How To Choose The Perfect Exterior Shutter For Your Home

Exterior shutters came into existence long before windows. Shutters are used for a lot of purposes. Homes today are often featured with window shutters or outdoor shutters mounted directly to the home for decoration purposes only. Shutters, when closed, can protect us from the harmful radiation of the scorching sun by blocking it, shield us from violent winds, hailstorm and heavy rains and keep us warm in the winter. While this is an improvement from the lack of shutters, many people are starting to recognize the aesthetic value of exterior shutters that give the appearance of an operable exterior shutter. This lead to the increased and frequent use of exterior hardware which includes faux outdoor brackets, “L” shaped hinges, slide bolts, pintels, and shutter dogs.

When making your exterior brackets choices the main considerations should be functionality, style, maintenance, cost and authenticity. If you are looking for the inexpensiveness, easy to install and completely maintenance free outdoor shutters then install the high-quality line of vinyl exterior shutter hardware. These vinyl exterior hardware are inexpensive, extremely durable, lightweight, come with pre-finished, come with absolutely no maintenance and some of them even come with a warranty.

Originally, exterior shutters were designed to protect the home from wind and certain change in the weather. Before the advent of glass exterior, which were operated from the interior shutter would keep out unwanted heat, pests, wind, rain, snow, and intruders. Often times, houses would use raised panel exterior hardware or board and batten window shutters on the lower level windows for security. Louvered exterior brackets, on the other hand, provide air circulation near the bedrooms on the upper windows.

Recently, shutters and especially the exterior ones have become more of a necessity in hurricane prone areas such as the southern part were new building codes are requiring either durable and high impact rated safety glass or operable hurricane rated storm shutters.

Exterior hardware come in a variety of materials, styles and colors. A great way to seek the best selection of exterior shutters is the internet nowadays. Though there are several companies that offers everything from Vinyl Board and Batten Shutters to Louvered Composite exterior shutters.

Because there is such a wide range of shutter manufacturers, it often become a very challenging task for homeowners to make the best decision based on the product description and pictures available on various websites. This is one of the major reasons why homeowners need a guidance from those who have already done all of the preliminary work to help the homeowners choose from the very best selection of window shutters.

After the utility, comes the benefits. As explained above, shutters are not only a necessity in several regions in the United States of America, but also bring a handful of benefits, which include;

  • Control over the amount of sunlight that enters the rooms
  • Provide privacy and security
  • Protect against rough weather or unwanted invasion or damage
  • Add brilliant accents to your home

Over the years, exterior shutters have lost its significance but their replicate is still dominant. In addition to that, shutters can be functional and add a charm to the house by providing a unique yet appealing architectural detail to the house or simply enhance the aesthetics of a building.

To accentuate the home with especially crafted exterior shutters, you first need to make sure that your chosen exterior brackets perfectly go with the exterior of your home, but at the same time not necessarily draw the attention away from the other features. They ought to be consistent, and seem like they were designed together.
In order to find the perfect exterior shutters that go well with your exteriors for your house, ensure to avoid these 5 major blunders:

1. Not Seeking Professional Help

First of all, in order to choose the right shutter, it is always advised to consult either a person who has dealt with the same situation or seek professional advice. It helps in making the best decision unless you have a knack for decoration. Professionals can recommend the best possible exterior shutters based on your requirement and need.

2. Buying Shutters Without Measuring The Space

Don’t consider installing those shutters that don’t fit the window openings. Measure the available space before option for an exterior shutter as it should be both properly sized and shaped in order to cover the window opening totally when they are shut. Accurately sized shutters overlap firmly between the exterior window casings, leaving only a limited spacing at the border.

3. Not Paying Heed To The Installation And Design Of The Shutters

If not installed properly, shutters can ruin the overall look and appearance of your home. Try not to install louvered screens backward. Louvers should be constructed in a fixed and open manner so that it allows you to have a certain amount of air and light to circulate. It should be able to shed water far from the window when it’s shut to obstruct the water from entering the house. That’s the major reason for louvers to be slanted to the outside of the house when they’re closed so the water can flow outwards., Shutters should have louvers in the vacant position with their driving edges pointing up for shedding water away from the window.

In a serious effort to keep the water away from the houses, some molded vinyl shutters completely violate this obvious rule, and people who install those often make a huge mistake by installing the brackets in the wrong orientation i.e. shutters mounted flat to the house and against the siding. Exterior brackets joined simply to a house can easily gather water which ultimately prompts the decay of the siding. This should be the rule of thumb while fitting the shutters. Authentic and original hardware should be used with ample spacing while fitting the exterior brackets. The proper height and width of the shutters must be maintained and it must also fit the shape of your window.

4. Keep Cheap Material Into Your Never-To-Consider List

Cheap material shutters always get hampered within a few months of installation. They don’t come with any promise of durability. Plus, they always require maintenance which becomes more expensive month by month. Hence, it’s better to shed a few dollars extra and get a high-quality exterior shutter. Who doesn’t want a shutter that functions well and adds accent the home for the long run? Therefore, it is very much sensible to invest in exterior shutters made from the durable, all-weather material despite the higher cost as the quality shutters will last longer and won’t fade with time. So it is always wise to spend money on quality and buy shutters from renowned companies.

5. Avoid Preferring Aesthetics Over Function

Style is one of the crucial elements, and in many cases it’s all that’s desired from an exterior shutter. Functionality, however, also needs to be taken into consideration. Thus, selecting a stylish shutter which actually serves no purpose might not be a good idea. Instead, you may like to go for a shutter that retains its functionalities. Keep in mind that style is not the only factor to look for, installation, size, and durability along with its functionalities hold the same amount of importance.

Jessica Biel

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