Luxurious Window Treatments

Archive for the ‘Shutters’ Category

You can add style and charm to the outside of your home by simply installing exterior shutters. Exterior shutters will blend well with both contemporary and traditional home styles. Since exterior shutters are an investment in your home, you should evaluate the quality of the product you are considering purchasing carefully.

There are many different materials used to make exterior shutters these days, along with many different styles and shapes. Most home improvement centers sill carry shutters made from vinyl and wood. By adding the proper hardware you can even make wooden shutters functional.

There are many types of wood that are used to make exterior shutters. When looking at durability and decay resistance you can’t find a better wood than cedar. Another benefit of cedar is that it is fairly low maintenance, no matter application it is used for.

Cedar is the ideal wood to use for exterior shutters because of the tannin oil that it contains. It naturally repels insects and is moisture resistant. Even the best shutters, however, should not be left unprotected by instead covered with finish prior to installation.

An oil based primer coat that is as close to the final color as possible is your best base for exterior shutter finishing. The oil can penetrate the wood and offer superior protection. A professional painting contractor or company can give you the best advice on achieving the best finishing results.

To allow ventilation you will want to mount your exterior shutters with a 1/2 inch spacer between the back of the shutter and the building. You should use rust proof screws that are sunk flush into the wood if you are not using functional hardware. The heads of the screws can be painted to match the shutter once installation is complete.

You can prevent sunlight from penetrating your wood and breaking down the fibers by using an opaque finish. Exterior shutters can, of course, also be stained.

You should always use finishing products designed specifically for use outdoors when applying them to your exterior shutters. Staining your shutters will require that you perform more maintenance than if you painted them.

You won’t regret your purchase of exterior shutters as they will add both style and color to your homes exterior. The most popular type of exterior shutters are made from wood, and will look great on any home.

You can add style to your home with interior wood shutters no mater what your decorating scheme. Just like fine furniture, interior wood shutters are an investment in your home. These are the only window coverings that you can install which will raise the overall value of your home. They are a perfect choice for any home thanks to their natural rich appearance and exceptional quality.

Insulation Interior wood shutters are great at insulting your home against both outside temperature and noise. They offer great energy efficiency as they keep cold air out or in, depending on the season. According to studies one inch of wood offers the same insulation value as six inches or brick or fourteen inches of concrete.

Environment Wood shutters are made from a 100% renewable resource. You can’t say that about the other materials used to make shutters such as aluminum, composites, or vinyl.

Authenticity There are many different types of wood used to make shutters including basswood, oak, and popular. Be aware that many shutter products contain wood in their name but are actually produced using very little wood, if any. These faux wood products offer you limited choices in color and can not be stained as real wood can.

Wood continues to be the most popular material to use for interior shutters in the United States. Wood shutters are easy to install, even for the amateur, and offer you many more features than other types of shutters.

Wood shutters can be ordered from online retailers or from your local home improvement center or hardware store. While they may cost a little more than other types of shutters, they are definitely worth it.

Basswood is the best wood for building interior wood shutters. These trees grow to an average height of 65 feet and can be found in Canada and much of the eastern United States. Great efforts are made to responsibly harvest basswood, with wood removal being balanced by careful wood growth.

There is a very indistinct grain to basswood that gives your shutters with uniform texture and allows them to hang straight. Basswood is very easy to work with as it is easily processed by machines and handles both screws and gluing well. It also provides a smooth finish when stained.

These lightweight shutters are strong and will not warp. The uniform grain makes them look great once stained and allows for superior gluing and finishing.

Oak Shutters Using oak for shutters will result in very heavy shutters. You will need to pre-drill screw holes when installing oak shutters due to the excess weight that will added to the window jambs. The louvers on oak shutters tend to warp over time and can not be painted.

Maple Shutters Maple is another heavy wood that produces heavy shutters. This being the case you will need to pre-drill the window jambs during installation. It is hard to achieve uniform tension on louvers produced using maple.

Poplar Shutters These shutters both mill and paint well, but are not good for staining as the wood contains mineral streaks and a green color. This is a moderately heavy wood to use for shutters. While the shutters produced using poplar are less expensive they also tend to be of a poorer quality than those created using other types of wood.

Cedar Shutters There is great color variation in cedar, although it will mill and finish well. Since this wood is fairly soft it scratches and dents easily.

Cedar works particularly well for exterior shutters thanks to its durability and rot resistance. Cedar is able to withstand very moist conditions and naturally repels insects at the same time.

Alder Shutters This is a very small tree that produces wood that works great for shutters. You would need to have finger joints in tall window shutters produced using alder.

Pine Shutters There are many different grades and species of this soft wood available for use in making shutters.

No matter what type of wood is used a shutter that is poorly constructed will not be of high quality. It is wise to request a sample product from any company you are thinking of purchasing shutters from. This will give you an opportunity to inspect the quality and see if you really want to do business with this company.

Traditional wood shutters can quickly end up looking shabby if they do not receive a lot of regular maintenance. These shutters have been around on homes since the Colonial era and have a rather old sense of style. Even those these shutters are almost never closed they still contain hinges that need to be regularly oiled and shined.

