7 Woods To Make Shutters From
When you are making your choice of interior Window Treatment that include wooden shutters, there are several woods to consider for the job. Seven (7) of these woods are listed below. We will discuss the different advantages and disadvantages of the various woods that you can use. If you are DIY’er, you may already know this information but if you don’t do a lot of wood working this information will be helpful if you are going to have someone else build your shutters for you. You can discuss the topic with a little more depth than if you had to say “What ever you think, I’m sure will be fine”.
The best wood for building interior wooden shutters is basswood. The tree can be found from Quebec south to Delaware and the Atlantic coast west to Eastern Kentucky with an average height of 65 feet. Basswood is a renewable resource and careful forest management ensures that the harvesting is done responsibly by balancing the wood growth with wood removal.
Basswood Shutters
Basswood interior shutters are very straight and they also have a fine uniform texture with a very indistinct grain. The wood machines well and is easy to work, screws well, glues well, and it can be stained to a smooth finish. Basswood shutters do not warp, they are lightweight yet very strong, offer uniform grain for a superb stain finish, and they offer superior gluing and finishing properties. The uniform grain also make it good for hand carving special designs, if you have the experience to do wood carving. A side note to this is that there are many wood carvers around the nation that are very talented and are looking for projects to work on. There services can be had for a reasonable price which would give your shutters a special look to your home different than anyone else.
Oak shutters
Oak is a very heavy wood which makes for very heavy window shutters. Oak interior shutters will add a lot of weight to window jambs, with screws requiring pre-drilling. They aren’t suitable for painting and the louvers tend to warp over time.
Maple shutters
Maple is heavy like oak and produces interior shutters that are very heavy. Maple also requires that the window jambs be pre-drilled. The wood louvers with maple are hard to tension uniformly.
Poplar shutters
Poplar shutters mill and paint very well. The mineral in the wood streaks with a green color which makes popular wood unsuitable for staining. For shutters, poplar wood is moderately heavy. The wood is widely available and less costly, although it also produces a lower quality of wood shutter.
Cedar shutters
Cedar wood mills and finishes nicely, although the color varies greatly for staining. Cedar is pretty soft and can dent or scratch very easily. For exterior shutters, cedar works very well. The amazing durability and resistance to decay makes cedar the perfect wood for exterior use wherever moisture is presented. It gives long service with very little maintenance, and is also hated by bugs!
Alder shutters
Alder is an excellent choice for interior shutters, as the tree is very small. Tall window shutters using alder wood will require finger joints.
Pine shutters
Pine is a soft wood, with many different species and grades available.
There you have 7 different woods and there quality for being used as shutter material. Some for interior and some for exterior. The ability of some to weather the storm and others for there ability to take stain or paint. Always remember that there are also poorly constructed wood shutters that will rank very low on the scale of quality. You should always look for a smooth, well sanded surface, thick durable paint, glued and doweled joints, and a straight light hardwood. Before you commit to any shutter company, always request a sample so that you know what to expect.
