The most important feature on a house are its windows and shutters. We will first focus on the shutters. Shutters, as windows, can make or break the house. This important feature is also the most abused. Think of the windows as the eyes of the house and the shutters as eyebrows to understand the impact. If the shutters are the wrong type or hung wrong it can ruin the entire house. Most people look at shutters as shutters and no further thought occurs. The following is what you need to look for, and once you see the difference you will pick it out every time.
Real shutters, wood shutters with movable louvers can in no way be compared with artificial vinyl or wooden shutters sold by major hardware and home centers. The louvers are fixed in a tightly closed position on these shutters giving them a flat bland appearance. On working shutters, the louvers would not be as flat when they are closed giving them much more depth and a much warmer appearance.
A common mistake, which is almost always made, is improper size and mounting. The size of the shutter must be the size of the INSIDE of the window frame. If hinges are not used, they must be mounted on the inside edge of the window frame to give the appearance that they can be closed. Unfortunately, most shutters are now mounted flat against the siding, to the side of the window frame (see example below). This looks ridiculous and drastically changes the appearance of the entire house. Begin paying attention to shutters and you will see the difference through comparison. Don’t depend on painters or contractors to mount them properly – most are ignorant when it comes to esthetic mounting and do more harm than good.
The ideal way to mount shutters would be to use hinges. Even if you only plan to use your shutters as decoration you should still use exterior shutter hinges. When shutters are mounted directly to the face of a house there is no room for ventilation between the shutter and the house. This results in a tremendous heat build up from the sun that can cause damage to siding and painted finishes. One way around this is to mount the shutters to a block of wood so that there is room for ventilation. The drawback with this is that whenever you need to do housework in the area of your windows you will have to pry the shutters off the face of your house damaging your siding.
If a shutter cannot be mounted properly, a house would be better without any at all; otherwise, they can ruin a house and even the neighborhood. If you have your original shutters, treat them as if they were gold. Just because they’re rotted doesn’t mean they cannot be repaired. Painters will probably offer to replace your real shutters for free with fake ones. This is easier than scraping, repairing, and painting the original ones. There are not many places that make shutters today and they’re very expensive.
WRONG- GOOD- shutters are mounted shutters mounted on hinges on to sides of window; window frame; provides the looks flat and stupid; appearance of ability to close; Contractors do this! shows depth.
Same problem as above except for arched shutters. What a difference!
Wrong Way Correct way
Not only are they the wrong shape,
the shutters are also artificial,
too long for the window,
and are mounted incorrectly.
Just because you pay someone with years
of experience to do a job, doesn't mean
they will do it correctly. This injustice
has already reached epidemic proportions.
This is perfect!
Arched shutters (real ones - wooden working),
on an arched window,
the correct length,
mounted correctly.
Although these shutters are obviously fake
(& flat looking),
ONLY the shutter to the left is mounted correctly.
Hinges would provide extra depth to a bland shutter
The shutters are the CORRECT length.
PURCHASING SHUTTERS
Ok, you now know how a shutter should look on a house. You also know how important this is. Now with what you know, it is up to you to articulate what you want to the shutter salesperson.
Remember, LET THE BUYER BEWARE. DO NOT assume that since you’re paying a lot of money, and buying from a recommended shutter manufacturer that specializes in Historic Buildings, you can be assured you will get Shutters and Hardware that will make your home look as it did 100 years ago. There are some real good manufacturers out there that produce a historically accurate shutter and hardware. You need to order the right stuff to get the look you want. Use the wrong hardware to hang them and you just wasted your money.
There are some manufacturers listed below. Check their websites and get their brochures. Look at their sample photos. Do they look like original shutters or fake? (your eyes are educated now) Sadly, most of what I have seen look fake. This is not necessarily because the shutter is bad, but is because of the type of hinges used, how the hinge is mounted and the offset. We know mounting shutters to the side of the window frame is wrong unless it is for a home styled during the earlier 1800’s and before, but not for a later period home.
As I discussed earlier. People are accustomed to seeing improperly hung shutters. They are accustomed to seeing the trim around the window not being covered up by a shutter. Therefore manufacturers are catering to the demand of the public and offering them what they want. Don’t worry! You CAN still get the look you want by being an educated customer.
What kind of shutters
are best for my house?
Look at old photos. If you don’t have any, look around your neighborhood for similar houses and see the kind they have. You can usually tell if the shutters are original.
Many pre Civil-War homes had paneled shutters on the first floor for privacy and louvered on the 2nd floor. Although rare, some earlier homes, churches, etc. had louvered shutters without tilt bars. If you have a Victorian period home, shutters are louvered with tilt bars and should always be mounted close/tight to the opening of the window over the window frame/trim as in the photos above. As you know, there many things to keep in mind when ordering shutters. Operable louvers are the best appearing and of course are necessary if the shutters will be used and not strictly decorative. If you go for fixed louvers, make sure you get a false tilt rod and check on the angle of the louvers to make sure they "look" operable
Next, read every page of the sites I list below. Compare the dimensions, rail height, type of wood, and all the types of hardware available on each site.
Next, print out one of the shutter measurement guides and hardware worksheets available on the manufacturer’s websites. Physically examine your window frame on the exterior and plot the dimensions.
You are now ready to call a few manufacturers and explain:
a) what shutter style you want
b) if it will be a working shutter, additional specifications and options such as rabbetted edge, and working louvers, faux or working tilt rods, etc.
c) the appearance you want - how you want the shutter hung. They will then advise you on hardware to get that look. You will need a diagram/worksheet while discussing this.
Here is a sample worksheet from Kestrel Shutters
This is the link to see other ways of hanging shutters – correct and incorrect.
http://www.diyshutters.com/window&hingeworksheet.htm
Give up? Don’t want to buy new shutters?
Even if you have a vinyl sided home, with plastic shutters, and have no intention on replacing them, you can still achieve a more authentic look. Screw 2, 1-inch thick blocks of wood on each side of the window frame near the opening. Take the shutter and screw it in to the block of wood on one side, and the vinyl siding on the other side. This will result in an angled shutter - creating additional shadows – resulting in a much much better looking home.
Now for Shutter
Manufacturers you may want to check out. They are in alphabetical order.
I have recently added
this section - Purchasing Shutters, I hope this helps. The
purpose of this site is to educate you and
guide you in making a purchase that will make your home look as authentic as
possible. Please let me know if you
think it is missing something or if something is not clear. Ken at
oldhouseguy dot com thanks!
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