Houston's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 32 years, we’ve been asked every question about shutters you can think of from our customers in Houston. And we’ve collected the top ten of them here. Maybe in these questions and answers you’ll find answers to questions of your own. If not, please don’t hesitate to contact Sunburst Shutters Houston directly. We’re here to help you and happy to do so.

That hinges 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 perfect for you. Or are you looking to duplicate the wood in your home as closely as possible? Ovation® wood shutters are the ultimate 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. Additionally, they’re not easy 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 an array of colors, materials, and unique patterns, turning your window into artwork. By simply pulling up the fabric of the shade, your whole window is exposed and you can see out onto your Houston neighborhood.

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

If you are searching for a window treatment that lasts beyond 10 years, saves you money on your energy bills, and looks beautiful on your windows, shutters are the choice for your home. Not only are shutters durable, but they’re also lovely and energy efficient. Actually, 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.

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

An improperly 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, double checking that each one operates seamlessly – and doesn’t get damaged in the process.

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

Your plantation shutter slats – or louvers – can be moved simply by pushing them up or down. Generally, a tilt rod mounted on the front of the shutters gives you control over the louvers. If you want to move the louvers with your hand, we recommend 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 in the US. That’s why these plantation shutters are a permanent fixture that adds to your home’s resale value. Learn more about the durability of our shutters.

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

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

Plantation shutters are an investment that provides you with temperature control, energy efficiency, and privacy. They are custom made and installed on your windows to become permanent fixtures. Not only are they charming and energy saving, but plantation shutters also add to the value of your house. We’ve seen it first hand in Houston!

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 right 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 fully finished look – and allowing you to close the bottom louvers for privacy while leaving the top louvers open for light. At night, you have the option of closing the top louvers as well for privacy and security. That’s also helpful during the day when the sun is hindering you from watching TV. And don’t worry about forgoing any of your view. A 3.5" or 4.5" louver will almost disappear when opened flat and gives you more than enough of a view to look through.

Piece of cake! Call us at 713-853-9629 or fill out the form below to schedule your free in-home consultation, and we’ll handle it from there. We come out to your home to measure the windows you want to shutter and bring samples of all of our shutter products and their available options. This allows us to provide you with the best shutter quote for your project. Schedule your in-home consultation today!

Absolutely! There’s rarely a need to get rid of or do work on your current window trim when you buy new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and premier Polywood shutters are offered in a variety of frame styles to fit easily into your current window trim. If your windows have no trim, we offer frame styles to install directly onto the drywall around your window to secure your stunning new shutters to your window opening.

Your Sunburst Shutters installer will measure each of your individual windows during your free design consultation to ensure that your new shutters will fit perfectly with your window trim.

Sunburst Shutters Houston is proud to offer a collection of shutters made right here in America. Not only are Polywood plantation shutters America’s #1-selling shutter, but they’re 100% made in America. Not only does that mean savings passed on to you from cutting unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the bonus of knowing you’ve chosen an all-American window treatment for your Houston home.

And Polywood isn’t the only shutter that’s from America. Our naturally beautiful Reclaimed Wood shutters are built using lumber repurposed from sources across the country, from homespun Southern barn doors to beautiful New England fences and more.

The main differentiator between paints and stains for shutters is how the color interacts with the shutter material. Paint sits atop the shutter, covering the surface. Stains conversely, 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 usually more color options for painted shutters. With stained shutters, the color doesn’t lie over the natural wood grain, so you can see the natural knots and bumps of the material without it being hidden by a layer of paint.

During your in-home window design consultation, our team will bring paint and stain samples straight to you so you can perfectly match and complement colors with your current design.

The complete plantation shutter process, from your initial consultation to putting your shutters in, usually takes approximately four to six weeks on average. The reason it takes this long is because our goal is to build shutters that are perfectly customized to every facet of your windows. Doing that requires us to take precise measurements, use advanced software to design your shutters, assemble your brand-new shutters by hand, and ship them to you prior to installation. Shutters made from real wood typically take longer because of the staining and finishing process.

It will take a little time, but it’s definitely worth the wait.

Yes! We’d be happy to show you our showroom so you can see our entire collection of shutters and window treatments. Our office is at 4301 S. Pinemont Suite 106, so you’re welcome to visit anytime during our normal business hours to take a look for yourself.

