Window survey
One row per window with its measurements, and one row per window with what it needs. This is the sheet every order and every calculation is checked against.
For a first window, both sheets are essential: every calculator, every order and every check in this manual is compared with the measurements here, and the first need decides what kind of treatment goes on the window. A reader who skips the survey ends up measuring again at the store. The method for the measurements is in Measuring for blinds and shades and Measuring for curtains; the needs come from What each window needs.
Windows and measurements
One row per window. Measure with a steel tape to the nearest 1/8 inch (or 0.5 cm), in the units your setup names. Widths are inside the frame at the top, middle and bottom; heights inside the frame at the left, center and right. Leave a number blank until you have measured it.
What each window needs
One row per window, matching the first sheet. Seen from outside is what you saw yourself, standing outside, by day and after dark with the lamps on. The first need is the one you would not trade away; it chooses the kind of treatment.
How to use this sheet
- One row per window. A bay of three windows is three rows, plus a note on the space between them. A patio door is one row.
- Measure, do not round. Write each width and height as you read it, to the nearest 1/8 inch. The blind and shade size calculator picks the one to order.
- Observe, then decide. The seen-by-day, seen-at-night, light and glare columns are what you saw yourself. The first need and the season routine are your decisions, and you can change them.
- Write what is in the way. Locks, cranks, handles, alarm sensors, vents, radiators and outlets below the sill limit the mount and the length later.
The example rows are Priya's: a renter's east bedroom window on the ground floor, 6 ft from the sidewalk. Its three widths differ by 1/4 in, which is why the narrowest is the one to order for an inside mount, and the sash lock standing 3/4 in proud is in the in-the-way column because it takes depth an inside mount needs. Her first need is privacy at night and her second darkness by day, because she sleeps after night shifts.
The survey records what you measured and what you decided. It does not settle whether a window is square enough for a maker's product (the maker or an installer settles that), what a lease allows (the lease and the landlord do), or what is behind a wall (a test hole, a stud finder or a carpenter does).