5 Questions To Ask Before Buying Plantation Shutters

When you purchase plantation shutters for your home you are making quite a big investment so you want to make sure you get it right. There are the obvious questions you will ask such as how much they cost, how long will it take, what colours do they come in, etc. but there are other even more important questions which you might not think of asking that are vital to you making the right decision.

#1. What type of material are your shutters made from? 

There are three main type of material used for making plantation shutters; MDF, wood and PVC. MDF is quite a heavy material to use in the manufacture of plantation shutters and as such is not really suitable for wider openings where two panels are hinged together (bi-folding). While MDF was quite popular up until recently, a wood shutter can now be purchased at similar or lower prices which homeowners tend to go for. When it comes to wood there are a vast selection available but the majority of shutters sold are either basswood or poplar. PVC is an excellent material for use in harsh conditions such as wet rooms where water will be in contact with the panels. Like MDF it is quite a heavy material and as such is suitable for narrower windows.

At Shutterplus we recommend Basswood as it is lightweight, very stable, glues well and gives a superb paint or stain finish.

For an overview of woods available, visit http://www.allaboutshutters.com/wood-shutters.htm , a US resource site dedicated to shutters.

#2. Is the wood solid or engineered?

 If you choose wood as your material of choice, it will either be solid, or edge glued & finger-jointed (also known as engineered). Solid as the name suggests is one single piece of wood from which a profile is machined. Finger-jointed is lots of smaller pieces of wood which have been glued together to make up one long piece. Lower quality woods such as Grade B or C basswood and poplar are finger-jointed to ensure they don't warp or twist in the finished product. Once the product is painted the joints are not visible. Grade A material, a more expensive material, is selected for stained shutters as obvioulsy there cannot be any joints visible. At Shutterplus we use this Grade A Basswood material for both our painted and stained shutters as we believe it is the only proper material from which to build a genuine,authentic plantation shutter. If it's good enough to use for stained shutters, then it's good enough for painted also.

#3. How is the frame of the shutter panel (stiles & rails) joined together?

Frame joints are almost always either dowelled and glued, or mortised and tenoned. The mortise and tenon joint is by far the best choice as a greater surface area is exposed within the joint for glue adhesion. This results in a structurally much stronger shutter panel; very important in bi-fold situations where a number of panels are hinged to each other.

#4. Do the shutters come with a guarantee?

Plantation shutters are an investment in your home and as such you want to be sure they are going to last. While most shutter companies will give a guarantee of anything from 1 to 3 years, we believe any company with confidence in the product they are selling should offer you nothing less than a 5 year guarantee on all works and craftmanship.

#5. Are spare parts for your shutters readily available?

With shutters that are expected to last a lifetime, some moving parts may need replacing over the course of a number of years. Vital spare parts should be easily accessible from your supplier at a reasonable cost.