Exterior shutters are no new terms for architects, house designers, house decoration fanciers, or simply house owners. There are countless models in the section of exterior shutters for windows. However, not every exterior shutter can mix and match well with your space. If you are confused about which exterior shutters to choose and don't know where to start, take a glance at our topic of guidance to choose exterior shutters for windows as it may come into use for you.
Brief Information About Window Exterior Shutters
As we are shopping for exterior shutters for windows, it is crucial that you have overall information about the item. The general information board will be provided in the following lines in the briefest way, and then move on to the selection guidance.
What are exterior shutters?
What do exterior shutters mean? Just simply understand the exterior shutters are extra protection layers to your windows. They can be made of wood, metal, plastic, or mixed materials.
They were first developed by the ancient Greeks and became home decorators in the 1700s in European countries, especially England. The most vivid era of exterior shutters as decorators is the Victorian. And those are some highlights of the exterior shutters' history.
The development of exterior shutters continues until these days and has yet to show a sign of ending. In the 21st century, exterior shutters have come to a more remarkable variety in construction, colors, styles, and materials.
What are the advantages of using exterior shutters?
The advantages of exterior shutters are presented as extra protection, energy efficiency, and decoration. The first benefit, which is the most evident one, is additional protection layers to your windows, helping to increase security levels. If your windows are made from glass, it is easily broken, and the risk of your house getting broken into is undeniably significant. The glass is quite fragile when it comes to physical damage.
In addition, exterior shutters act as energy savers in extreme weather conditions in the summer or winter, lowering the pressure on your AC system in the house. The final benefit of exterior shutters is the appearance enhancement they offer to the house. Feel free to choose the type and color to match the overall layout of your house for the most compatible outcomes.
Problems That May Occur When We Choose Exterior Shutters For Windows
One more section before we go straight into the selection guidance is the problems that may occur if improper exterior shutters are chosen. We have four issues of concern, including function compatibility, sizes, materials, and non-matching appearance.
- Incompatible For The Major Desired Function: there is more than one type of exterior shutter, which would be indicated in the following lines of this article. Each type would bring back certain advantages and functionality, based on its construction.
- Wrong Sizes For Windows: wrong sizes are the most common mistakes when shoppers choose exterior windows. Choosing the wrong sizes comes from improper measurement of your windows and the agreement for the shutter's figures.
- Inappropriate Materials: materials play a massive role in exterior shutters. The construction is not the only factor that impacts functionality. Materials also come into the scene for this. Adding to that, materials can decide how effective the protection layer of your exterior can be, and poor materials lead to poor protection layers.
- Non-matching With The General Layout: one last problem is taking the non-matching exterior shutters for the whole layout of the house. It would feel quite lost in the big picture, and affect the overall aesthetic remarkably.
How To Choose An Exterior Shutter For Windows?
Here is the most looked-forward section of the article on how to choose exterior shutters for windows. We have surveyed and concluded several tips for purchasing exterior shutters. If you are new to this whole shutter thing, you may want to take some notes.
Determine the standards
Undoubtedly, determining your standards for an exterior shutter is the most crucial task because it would decide all other elements when you start to shop. Durable, solid, and suitable are the three keywords. The first two terms are must-include because they impact significantly the service that your exterior shutters provide you. The word "suitable" here would be referring to sizes, driven purposes, and styles.
Based on construction
As we have mentioned, there is more than one type of exterior shutters. In fact, these items can be divided into 6 groups, based on construction, including Louvered, Raised Panel, Bahama or Bermuda, Board and Batten (BnB), Hurricane Fighter, and Combined.
The Louvered, Bahama, Hurricane Fighter, and Combined exterior shutters would allow the light to get in, and the others would not. However, they are more protective against the rain than the opposite group. Most of them are well-blending into the surroundings and are used a lot in either households or public places. However, they are more protective against the rain than the opposite group.
Based on material
The material classification divides the exterior shutters into four groups, including wood, metal, composite, and plastic. The most protective would be metal, while the nicest to look at is either composite or wood because they go with plenty of decoration styles. The most durable and easiest to clean is plastic. When making exterior shutters, the manufacturers would not use random types of plastic but only PVC for the production.
Based on decoration style
Decoration styles vary from one to another in the world of exterior shutters. Most shutters are featured in one color. Hence, you would have to decide which color goes best with your overall house layout. For vintage or rural style, we would suggest rustic colors. For beach houses, light blue tones are recommended. If your house is following the English cottages, light green or white shutters would do just fine.
How To Preserve Exterior Shutters For Windows?
Last but not least, we think it would not be complete if our topic on exterior shutters does not contain a section on maintenance of these items. They are the outer protectors for your windows, as a result, the maintenance is compulsory, and it should be conducted weekly, or at least monthly.
- Additional layers of finishing: if you are using wooden exterior shutters, regularly adding new finishing layers is advised to keep the shutters from being downgraded. For other shutter materials, the intensity would decrease, compared to the wood, but still a must-do task.
- Dust and stains removals: dust and stains removal is one more task to conduct usually to keep your shutters in the best conditions. This would help a lot for every-material exterior shutters. You can handle the task in numerous ways from light removal to deep cleaning.
- Regular vacuuming: here is an included mission in the cleaning part. Vacuuming your shutters often would be more beneficial than you expect. It reduces the chances of downgrading in metal and wood shutters significantly. For composite and plastic, the risk is less but still exists. Also, this is the easiest way to clean Louvered, Bahama, and Combined exterior shutters.
Final Words
That is our guide on how to choose exterior shutters for windows. When shopping for these items, keep in mind the construction, materials, and measurement of your windows, as well as the shutters. The appearance would not be so dramatic because you can easily decide the color palette for the shutters. Finally, don't forget to carry out the shutter maintenance regularly for the longest product's lifespan. It may not be obvious in the first place, but you would thank the perseverance later.
