With carpenter bees nearby, are wood shutters a good option?
Q: When we recently replaced the windows in our 1969 home, we removed the dilapidated wooden shutters. (Bats were roosting behind them!) I’m not sure we should replace them with wooden shutters because we’ve also seen carpenter bees in the area. On the other hand, I’m told that PVC or composite shutters are very heavy and might look too modern on our traditional house. What do you suggest?
A: Shutters, which evolved before there was a way to cover window openings with glass, created options for privacy, security and comfort. Closing them could keep out blistering heat in the summer or bitter cold in the winter. But with drapes, storm windows and double- or even triple-pane glass now providing privacy and insulation, shutters have become mostly decorative. They are usually just accents — a way to add texture, color and a nod of authenticity to architectural styles that evolved when shutters were essential.
Your worry about carpenter bees probably isn’t an issue; they tend to tunnel sideways in wood and need wood that’s thick enough for their ½-inch-wide tunnels, which usually means they pick wood at least 2 inches thick. That’s deeper than most wood shutters.
There are other considerations, though, and lots of options. Ignoring wind-resistant shutters, which are a whole different category, shutters like the ones you are considering for your home come in wood, composites of wood and plastic, PVC and vinyl. (PVC is a type of vinyl, but shutter companies differentiate between them. PVC shutters are solid plastic, while vinyl shutters are molded, with plastic about ⅛-inch thick shaping the front and the edges; the back is hollow.) The different materials result in visual, functional and price differences.
Purely decorative shutters look best when they mimic the look of functional shutters. The biggest visual factor is the width: Are the shutters wide enough to fully cover the glass if they were closed? For extremely wide windows, or side-by-side windows over 90 inches, that’s never possible. The solution then, according to Brian Wright, owner of shutterland.com, is to choose shutters that are one-fourth or one-third the width of the window, simulating how three or four shutters would cover the glass. Two shutters might be hinged together on each side, for example.
The material choice — as well as the style of shutter — can affect what widths are even possible, because manufacturers consider issues such as how the materials respond to temperature changes or sag over time. Louvered shutters, the style you had on your house, are available up to 45 inches wide in composite material at shutterland.com. Wood shutters can be up to 32 inches wide and PVC shutters, up to 30 inches wide.
Maximum widths are higher for some non-louvered shutters but, in general, any of the styles or materials would work with typical single windows. That’s because each shutter needs to look like it would cover just half the window. In vinyl, though, width can be an issue. The widest louvered vinyl shutters are only 17¾ inches. For greater widths, you’d need to order a “double wide” style, molded to look like two narrower shutters stacked so one appears slightly higher than the other, resembling two panels hinged together.
Shutters molded this way can look a little odd because of how far out they project from the wall. Wooden shutters from shutterland.com are 1½ inches thick, and PVC and composite shutters are 1¼ inches thick. That difference probably is not noticeable from a distance. But vinyl shutters stick out just ⅞ inch, so they look flat in comparison. If they are molded to resemble two shutters stacked together, it’s even more noticeable.
Another visual issue is how the shutters attach to the house. Wooden and PVC shutters can be installed on hinges or fixed in place on brackets screwed to the top or bottom edge and to the side of the house. Composite shutters need to be fixed, with brackets. Vinyl shutters are also fixed, but via screws or barbed spikes attached directly through the frame. To make fixed shutters look more realistic, manufacturers also make faux hinges and S-shape hardware resembling the pieces that keep functional shutters open.
From a functional standpoint, the choice of material makes a big difference. PVC and vinyl won’t rot, although vinyl is susceptible to warping in heat, which isn’t an issue with other materials. Composite material resists rot but is still somewhat susceptible, as it contains wood fibers. Wood can rot, especially if the paint or other finish isn’t kept in good shape. Rot-resistance here varies greatly based on the type of wood. Shutterland’s wooden shutters come in pine, cedar, mahogany and “Red Grandis,” a trade name for a rot-resistant type of eucalyptus.
Wright said pine is mostly an option for homeowners on a tight budget who want wood or who are required to have wood because they live in a historic house where the code requires use of historically accurate materials. Pine also appeals to some owners who plan to flip a house and want or need to have wooden shutters, he said. Cedar has a reputation for being more rot-resistant, although the cedar available today is not as rot-resistant as old-growth cedar. Red Grandis performs better, as does mahogany.
Wright’s personal favorite is PVC. Molded vinyl shutters are just too flimsy but PVC looks almost just like wood, without the danger of rot or insect damage.
Finally, there’s the price issue. Using the online shopping tool at shutterland.com for a louvered shutter 15 inches wide and 60 inches tall, the price for wooden shutters varies: $225.26 for pine, $305.64 for Red Grandis, $335.59 for cedar and $400.48 for mahogany. A composite shutter of the same size and style is $250.22, and one made of PVC is $381.26. Vinyl shutters aren’t sold in 15-inch widths, but ones 14¾-inches wide and 60 inches tall are $156.60. All of these prices are for a single flattop shutter with slats 1¾ inches wide, one middle rail and a standard paint color, except that the vinyl shutter is in one of the standard dye colors.