.
What your association will approve
Condo buildings and beachfront communities frequently have a rule about how window coverings read from the outside, and the common version asks for a white or off white face toward the street or the water. It is easier to meet that in the order than to argue about it after install. Bring us the document, or tell us who to ask, and we specify the liner and the finish to it.
The fine print, plainly stated
The deposit, the warranty and the calendar.
50% deposit to activate
We ask for half to activate the order and the balance when the work is finished. You see every panel hung and operating before the second payment changes hands. If a measurement needs revising or the factory slips a week, that sits with us.
Lifetime warranty on basswood
Our basswood shutters carry a lifetime warranty against warp and twist, which is the failure mode that matters in a humid house. Motors run six to seven years depending on brand. Every warranty label stays on the product, and we point them out on install day instead of leaving you to find them.
Rental turnovers get scheduled, not squeezed
If the house is a short term rental, the install has to land between guests, and that window is often a single Saturday. Tell us the turnover day on the first call. We would rather hold an order two weeks for a clean slot than send a crew into a changeover and have them work around a cleaning team.
What you do not have to do
You do not measure anything. You do not drive to a showroom. You do not guess which material belongs in a damp bathroom or which hinge will still turn in three years. We measure, we order, we install, we warrant the work, and we tell you plainly when the cheaper option is the right one.
Common questions
What people ask before the first visit.
How long does the in-home consultation take?
Plan for 45 to 90 minutes depending on the number of windows. One room is usually under 30 minutes. A whole house with 15 to 25 openings runs closer to 90, because every opening gets measured twice and its jamb depth recorded. You get a written quote before we leave.
How long until my treatments are installed?
Five to six days for blinds, 14 to 16 days for shades, and five to six weeks for plantation shutters from the day the order is activated. We book consultation slots six days a week, and we will give you the current number at the measure rather than a brochure estimate.
My condo association has rules about window coverings. Can you work with that?
Yes, and it is easier if we see the rule before the order goes in. Most of the rules we meet concern the color of the face that shows from outside, so we specify the liner or the finish to match and the order ships correct the first time. Send us the document or tell us who to call.
Will you tell me if real wood is the wrong choice for my house?
We will, room by room. Real wood is beautiful and it has a place in plenty of houses on this coast, but it is not what we put in a bathroom with a single small window, a laundry, or any room that stays damp for days after a storm. Poly handles that better and costs less. We would rather sell you the right material than sell you the same material everywhere.
Do you take credit cards?
Yes. Cash, check, credit and debit. The deposit and the balance can be paid by different means if that is easier.
Do you serve my city?
Probably yes. We measure in Pensacola, Gulf Breeze, Pace, Milton, Navarre, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Niceville, Crestview and Panama City Beach, plus Mobile, Daphne, Fairhope, Gulf Shores and Foley in south Alabama. The service areas page lists every city, and each city page covers what we usually install there.
Begin here
Start with step one.
Tell us where the house is, how close it sits to the water, and which rooms are bothering you. We respond within the hour.
No obligation. 50% deposit, balance when the work is finished. Samples and a written quote at your kitchen counter.