Sunburst Shutters Houston offers a start to finish in-home shopping experience. So we send a representative to your door to measure all your windows, walk you through your options, and provide a quote. The shutter consultation is totally free. That’s the most effective way to start your window treatment project. If you only want a ballpark estimate, you can give us your window measurements either by phone or through our contact form.

That’s up to your personal style. If you want to keep your trim in place, we’re able to build your shutters to fit with your current trim. If you like our shutter frames better, then removing trim is fine—but it’s not a requirement. If you’re trying to go trimless or replace your trim, your Sunburst installer can help you choose the best shutter to fit your perfect vision.

If you’re an experienced handyman, you might be familiar with what goes into a shutter installation. However, installing shutters yourself can be a little complicated for most Houston residents. We recommend leaving the installation to professionals that are certified and insured, so you won’t be at risk of damaging your shutters, your windows, or any other part of your home.

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

To get more specific, the most popular shutter configuration we sell is a 3 ½” louver, smooth finish, and a Z-frame. If those words don’t mean anything to you, that’s ok. We’ll be happy to show you what all those things mean in person. Set up your free home consultation and we’ll show you what will look best in your space.

Shutters with a smooth finish tend to look more fashionable and suave, while shutters with a textured finish look a little more natural. But the benefits to both types of plantation shutter finish go a little bit farther, and ultimately it comes down to your own taste.

Perks of shutters with a smooth finish – A smooth finish to your shutters offer a solid, sleek, fashion-forward look. If your home doesn’t have many other wood accessories like hardwood floors or furniture, you might not want a smooth finish. A smooth finish makes dust easier to see, compared to a wood grain finish. We usually recommend a smooth finish for faux wood shutters like Polywood.

Perks of a textured or wood grain finish for shutters – Shutters with a textured finish give you a more natural look to your windows. That’s perfect if your goal is to bring the look of nature inside, especially if you want to match the look of your hardwood flooring. A textured finish on your shutter louvers will also make dust more difficult to see, which means you can wait a little longer between regular cleanings. A wood-grain finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in Houston.

Typically, the bigger your window is, the more shutter panels you’ll want on it. The most ideal layout is to use a single 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 room-friendly as multiple separate panels. Often, wider panels can’t fit flush against the wall because of their size. Multiple smaller panels solve that problem.

For any windows that you may want to open or shut often, you’re usually better suited with multi-panel shutters, since it’s easier to open them and they get additional support from the frame when you do open and shut them.

With Sunburst Shutters Houston, any and all window measurements 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 area of your home or has a distinct shape, our shutter experts can get you an accurate measurement so that the shutters you get will fit your windows seamlessly.

At your free in-home consultation, your Sunburst Shutters expert can help you pick from our wide array of Houston plantation shutters, including choices for louver size, stains, and custom mounts and frames.

So set up your shutter consultation now by calling 713-853-9629 today.

Sunburst can assist you in picking the ideal shutter for your home, regardless of how thin your frame. We will work with an outside mount installation that attaches to the trim or wall outside the window pane . Your window treatments will still have equivalent functionality and energy efficiency, and will tie in seamlessly with your established decor.

If the louver is disconnected and jutting from the frame, you could have a broken louver pin. To repair this you need to take out the pin from both the louver and the stile with some needle-nose pliers or a utility knife. Once everything is taken out, put the new pin base into the same hole in the shutter stile, then direct the louver onto the pin. To get extra louver pins for free, just call us at 713-853-9629.

Pricing on plantation shutters hinges on the selected product line and window area. While we can give you a projection over the phone, complete quotes are offered after our no cost in-person consultation. Call 713-853-9629 to schedule an appointment today.

To start, clear away the snapped staple out of the louver with a tool like of needle-nose pliers. Then apply some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to coat the legs of a replacement staple. weave the staple through the loop on the louver and direct its legs into the same staple holes on the tilt rod. For replacement shutter staples, call us at 713-853-9629.

Polywood shutters are seen as some of the safest window coverings in Houston. The durable, cord-free craftsmanship is safe for children and pets. The toxin-free and hypoallergenic materials and paint will never peel or chip. And since Polywood is water and pest resistant, you’ll never have to worry about mold, termites, or wood rot.