Fort Lauderdale's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 30 years, we’ve received every question about shutters thinkable from our customers in Fort Lauderdale. And we’ve collected the top ten of them here. Perhaps in these questions and answers you’ll find answers to questions of your own. If not, please don’t hesitate to contact Sunburst Shutters Fort Lauderdale directly. We’re here to help you and happy to do so.

That depends on how you want the shutters to interact with your home’s décor. Do you want a shutter that contrasts your wall paint color and has clean lines? Polywood® plantation shutters are ideal for you. Or are you looking to match the wood in your home as closely as possible? Ovation® wood shutters are a better fit for you.

Plantation shutters are known for being energy efficient. And to get the most energy savings, our Polywood Shutter Insulation System is the only choice.

For the budget-conscious, blinds can be temporary window treatments to cover your windows. Cheaper store-bought blinds are susceptible to deteriorating over time, with its strings snapping and the loops that hold the slats in place falling apart. And they might be troublesome to clean. Even if you're budget-conscious, Sunburst Shutters blinds have the durability and craftsmanship lacking in off-the-rack, store-bought, or online blinds.

Shades offer a variety of colors, materials, and unique patterns, transforming your window into artwork. By effortlessly pulling up the fabric of the shade, your entire window is exposed and you can see out onto your Fort Lauderdale neighborhood.

Draperies also are available in a wide assortment of color, fabric, and patterns. They are a traditional choice for a window treatment. Installing thick panels between the drapes and the window gives you light and temperature block-out capabilities. And unlike other window treatments, there’s no rush to clean draperies for five years.

If you want a window treatment that lasts beyond 10 years, saves you real dollars on your energy bills, and looks exquisite on your windows, shutters are the choice for your home. Not only are shutters durable, but they’re also magnificent and energy efficient. In fact, Polywood shutters insulate up to 70% better than a comparable wood shutter. That's energy savings you can't get with any other window treatment.

Plantation shutters are unparalleled when it comes to control over privacy and light. And with their large louvers, Polywood plantation shutters give your house a clean modern feel whether they’re closed or open.

An inappropriately installed window treatment can be challenging to open and can get damaged easily. We have a skilled installation crew that comes to your home and installs your window treatment just right, ensuring that each one functions perfectly – and doesn’t get damaged throughout.

But before we begin installing your shutters, we bring shutter samples to your home so we can custom fashion your window treatment together. Learn more about our free in-home consultation.

Your plantation shutter slats – or louvers – can be moved easily by tilting them up or down. Most commonly, a tilt rod mounted on the front of the shutters lets you adjust the louvers. To move the louvers with your hand, we advise buying shutters with hidden tilt-rods or rear-mounted tilt rods. This gives your shutters a clean, contemporary appearance.

Our Polywood shutters last 50+ years – more than any other shutter on the market. That’s why these plantation shutters are a permanent fixture that boosts your home’s resale value. Learn more about the durability of our shutters.

Plantation shutters are a breeze to clean because they have large louvers and their tilt bars are either hidden or mounted on the rear. Just tilt them open and dust them like furniture – or wipe smudges with a damp cloth.

Plantation shutters are custom crafted to fit your windows just right. They become a permanent fixture of your home, adding to its resale value. It’s not possible to move these shutters from one house to another.

Plantation shutters are an investment that gives you temperature control, energy efficiency, and privacy. They are custom crafted and installed on your windows to become permanent fixtures. Not only are they lovely and energy saving, but plantation shutters also boost the value of your house. We’ve seen it first hand in Fort Lauderdale!

A half shutter allows you privacy on the bottom and leaves the top open for light and view. It’s called a café style shutter. But is it the ideal look for a plantation shutter?

Cafe Shutters Cafe Style Shutters With Divider

In the end, it’s a style choice – whether you like the look of a half shutter or that of a plantation shutter with a divider rail.

A full length shutter with a divider rail “completes” your window, giving it a well-rounded look – and letting you close the bottom louvers for privacy while leaving the top louvers open for light. At night, you can close the top louvers as well for privacy and security. It’s also convenient during the day when the sun is hindering you from watching TV. And don’t worry about forfeiting any of your view. A 3.5" or 4.5" louver will almost disappear when opened flat and gives you more than enough space to look through.

Simple! Call us at 561-440-8535 or fill out the form below to schedule your free in-home consultation, and we’ll take it from there. We come out to your home to measure the windows you want to cover with shutters and bring samples of all of our shutter products and their available options. Once you’ve selected a shutter that matches your style, we can provide you with the best shutter quote for your project. Schedule your in-home consultation today!

Yes! There’s rarely a reason to take out or do work on your current window trim when installing new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and patented Polywood shutters are available in an array of frame styles to fit easily into your current window trim. If your windows have no trim, we offer frame styles to install right onto the wall around your window to secure your beautiful new shutters to your window opening.

Your installation crew will measure each of your house’s windows during your complimentary in-home consultation to make sure that your new shutters will fit seamlessly with your window trim.

Sunburst Shutters Fort Lauderdale is proud to offer a range of window coverings made right here in America. Our popular Polywood plantation shutters are 100% made in America, from the manufacturing of our exclusive Polywood material to the construction of the shutters themselves. Not only does that result in savings passed on to you from cutting unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the bonus of knowing you’re choosing an all-American window treatment for your Fort Lauderdale house.

And it’s not just Polywood that’s from the U.S. Our stunning Reclaimed Wood shutters are constructed with lumber harvested from places across the country, from rustic Midwest barn doors to sturdy Texas ranch fences and more.

The primary differentiator between a shutter that’s stained or painted is the way the material of the shutter interacts with the color. Paint sits atop the shutter, just coating the surface. Stains on the other hand penetrate the shutter, becoming a part of the natural wood or faux wood material.

