Why the owners chose roll-up shutters for the cabana
This cabana sits at the back of a Woodbridge yard and is finished as a sitting room, with a bar counter, a fridge and lounge seating. It has a wide pass-through window on the side wall and two more openings onto the patio. When nobody is home, or during the winter months, those openings are the weak point of the whole structure.
The owners wanted a physical barrier over the openings that would disappear when the cabana is in use. Roll-up security shutters do exactly that: the aluminum slats roll up into a box above each opening, and the openings are fully clear again. They also wanted the shutters to blend in with the black siding and black ceiling rather than stand out.
What We Installed
| Openings | 3 cabana openings, including a wide side pass-through |
|---|---|
| Product | Roll-up security shutters, built to size |
| Slats | Aluminum roll-up slats |
| Colour | Black, matching the cabana siding |
| Operation | Motorized with a remote; one shutter with a manual crank override |
| Mounting | Inside the cabana, box against the ceiling |
| Property | Backyard cabana, Woodbridge, Vaughan |
How we installed three shutters on a finished cabana
Each shutter was built to size for its opening. We measured the three openings on site and ordered the shutters in black to match the cabana siding, so the boxes, guides and slats read as part of the wall when closed.
The shutters are mounted on the inside face of the cabana, with the box tucked up against the ceiling and the guides following the opening. The power for the motors was run to each box, and the ceiling and wall finishes were kept intact. From outside, the closed shutter sits flush inside the trimmed opening.
Motorized with a remote, plus a manual override
All three shutters are motorized and controlled with a remote, so the owners can open the cabana from the patio or the house without touching each shutter. The slats close down to a solid aluminum panel over each opening.
One of the three shutters also has a manual override. If the power is ever out, a crank rod operates that shutter by hand, so there is always a way into the cabana. That is a detail we recommend on any enclosed structure where the shutters are the only way in and out.
The result
The cabana now closes up completely at the press of a button and opens just as fast. With the shutters up, the pass-through window and the patio openings are fully clear and the room works the way it was designed. With them down, the black slats match the siding and the cabana looks finished rather than fitted with hardware.
More about cabana shutters, or see our work in Vaughan.