Now may be the perfect time to replace the old wood shutters on your home with more modern aluminum window shutters, which resist the elements and are almost maintenance free. They also never close, further reducing the time and money that it takes to keep your shutters and your home looking in top condition.

We will discuss the various types of shutters that are available today below.

Vinyl Shutters These shutters will last approximately 40 years and are easy to clean and relatively inexpensive. You can have the traditional look of shutters without the traditional maintenance tasks associated with them. You can find these lightweight shutters in traditional louvered, board, or even batten panel styles. These shutters arrive at your home pre-primed, so all they require is a coat of paint in the color of your choice.

Composite Shutters These shutters are both weather and rot resistant as they are produced using a product that resembles thick particle board. You can find them in a variety of styles including louvered, board, batten, and raised panel. These shutters can also be created to look like old fashioned wood shutters with hinges on the top so that they can be opened and closed.

Fiberglass Window Shutters These shutters can be expected to last for around 20 years and are the most expensive type of shutters available. These shutters are created using molds and are available in a variety of styles including Bahama, louvered, board, and batten. You can even find some fiberglass window shutters with raised panels.

Fiberglass is one of the preferred materials to use for shutters that will be exposed to extreme weather conditions. They are stronger and more secure than most other shutters and can protect your windows during heavy storms including hurricanes.

Aluminum Window Shutters There are many different styles of aluminum window shutters including Bahama, faux colonial, and louvered. These blinds come in literally thousands of different colors and textures and offer excellent protection for your windows. The one disadvantage of installing aluminum blinds is that only a three year warranty is offered by most manufacturers.

Solid hardwood is used to make almost all wooden shutters. Since the shutters will be used daily they need the stability that hardwood provides. Windows expose your shutters to rapid temperature fluctuations, humidity changes, and harsh sunlight.

All of these conditions can be handled by quality wooden shutters. From the cold of the north to the humidity of the south, wooden shutters are built to handle it all. That is, of course, if you purchase quality shutters. The quality of the final product will depend in part on the type of joints, the type of wood, and the overall design of the particular shutters.

The type of wood used in a shutter is very important. One of the best woods to use for shutters is basswood, which is very durable, light, and straight and accepts finish well. No matter what style of shutter you are speaking about, basswood will have the best characteristics to make a quality shutter.

In order to create a durable shutter the joints will need to be strong and solid. The two shorter lengths of wood are connected using finger joints which makes them very important as well. Stained shutters will poor finger joints will always look poorly constructed.

You can prevent the shutters from falling apart by having strong joints between the stiles and rails. To get the best overall performance these joints should be glued and doweled.

You will get quality shutters at a great price if you choose to purchase wooden shutters. You should research the manufacturer of your shutters prior to purchasing from them to be sure they produce a quality product. A quality retailer will also give you detailed instructions for installing the shutters yourself, it you so choose.

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.

Many companies sell customized interior shutters while actually claiming to sell custom shutters. Customized shutters are not built to your specific requirements but instead start out as pre-built stock sized shutters that are then cut to your window measurements.

Customized shutters will usually offer you a fairly poor fit. The shutters will not be proportional to your unique window size and the panels themselves may look awkward, especially if a lot of material has been removed to get them to fit your windows.

Another poorly fitted window shutter is synthetic shutters which are made from pre-made rails, stiles, and louvers that are cut to your size requirements for fast fabrication. This process will also result in shutters that are not proportional and offer an improper fit.

There are companies out there that create shutters just to match the unique requirements of your windows. While these sound like high quality custom made shutters, but careful. Some companies produce shutters that reflect poor workmanship and look so tacky you would never want to hang them in your home.

If you want to create a truly uniform look through your home and office you will want to have custom made shutters. Be careful about purchasing customized shutters as opposed to custom made shutters.

It is best not to do business with companies that sell customized types of shutters. Your best bet is to take careful measurements and have what you need created for your specific windows.

Take your measurements before heading off to the store, so you know exactly what you need when you get there. You can use this method to purchase both interior and exterior shutters for your home.

New home buyers have the benefit of using the internet to locate excellent retailers from which to purchase their interior shutters. With just a few keystrokes and mouse clicks you will have hundreds of retailers available that can give you the very best when it comes to price and selection.

When it comes to interior window shutters many people really enjoy that simplicity that shopping online offers them. Customers will not stay long at a web site that is not easy to navigate and poorly designed. A well designed interior shutter web site will offer customers navigation choices on every page, including choices of construction materials, finishes, price, and styles. They should also offer customers measuring advice and the ability to purchase their shutters directly from the website.

A good interior shutter website will also educate the customer about their product. Questions from customers should be treated with respect and answered promptly. All information relevant to ordering shutters, including sizes, materials, and price, should be clearly stated on the web site.

Measuring instructions should be easy to find on the interior shutter website. Customers who need additional assistance should have not problem getting it. You should never purchase interior shutters from a company that is unwilling to offer clear advice and instructions through their web site.

Purchasing your blinds online will require that you spend some time researching exactly what type of blinds you would like and a fair price to pay for them. Be careful about being so quick to jump on a good price that you end up sacrificing quality. You should compare prices and products offered by a few websites so that you can be confident that you are getting the best products at the best price