The two color options have their own unique benefits. There are often a larger number of color choices for painted shutters. With stained shutters, the color doesn’t interfere with the natural wood grain, so you’re able to see the random grooves and ridges of the material without it being masked by a layer of paint.

When it comes time for your in-home window design consultation, our team will bring paint and stain samples directly to your home so you can easily match and complement colors with your current design.

The entire plantation shutter process, beginning with your initial consultation through putting your shutters in, usually takes around four to six weeks. The process takes this long because our goal is to build shutters that are perfectly customized to every facet of your windows. To do that, we need to take precise measurements, utilize sophisticated software to design your shutters, assemble your brand-new shutters manually, and deliver them to your home for installation. Real wood shutters typically take longer than Polywood due to the added steps of staining and finishing the wood.

It does take a little time, but it’s an investment that’s well worth it.

Yes, we do have a showroom. We’d be happy to walk you through our showroom to see our entire collection of shutters and window treatments. The showroom is located at 3764 NW 126 Ave, so feel free to visit anytime during our regular business hours to talk about what you need.

We offer a complete shop-at-home experience. So we send one of our reps to you to measure all your windows, discuss your options, and provide an accurate quote. The shutter consultation is absolutely free. That’s the easiest way to start your window treatment project. If you only need a simple estimate, you can submit your window measurements through our contact form, or by calling us at 561-440-8535.

The answer will depend on your personal style. If you want to keep your trim in place, we’re able to build custom shutters to match your current trim. If you like our shutter frames better, then you can take out the existing trim—but it is not a requirement for shutters. If you want to go without trim or replace your trim, we can help you choose the right shutter to match what you have in mind for your space.

If you’re a seasoned handyman, you’re probably familiar with what goes into a shutter installation. However, DIY shutters can be a bit complex for most Fort Lauderdale residents. Our recommendation is to leave the installation to our certified and insured professionals, that way you won’t be at risk of damaging your shutters, windows, or injuring yourself.

Far and away our most popular shutter products are our classic white Polywood® plantation shutters, and Ovation® wood shutters.

As far as shutter options, the most common shutter configuration features includes a 3 ½” louver, non-textured finish, with an interior-mount Z-frame. If none of that makes any sense, that’s ok. We’d be happy to show you what all that means in person. Set up a free in-home consultation and we’ll help you figure out what will work best in your home.

Shutters with a smooth finish have a more modern look, whereas shutters with a textured finish look more natural and historic. However the perks to each style of plantation shutter finish are a little deeper, and in the end come down to your own taste.

Perks of a smooth finish for shutters – A smooth finish to your shutters offer a solid, chic, modern look. If you don’t have many other wood accessories like hardwood floors or furniture, you may not want a smooth finish. A smooth finish is easier to see when it needs dusting, compared to a textured finish. We typically recommend a smooth finish for faux wood shutters like Polywood.

Perks of a wood grain finish for shutters – A wood grain finish on your shutters gives you a more natural, rustic look to your shutters. That’s fantastic if you’re trying to bring the look of nature indoors, particularly if you want to match the look of your hardwood floors. A textured finish on your shutter louvers will also make it harder to see dust, meaning you won’t have to dust them as often as you would if they were smooth. A textured finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in Fort Lauderdale.

Usually, the larger the surface area of your window, the more shutter panels you’ll want. The optimal design is to use one panel for windows up to 26 in. wide, two panels for windows up to 50 in. wide, and four for windows up to 98 in. wide.

Single wide panels aren’t as user-friendly as two separate panels. Sometimes, wider panels can’t fit flush against the wall due to their size. Multiple smaller panels solve that problem.

For windows that you might open or shut regularly, you’ll be better suited with multiple panels, since they’re easier to open and have additional support from the frame when you do open and shut them.

With Sunburst Shutters Fort Lauderdale, any and all measurements for shutters will be done by one of our installers for free as part of your in-home consultation. Even if your window is in a difficult to reach place in your house or has a distinct shape, our shutter pros can get you an exact measurement so that the final product will perfectly match up with your windows.

At your complimentary in-home consultation, your Sunburst Shutters rep will help you choose from our wide variety of Fort Lauderdale plantation shutters, including options for panel width, stains, and custom mounts and frames.

So set up your in-home consultation today by calling 561-440-8535 today.

Sunburst can help you pick the best shutter for your home, regardless of how small your frame. We will work with an outside mount installation that attaches to the trim or wall outside the window cavity . Your shutters will still have equivalent functionality and energy efficiency, and will integrate superbly into your design scheme.

If the louver is disconnected and jutting from the frame, you could have a broken louver pin. To mend this you should remove the pin from both the louver and the stile with a set of needle-nose pliers or a utility knife. Once the damaged pin is removed, stick the replacement pin base into the old hole in the shutter stile, then slide the louver onto the pin. To get replacement louver pins at no cost, just call us at 561-440-8535.

Pricing on plantation shutters hinges on the chosen product line and window measurements. While we can present you a basic quote over the phone, detailed quotes are computed after our complimentary in-person consultation. Call 561-440-8535 to ask for an appointment today.

To start, remove the damaged staple from the louver with a tool like of needle-nose pliers. Then dab on some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to coat the legs of a replacement staple. guide the staple through the loop on the louver and guide its legs into the existing staple holes on the tilt rod. For new shutter staples, call us at 561-440-8535.

Polywood shutters are some of the safest window treatments in Fort Lauderdale. The cord-free, durable construction is great for pets and kids. The toxin-free and hypoallergenic materials and paint will never chip or peel. And since Polywood is pest and moisture resistant, you will not have to check for mold, termites, or wood rot.