Jeff Doubét introduces a quick guide to Spanish grilles. Resources, features + benefits, cost considerations and tips for building them into your Spanish home. See + learn more about how these charming Spanish window grille design elements will improve the perceived value of your Santa Barbara style home design, renovation or new build.

Here is a series of photos I captured while an Artisan crew was finishing up their handcrafted plaster details on the exterior Spanish grille. The team is credited with the many special plaster details at this Spanish Colonial Revival estate home in Montecito, CA.

ABOVE: A direct link showcasing the plastering team as they work on the entire estate home facade. They are true Artists in the world of Santa Barbara Spanish-style home construction. If you live in Montecito or Santa Barbara, you have probably seen them in the neighborhood. Indeed, they are handcrafting a new generation of classic Santa Barbara Spanish style homes… right before our very eyes!

Features + Benefits of Exterior Spanish Grilles for Windows

There are a wide variety of benefits of installing exterior Spanish window grilles in your custom home design and build:

1) Aesthetic appeal. They add a classic Santa Barbara style design element to your home.

2) The Spanish window grilles are typically made of fiber reinforced cement. Once installed, they provide a level of security to your home, even when the in-swing window is left open.

Cost Considerations for Fabricating your Exterior Spanish Grilles

How much do decorative cement Spanish window grilles cost? This particular grille cost $300 to fabricate at the time of construction. Keep in mind this is the cost for the part only. Scroll for additional expenses.

When you are designing decorative window grilles into your own project, your part cost pricing will depend on a lot of factors, including:

1) Grille Design: The specific design you choose will have custom forms created during the manufacturing process. More intricate designs require more human effort when finishing at the project site.

2) Grille Size: (width x height) determines the amount of material ($$) required to pour the part.

3) Panel Thickness: Made to order. I specify custom 2″ thick panels for my projects (1.5″ thick is typical). I like my grille details to stand out from what everyone else is doing.

4) Shipping Address. The Spanish window grilles are heavy, and usually require a pallet type shipment method. Freight costs to truck your order has gone up dramatically, and will affect what you actually pay.

5) Quantity of Grilles: The manufacturer has a set up fee based on your specific design. This fee will be amortized over the entire cost of your custom order and is based on the number of window grilles you ordered.

6) Package Cost: The size of grille(s) and the quantity of them will determine your bundled, packaged price.

As you can see, all of these important factors will determine what the grille manufacturer will charge for your beautiful parts.

Other Costs Involved in Spanish Grille Window Design, Planning and Installation

There will be several other significant costs to be aware of when planning to incorporate Spanish-style cement window grilles into your project:

A) You or your architect will need to “reverse engineer” the build. An atypical in-swing window will need to be specified and custom ordered. Proper drainage for water will need to be figured out. *The small diamond piercings in the window grille design on this page is both decorative, as well as functional. *Imagine how rain water needs to drain from the space between the recessed window and the grille itself.

B) Your contractor will require additional fees for all of the above. In a future post, I will share on-site photos of the complete installation, start to finish. But point being there is a host of other things that take place before final costs of Spanish window grilles can be tallied.

Spanish-style products on Amazon, and my project overviews where they were installed.

Resources for Spanish Style Exterior Grilles

For other quality Santa Barbara Home Design Photo Blog Resources: Learn more information about installing Spanish style exterior grilles like the one I feature here. You can also access all of my blog posts about Resources for Spanish Grilles and Registers, HERE.

Here is a Close Up photo of the window grille as the expert plasterer adds a final finish coat plaster to it. The sharp edges you see will be softened with a sponge before the exterior plaster hardens up.

Tools For Plastering Spanish-style Exterior Window Grilles

Here, the team is using various sized Pointing Tools and a “Hawk”– all available at these direct Amazon links.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. There is no extra cost to you.

This very talented Artisan crew was featured in my Coffee Table Book: CREATING SPANISH STYLE HOMES. In it, I showcase many of talents. You can get a sneak peek inside the book, Preview Page 19, HERE.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. There is no extra cost to you.

Well friend, this wraps another site visit episode in beautiful Montecito, CA. I hope you enjoyed learning how to infuse more Santa Barbara Style into your own Spanish home design project by incorporating decorative window grilles. Scroll to explore more helpful links and resources for designing and building your own Spanish-style home and landscape.