Decorative Shutters for Exterior

[The Critic]

We're in the market for new decorative shutters. The current ones are plastic but have crumbled due to age. These reside on the second story of my house which faces south.

We plan to paint the new ones dark grey so PVC/plastic ones are no longer an option due to warpage concerns.

There are two options - wood or EnduraCore. The EnduraCore ones are composite and double the price of wood.

https://www.ekenamillwork.com/Ekena-Millwork-Shutters-CUSTOM-ECCCP

Does anyone have experience with the EnduraCore ones or have recommendations on other brands to consider? Thanks.

 

[PandaBear]

Personally, I would not recommend wood. Our wood window frame exterior rot and warp over time (i.e. 20 years) under the sun and moisture accumulation. Double the price is nothing if it saves you labor lasting twice as long. Replacing 12 windows worth of frame from wood to foam and stucco alone (without paint) costed us around $12k.

 

[shortyb]

I'd use a vinyl shutter for durability over wood or composite. Plus it's much lighter. You can paint them a dark color without worrying about warping by using this:

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-collections/vinyl-safe

I painted our vinyls the Green Porcelain color over 10 years ago (2 coats) and they are still pretty vibrant. And none have warped.

 

[MrJayhawk]

We're in the market for new decorative shutters. The current ones are plastic but have crumbled due to age. These reside on the second story of my house which faces south.

We plan to paint the new ones dark grey so PVC/plastic ones are no longer an option due to warpage concerns.

There are two options - wood or EnduraCore. The EnduraCore ones are composite and double the price of wood.

https://www.ekenamillwork.com/Ekena-Millwork-Shutters-CUSTOM-ECCCP

Does anyone have experience with the EnduraCore ones or have recommendations on other brands to consider? Thanks.

I would suggest checking with your painting contractor as to what their experience has been regarding shutter composition. Our house came with what I called non-vent shutters, eg they were completely one piece with no ‘holes’ where you could look thru if they were actually functional. We were getting house painted for second time by us and contractor recommended new ones that were vented and looked much better than the builder ones. The ones the contractor recommended were either a hard plastic or fiberglass, I dont recall.

 

[Lubener]

The sun will quickly destroy the southern facing wood shutters. Go vinyl unless you find something made of aluminum to your liking.

 

[demarpaint]

I would not use wood shutters. The EnduraCore shutters are nice, and will outlive wood shutters a few times over, making the cost a non-issue if you plan on staying in the house.

 

[Trav]

I never understood decorative shutters, no offense but they look so tasteless and cheesy. Why not real shutters?

https://www.shutterland.com/outdoor...UnrGD9a40GyiN5xUEsp9rHh9KO7n_HL3NRBKMkeeBa-Il

 

[The Critic]

I'd use a vinyl shutter for durability over wood or composite. Plus it's much lighter. You can paint them a dark color without worrying about warping by using this:

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-collections/vinyl-safe

I painted our vinyls the Green Porcelain color over 10 years ago (2 coats) and they are still pretty vibrant. And none have warped.

Unfortunately, the shade that we have chosen for the shutters is not available in a vinyl safe shade.

Looks like Trav's recommendation of premium wood shutters or EnduraCore are the two best options.