Bahama Shutters in Fort Myers, FL
On a 1920s McGregor house, most hurricane protection looks like something bolted to
a building. A Bahama looks like it came with it.
The historic core is where these belong
Fort Myers has something the newer cities around it do not: an actual period housing stock.
McGregor Boulevard, Dean Park, the older streets off Second — frame and masonry homes from the
twenties and thirties with deep eaves, tall narrow windows and a vocabulary that predates air
conditioning.
Those houses were designed around shade. A Bahama shutter —
a louvered panel hinged at the head and propped out over the window — is a device from exactly
that tradition. It is the one storm product on this site that improves a period elevation instead of
apologising to it.
It works on the mid-century stock too. The wide low ranch houses through Whiskey Creek and Cypress
Lake take Bahamas comfortably on the front elevation, where an accordion would read as hardware.
What you get the other eleven months
- Direct sun kept off the glass every day of the year, not just during a storm
- Flooring, furniture and art on that elevation stop fading
- The room behind runs noticeably cooler through the afternoon
- Daytime privacy on a window facing the street or a neighbour
No other hurricane product does anything at all for you between storms, which is the honest
reason most Bahama jobs actually get bought.
Two things to be clear about
They are a window product. One opening, one width, hinged at the top. Sliding
glass doors want roll down shutters; a wide lanai wants
a roll down screen; a long list of rear windows on a
budget wants accordions, which go much further per
dollar.
Not every Bahama is a storm product. A lot of what is sold in Florida is
decorative and carries no approval at all. If yours is meant to count as opening protection it has
to be specified and permitted as a rated unit — that changes the price and it changes whether
the opening is legally protected. We will tell you which one you are looking at.
Permitting, and the historic question
Plenty of Fort Myers addresses are unincorporated Lee County rather than the City of Fort Myers,
and they are separate submittals. If the house is in a designated historic district there may be a
further review on anything that changes the street elevation — which, in fairness, is the
review a Bahama is most likely to pass. We establish which applies before anything is submitted, and
permitting is handled as part of the job.
Talk to us about Bahama shutters in Fort Myers
Tell us what you are looking at and someone from our team will call you the same business day. We go through it on the phone first — your openings, the products that actually fit, what is involved — and if it is a fit we come out and put a written quote in your hand. No charge and no obligation.
Questions we get asked
Will a Bahama suit a 1920s McGregor house?
Better than anything else we sell. Louvered shade devices belong to exactly that period of Florida building, so it reads as part of the house rather than as storm equipment fixed to it.
Do they count as hurricane protection?
Only when specified and permitted as a rated unit. A great deal of what is sold in Florida is decorative with no approval behind it, which changes both the price and whether the opening is legally protected.
Can I put them on the whole house?
You can, but it is rarely the best use of the money. Bahamas earn their place on the elevations people see and on west-facing glass. Rear and side windows are usually better served by accordions.
More questions? Our full hurricane shutter & screen FAQ covers products, service, permitting and financing.
More in Fort Myers: accordion shutters · Bahama shutters · roll down shutters · storm panels · roll down screens · impact windows · everything we do in Fort Myers
Florida Screen & Shutter, LLC · 883 NE 27th Ln #5, Cape Coral, FL 33909 · (239) 409-0426
License #SCC131152867 · Fully Licensed & Insured Florida Contractor · MagnaTrack President’s Club, #6 in the country, 2025