I get this call a lot. A house is going up, the drywall is done, and somebody wants to know when to bring me out to measure the windows. There is a right window of time for it, and it is later than most people expect.
Measuring off the plans almost never works
Blueprints give you the rough opening. That is the hole framed into the wall, not the space your blind has to live in. Between the rough opening and the finished window you lose room to the window unit itself, to the jamb, to the casing, and to the drywall return. Sometimes you lose an inch. Sometimes you lose three.
Custom window treatments get built to a sixteenth of an inch. A number pulled off a drawing is not accurate to a sixteenth of an inch. On a lot of jobs it is not accurate to a half inch. If I order to plan dimensions and the finished opening comes in different, the treatment is wrong, and custom product is not returnable. That is a hard lesson to learn on your own money.
What changes between the drawing and the finished wall
Plenty. Here is what I see most often on new construction:
- Window sizes get substituted. A supplier runs short, the builder swaps in the next size up, and nobody updates the plan set.
- Openings shift. A window moves eight inches down a wall to clear framing or a vent run.
- Casing style changes. A homeowner picks a wider casing partway through, and now there is less flat surface for an outside mount.
- Drywall and mud build up. A return that reads flush on paper can end up bowed a quarter inch into the opening.
- Sills get added or dropped. Adding a stool and apron changes the bottom of the opening completely.
Any one of those changes the order.
The right moment to measure
Measure after the trim and casing are installed and painted, and before you move furniture in.
Painted is the key word there. Paint and primer add real thickness. On a tight inside mount that thickness counts. I want to put my tape on the exact surface the blind is going to touch, not on bare wood that is about to get two coats.
Empty is just as important, for a different reason. An empty house is easy to work in. I can get a ladder to every window, check every opening for square, and take my time. Once the furniture and the boxes arrive, the same visit takes twice as long and something always gets missed behind a sofa.
So the target is simple: trim in, paint dry, floors down, house still empty.
Why the floors count
People are surprised by this one. Floor covering changes the height of the room. If you are measuring for floor length drapery, or a shutter that runs down to a base, the finish floor height decides where the bottom lands. Hardwood, tile, and carpet with pad all sit at different heights. Measuring before the floor goes down means guessing, and a drapery panel that breaks correctly on tile looks wrong on carpet.
Coordinating with your builder
Talk to your builder early, even though the measure itself happens late. There are two reasons for that.
First, you want the trim schedule. Ask the builder or the site superintendent when trim and paint are wrapping up on your house, then plan the measure right behind it. Builders keep a calendar for this and are usually happy to give you a target date.
Second, you want the punch list to not undo your work. If a window is getting replaced because of a scratch or a bad seal, you want to know that before I order, not after the shades show up.
It also helps to ask whether the builder is installing any window covering as part of the package. Some homes get handed over with basic vinyl blinds already up. If those are coming out, I need to know, so we can plan for filled holes and touch up paint at installation.
Lead times, so the treatments arrive near move in
Custom window treatments are built after you order them. Nothing gets pulled off a shelf. A shutter takes longer to build than a roller shade. A specialty shape takes longer than a rectangle. A motorized version of a product can take longer than the manual version of the same thing.
Work backward from your move in date and leave real room between the measure and the day you want to be living there. If you measure the week you close, you are going to spend some time in a house with bare glass.
There is nothing wrong with bare glass for a little while. But if privacy in a bedroom or a bath is a priority for you on night one, say that at the consultation. We can prioritize those rooms and let the front of the house follow behind.
Motorization decisions happen earliest of all
This is the one that catches people. Everything above is about measuring. Motorization is about power, and power gets run long before trim goes on.
If you want hardwired power to a shade, that decision belongs in the electrical rough in phase, while the walls are still open. Running low voltage to a window header is easy before drywall and expensive after. Even if you have not picked a fabric or a color yet, you can decide that you want power at six specific windows and have the electrician put it there.
Battery powered motors are a genuinely good option and they save you from all of that, which is what I recommend to most homeowners who are already past rough in. But if your walls are open right now and you know you want motorized window treatments, get the power in while it is cheap. It is worth a phone call before the drywall crew shows up.
What a new construction visit looks like
I come out, laser measure every opening, and check each one for square. I write down mount depth, casing width, sill condition, and anything else that will affect how a treatment hangs. Then we sit down with samples and talk through rooms, light, and privacy.
The measure is free, same as any in home consultation. In Central and Eastern Kentucky you will get Drew. In Western Kentucky you will get me. Either way, the person who measures your windows is the person who installs them, and there is no subcontractor in between.
If you are building right now, get in touch and tell us where you are in the process. Even if it is too early to measure, five minutes on the phone can save you from a wiring decision you cannot take back.