About Outdoor Shutters

Styles

• Styles vary little from one manufacturer to the other. Some will offer more styles than others and there may be slight differences in construction, but the basic styles are louvered
  raised panel, board and batten, colonial, Bahama and, combination louver and panel.

Features

• Louvered shutters have horizontal slats that angle out to allow air to flow through. They have an upper and lower section with a 2- or 3-inch piece of material across the middle, and in some cases the louvers can be adjustable.
  Raised panel shutters have the same raised panel design found in exterior doors. Board and batten shutters have wide vertical slats that can be placed close together or with a space of an inch or 2 between them. Colonial shutters are louvered shutters but they are one section. Bahama shutters are the same as colonial shutters, but have two side-by-side sections. Combination louver and panel come in several varieties. They can come with a square or rounded top, with louvers on the top and a panel on the bottom, or reversed. They can also come with a large louver in the middle and a small panel on the top as well as on the bottom.

Materials

• You have a lot to choose from when choosing the material for your outdoor shutters. Vinyl shutters are the least expensive, PolyLite and aluminum shutters are a bit more expensive, composite wood and wood are medium-priced, and Fiberglass shutters are the most expensive.

Function

• Outdoor shutters can be purely decorative, nailed in place on either side of a door or window, or they can be operative and close over the door or window to block out the sun, protect against wet weather or help insulate the house. The raised panel will give the most protection against the elements, followed by the board and batten with the slats close together.

Measuring

• Measuring is simple. For a single window, measure the width of the window opening--just the opening, not the frame. Take half of that for the width of the shutter. If you have windows, such as eye-brow windows, that are wider than they are tall, divide the width by four instead of by two or they will be out of proportion to the dimensions of the window. You will have two narrow shutters on each side instead of one larger one. Follow this same procedure for double windows and for triple windows, divide by three. The height should be measured from the top of the sill to as high as you want them to go.