Exterior Homes

“Operable Louvered Shutters”, louvers that are regulated by a tilt rod began to be manufactured around 1830-1840. Before this the louvers were fixed in an open position.

With the advent of the exterior Storm Window in the later 1800’s, shutters were sometimes removed and stored away before the cold months and wooden storm windows would be installed. Removal was easy – all you needed to do was lift the shutter off the pin on the hinge.

Exterior window shutters could also remain on the building, left in an open position. If using storm windows, please note that this was all dependent on the type and mounting of the shutter hinge. It is possible that the storm window would not be able to be inserted into the window jamb if a shutter hinge was in the way.

During the warm months, the storm windows would be removed and window shutters would be closed to protect furniture from the sun and allow outside air to cool the house.

At the end of the Civil War, awnings became popular and window screens began to come into use. Screen windows were just like storm windows except they had screens in the wood frame. In addition to these screen windows, adjustable screens still sold in hardware stores today, or lace curtains also served the purpose. Visit our page on storm windows and window screens.

In some styles of architecture, exterior shutters also began to fall out of fashion. By the 1920’s, although some exterior window shutters were still used for practical reasons, most were strictly decorative.

Those shutters that were purely decorative however, were still functional or had the appearance of being functional. Homeowners could operate the shutter to cool or insulate the home if they wished. There was no difference to the appearance of the house.

Unfortunately, this changed during the 1950’s with the advent of Aluminum Siding and Aluminum Shutters. This is when the dreadful problem we have today began.

Where Exterior Window Shutters Went Wrong

The public has always been in love with the warm cozy feel of a traditional styled home. Exterior wood window shutters provide that look and feel. Aluminum siding and fake aluminum shutters started to be heavily marketed in the 1950s.

To simplify installation of aluminum shutters on aluminum siding, the method of installing exterior window shutters – hanging shutters changed. Window shutters began to be installed by screwing the shutter onto the siding NEXT TO, instead of directly on top of window casing, and without the use of hinges. This was easy and required minimal intelligence.

Eventually, people became more lazy, less knowledgeable, and more insensitive to the appearance of their windows and began using the wrong size shutters. Before you knew it, they were putting rectangular shutters on arched windows and whatever else you could imagine!

This is where we are today. As you may or may not know, the window shutter has evolved in a grossly unfortunate way. Sadly, we too have evolved to accept this new bland look. It is now normal and what we expect to see when we look at a house with shutters. This is also what architects and builders do and what we see with many exterior window shutter companies.

If you are not aware of the “bad window shutters” problem you soon will be.

Read on and we will re-train your eyes to understand, see, and feel the impact of a architecturally correct and incorrect window shutter.

You will be the expert. We use the term Historic Shutter to represent a visually correct, properly mounted and designed shutter, as all shutters should be, including those used with contemporary architecture.

What is Wrong and What to do Right

The goal of this website is to enable readers to make their house architecturally correct which would then be aesthetically pleasing. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of correct exterior window shutters.

Think of the windows as the eyes of the house and the window shutters as the eyebrows (although to the side) to understand the impact. If the shutters are the wrong type or mounted incorrectly, they can ruin the appearance of the entire house.

Yes, the money you spent on restoring that new front door or painting with authentic Victorian colors will be wasted if your window shutters are incorrectly hung (mounted).

Most people look at exterior window shutters as a decorative feature with no further thought. The decorative shutters are installed and the mission is accomplished. How dreadfully wrong!

The following is what you need to look for and, once you see the difference, you will pick it out every time. There are a number of points you need to understand about exterior window shutters in order to make your house look great.

Louvered Shutters.

On historic louvered shutters (historically called Blinds), the louvers were either Fixed Louvers or Operable Louvers. Each type represents a different period in history and provides a slightly different look.

Fixed Louvered Shutters.

Fixed Louvered shutters are appropriate for buildings built prior to the Civil War. Operable louvered shutters grew popular quickly although fixed louvered shutters remained in builders catalogs into the early 1900’s.