How to Buy Shutters

The standard for high quality window shutters is wooden shutters, although it is now possible to find shutters produced from a variety of different materials. Top quality wood shutters are built to last as long as your home. Your first step in purchasing new shutters is determining what type of material they should be made from.

Selection Your Shutter Style The two main types of shutters are traditional shutters and plantation shutters. Traditional shutters will feature 1 ? louvers and narrow shutter panels. The louvers for traditional shutters are usually thicker in the front and narrower in the rear, shaped like a wedge. Plantation shutters feature larger louvers that are normally 1 1/8? thick.

Shutter Finishes You can stain or paint a shutter, and some people even choose to do both. You can find a wide selection of paint and stain colors available from most shutter manufacturers. Common paint colors are whites and other light colors. You have a much bigger selection of stains, raining from light natural tones to those that almost appear black. You can not stain shutters that are made from synthetic materials or composite materials.

Shutter Prices There is a wide variety of prices when it comes to shutters, most often depending on the materials that you choose. Most of the time your price will be calculated by the square foot. Other things that can impact price include style, number of panels, and finish.

Deciding on the Unit Within a window there are a number of different potential shutter panel configurations. The width of the window and the style of the shutter will help determine the number of panels across the shutter. You would use more panels with a traditional shutter since the panels are usually narrower.

The number of panels within a specific window will vary between shutter manufacturers. Tall windows may look best with either double tier or two tier shutter configurations. In a two tier configuration both the top and the bottom shutters can open independently of the other. Another option is to use a divider rail which allows the top and bottom sections of louvers within one panel to operate independently.

Measuring and Ordering You will want to read the measuring and installation instructions for your window type that have been provided by your shutter manufacturer. These instructions should be easy to follow even though they are likely to be very detailed.

Most quality manufacturers will also provide a customer service line you can use if you have additional questions.

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