@@ SHUTTERS – What do you recommend?
Folks,
My condo association is seriously entertaining paying to have our 40 yr old wood shutters scraped and primed and prepped as part of a repainting.
Between the termites, the rot and the ants, the paint is the only thing holding them together. Spending to repaint them is a waste of money. Should have been replaced years ago.
I told them I would ask what the recommendations are for replacements.
What is out there in servicable non-wood shutters that you can recommend?
The ToolBear
“Never met a man who couldn’t teach me something.” Anon.
Replies
Describe your condos. Do the shutters actually work.. or are they just jewelery?
Shutters can range from cheap (but decent looking) plastic jewlery... to expensive custom wrought iron shutters (or even more outrageous if you want to go there).
If it is the former (cheap plastic jewlery)... Mid America has a decent product that is very reasonably priced. http://www.midamericabuilding.com/Shutters.php You can find a distributor from the link also.
If it is the latter... I would need a lot more detail, as close to exactly what you are looking for, to recommend a manufacturer.
Rih,
The shutters round here don't shut. Pure decoration. Much needed. Several units without them look rather stark.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Then I would recommend following the link in my prior post and find a distributor in your area. Decent shuters... for plastic... at a decent enough price.
You can find cheaper... you can find better... but the combo of the two is always what I look for.
Unless you want pure restoration/historic type work go plastic...molded in color.
Also, don't go too small for the widow...looks cheap, slightly oversize is better than too small....do a first class mounting, keeps em straight.
Fixed louver wood shutters, about $25/sq.ft. unfinished...and painting is a pain.
Amen to all of that.
The old ones are 21.5" wide, and that does not seem a standard size.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Yeah, unless the place is an architectural treasure, go with plastic.
Yeah, unless the place is an architectural treasure, go with plastic.
Hell, why not go whole hawg--get somebody to print up a photo of some nice looking shutters on PSA-backed vinyl and just peel-n-stick. Or hire some nice artistic college student to paint faux-bois shutters right onto the building.
Save the plastic that would be used to mould those fake shutters for something useful--like credit cards or garbage bags or disposable raincoats or somethin'....
Louvered wood shutters can be sand-blasted clean and repainted with HVLP sprayers without spending the rest of your life doing it. But hey, why waste all that time just to save a few old useless hunks of wood. It grows on trees anyway, don't it?
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
dinosaur - - if you're gonna put lipstick on a pig, there's no value in using expensive lipstick...
"there's enough for everyone"
I don't put lipstick on my pigs. It just annoys them and they tend to bite....
Granted, David, that there's no point in spending lots of money just to preserve something that shouldn't have been done in the first place--but it's hard for me to tell from here whether replacing those shutters with new plastic junk would cost more or less in the long run than re-painting them.
All sorts of questions need to be answered: Who would do the repainting--staff maintenance personnel or an outside contractor? Who would do the removal and replacement? How much would the plastic shutters cost? How long would they last until the UV and air pollution got to them and they had to be replaced yet again? How long would a decent paint job last? How much would it improve the value of the building to have it look just that little bit better? How much would it decrease the value to have it look even more like a pig wearing cheap lipstick...?Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Well, as the shutters are over 40, it would be like tarting up granny for the high school prom. After all that work and expense, she's still a granny. Between the termites and the rot, many of the bottoms are gone and have wood bits nailed over them. To actually do a real repair job on them at the prevailing labor rates would be rather expensive. Gallons of bondo and such.The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Okay, I hear you. Sometimes it really isn't worth repairing unless it is architecturally irreplaceable...which it doesn't sound like is the case here.Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
D -
We have not made the national register of historic condos. :-(The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
ROAR!!
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
"Louvered wood shutters can be sand-blasted clean and repainted"
Let's sand blast a 40 year weathered wood shutter and see what's left.
LOL... More than if it was plastic.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Depends on what kind of wood, what kind of weather, and what kind of maintenance over the last 40 years. I've repaired 100-year-old wood doors that needed only a good scraping, patch re-priming, and new paint. Others I've seen resembled more of a wood sponge covered with a hard shell of old paint.
PS--The GW Company's product 'Wall Patch' is a lot easier to tool than Bondo, is specifically made for this type of application, and dries fast enough you can paint it the same day in most cases.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Use timberland woodcrafters. http://www.timberlane.com
I've used their shutters and they make an excellent product, have a bunch of stock designs, make whatever size you want and look terrific. The only word of caution is that they need to be well sanded before priming to hold paint.
Of course, if you want plastic, then I have nothing further to say.
SHG
40 yr old shutters sound like a lead paint nightmare waiting to happen - one of the other posts brought up a lot of other issues that your association should be considering as well as looking at the lead paint hazard that may be "looming" - just something else to think about
Got a point there.The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Show them these and see what they think
That wouldn't be vinyl siding, would it?
Like the detail <g>. Nice proportions.The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Oh sh!t man that is too much!!!!
View Image
I vote for this set up as archiboner of the decade!!
But ya really hafta wonder what the person responsable for that was thinking (or thinking with...).Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I am an Install Trim Department Manager for a lumber and trim supplier in Central Florida. The builders we work for are some of the most well known in the nation. On all new construction, we use the PVC deco shutters, similar to Mid-America mentioned in another reply. These are non-operable and mount permanately on the wall. Due to the wet climate here in Florida, these work great and will not rot! The key to installing these is NOT TO CRACK them when installing (they are very thin.) Use 3 shutter pins per shutter instead of the screws provided. This makes installing faster and easier, just do not push the pins in too far. There are several styles available, just visit Mid-America's website. Good luck!
Tnx for the tip. At the momemt SO Cal's climate is similar to that of Florida. Just swap quakes for hurricanes - and we have hills that your home can slide down.The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.