I was just wondering if anyone putting up those ubiquitous non-functional louvered window shutters ever stuck them to the wall with the louveres pointing in the direction they would if those shutters were real?
Did the practice of puting them up "inside-out" begin the first time someone nailed a pair to a wall?
Not to mention that most of the ones I see are the wrong width to cover the window if they *were* hinged.
Happy Holidays guys,
Jeff
The typical fake plastic shutter set is one sided. They are hollow on the side facing the wall. Turn them around and it would be fugly. Steve
Besides, if the louvers on these fakes were for real, and oriented as such, water would be conducted behind the shutter and rot the wall or whatever else behind it. Tom Work at your leisure!
Turn them upside down.
Well, I'd go without shutters rather than use fake plastic ones, I hate them as much as I do vinyl siding. To each his own I guess, must be my age.
With regard to rotting the wall, it wouldn't take rocket science to figure out how to space real wood shutters half an inch off the wall and avoid that. I never heard about walls rotting behind real hinged shutters.
Jeff
I've thought about it but there are so many other giveaways they are fake and it would just be a pain to explain to everyone why....
What I DID do, that's a bit more in keeping with original intent...
I installed louvered on the second floor and raised panel on the first floor. This was originally done when security was of a concern for the first floor and ventilation was of concern on the second. My louvered on the second floor are upside down though.
I would love to have a place with real, operable, shutters. Why don't houses in hurricane areas have them? Seems people either have metal roll down storm shades or scrap plywood over their windows. Makes me laugh when I see a window flanked with fake shutters and some plywood nailed up between!
Jeff,
I think real shutters are bifold with each panel covering about 1/4 of the opening. So, the fake ones are installed in the proper orientation.
Dave M.
You are absolutely right, fake shutters look tacky. Get rid of them. How about adding a tacky fake plastic chimney on the roof, maybe one on each end of the house. Bet there's some other tacky fake fixtures that no longer serve a purpose that we add also. Fake shutters are almost as tacky as pink flamingos on the lawn. But ymmv.
That would be a handy excuse for the ones which are only about 1/4 window with each.
The first New England home I owned circa 1961 had "real" shutters on the windows. Each was one half the width of the window, with hinges they could be lifted up and off of and springy catches "screwed to the wall" about midpoint on the bottom edges of the panels to keep them held against the house when they were open.
Jeff
My god, I'll never go back to wood again. I was always a "purist" until one day I, when it was time to paint once again, I decided to check out vinyl. After lots of hesitation and debating, I just took the plunge.
That was 11 years ago and the house looks identical to the way it was 11 years ago. I haven't painted one thing on the outside of the house since. I can't tell you how happy I am about this. Not to mention the serious amount of money I'm saving and will have saved by not painting every 4-5 years.
I ended up getting siding, windows and doors replaced for a total of about $19K 11 years ago. A decent paint job top to bottom will cost me close to $5500 (today). So my work is paid for in less than 20 years and I'll be in this house well past that.
The biggest thing to me is just not having to worry about it anymore.
You can't tell it's vinyl unless you are close to the house (20'). You can't tell the windows are vinyl unless you are on top of them.
Jeff,
A really good hypothesis should not be abandoned merely because of facts. I have fake shutters on the front of my house and they are approximately 1/2 the width of the windows. I have seen bifold shutters on some homes but my recollection is that these shutters are on the inside. The shutters are stored against the casements.
Dave M.
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