Getting Down to Business: Important Questions Before you Order Shutters

Published: March 30, 2020

Selecting the shutter that will enhance the curb appeal of your home, or just be something you like to see when you come home at the end of the day, is the fun part. After the fun is over, two important questions need to be answered:

How functional will these shutters be?
What are the measurements of each shutter I need to order?

The Question of Functionality

The Functionality of your shutters is an important consideration. It will impact on the amount of hardware needed, the care required in measuring for them, and in the maintenance of the shutters. There are basically three schools of thought on the subject.

No Functionality at All

If you want your shutters to be purely decorative, then you probably do not want to worry about the functionality at all. The shutters are there to accent the window and give the entire house a distinctive touch, and that is all. There are some advantages to this approach. One is that very little shutter hardware is required. And another is that the shutters do not need to be attended to or maintained much. Once the shutters are nailed into place, a happy homeowner could decide that is enough, and move on with life.

While simplicity is good, there is one important thing to consider. That is the idea that some things do not need to be maintained. They are bought, put in place, and then forgotten about. Well, friends, that is just not true.

Everything needs maintenance. Everything can and will break. All things under the sun made by human hands need to be looked after, some things more than others, but they all do. Wind, weather, and the Sun are, all of them, relentless and constant. Then things get hot, they tend to expand. When they cool, they tend to contract. That tiny motion of expansion and contraction is very basic, very important, and cannot be ignored. The results will catch up with you! And as far as other forces acting on your home and your shutters, don't ignore insects and bacteria. Those little guys never let up either.

And the biggest factor in damaging your shutters, or your home itself, is usually water. The humble raindrop is a powerful thing! Once water gets around, on top of, or into something, that thing will usually fall apart, sooner or later. It';s the expansion and contraction of water inside that does the real damage.

This is especially relevant in the discussion of shutters. If a shutter is non-functional, it cannot move, and it usually is nailed in place flush along a wall. In this case, there is no air flow around the shutter, or very little. So, when water gets around, on top of, and into the shutter, there is no air flow to bring warm air around that shutter that would normally evaporate the water. Water seeps in, usually at the back of the shutter where it is nailed in place, expansion and contraction open cracks in the shutter, bacteria and bugs get it, and you get rot. And then you get a ruined shutter.