Window shutters

Why will real shutters attact fewer wasps?

I don't really like the phony ones either, especially as you say, when they aren't wide enough to shutter anything. But I try to ignore all that and consider them decorative. It's something like the gold braid on one shoulder of fancy uniforms: It once had a function.

About 37 inches wide.

This is the kind of question I've been known to ask, if not here, friends. Something like, Would I be happy if I married that girl?

And you don't include a picture of your house. I'll say this, if like someone I know, you have a series of 72" windows with 6 inches between them, you won't like the look of shutters.

I don't think they go into the window frrames. I think you should find some real shutters and look at them.

We had real shutter until I was ten. I don't remember remembering details from then, but I've to others and I've seen the shutters attached to the mortar on the face of the brick house.

Knock on the door and ask the owners if you can measure the windows, the shutters. There may be a good reason not to, but if not, thye'll probably say yes.

You keep saying hinges. I've only seen heavy duty eyes and hooks for hinges.

Of course, your style of shutter has to go with your style of house.

Reply to
mm
Loading thread data ...

Hmmm. Even though I noticed the width, I missed it too.

I have no artistic or architectural talent, except sometimes to say what I don't like.

Make a to-scale drawing, complete with new shutters, and look at it a lot over time. Maybe that will help.

There might be a rew rich people from 250 years ago with wide shuttered windows, but I'm not sure. I tour a lot of homes, from the Missippi to the Atlantic, from the south to the north, but especially the northeast, from that period and they have some unexpected luxuries in many, but I can't specifically remember wide windows and if I could, I wouldn't remember shutters.

Where do you live OP. Can you find some homes with tour guides to discuss this with. They usually know far more than they say in their tours. Or books on architectrure of the period. They usually have pictures. Or possibly google, but I think a reallife architectural historian. If they guides don't know about houses other than their own, the curators of the houses might.

Maybe those people have sliding shutters! :-)

Reply to
mm

Right now my windows have those premade slatted window shutters that nail on to the siding. I hate the ones that are on there right now, they aren't proportional to the window size and attract wasp nests like magnets.

So I'm looking at replacing them with functional (not that I'd actually use them mind you - unless there are legitimate reasons to do so) cedar shutters.

So here is my question, my windows are 72" wide, 48" tall, which means the shutters would have to be ~35"x50" each. If I had those on the side of my house, attached using hinges and eye hooks would they look way out of proportion to the rest of the house or am I too used to seeing the skinny premades already on? Another question, assuming I want to actually use them ( we get high winds here in Seattle where I live ) what would be the appropriate way to secure the hinges to the window frame? I'm envisioning using long screws into the window framing but is that necessary or are there better ways? The siding frame around the windows is basically cedar strips - nothing structural.

Basically my design that I have in my head is 9 or 10 1x4 cedar planks secured to 2 1x3 cedar arms, with hinges on each arm. Nice straightforward simple design. An eyehook on the last plank would secure the shutter to the siding or each other when closed.

Reply to
Eigenvector

"for hinges". They act as the hinge.

The shutters I have seen have on each side two heavy duty eyes screwed into the wall very near the window, and two heavy duty hooks (just the hook, no second part to enable it to move) screwed into the edge of the shutter. Or the eyes are on the shutters and there are posts on the house. This enables one to easily remove the shutters entirely, although I don't know how often that was done, or if it was done for any reason other than painting them.

But there may be other hinge styles used. That's why I said to go look at real shutters.

Yes, there are:

formatting link
I've also seen hinges like these. Just forgot.

Reply to
mm

I'd suspect they'd look "too wide" even though they'd be the correct functional width.

Six food wide windows weren't exactlycommon back when shutters were a practical necessity.

I did live in a house about 30 years ago with functional shutters, but I can't say I've noticed too many like those lately.

But, the next time I have my house painted I think I'll have the shutters put back with the angle of the slats sloped in the proper direction. All the ones I see which are just onto the house are "upside down" to the way they would be oriented if they were hinged and could be closed over the windows.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

I was wondering about that, 3 feet is pretty wide. I could always accordian the shutter at 18" or something but if I'm gonna do that I might as well keep those crappy slatted shutters on.

I think the basic problem is that my windows are rather large in proportion to the side of my otherwise flat and featureless house facing. The standard slatted shutters don't look right because they are way too short for the window and draw attention to it rather than blend it into the architecture. But a larger shutter might, as you suggest, look out of place.

Reply to
Eigenvector

Yes I believe so. The slatted style gives those buggers a place to crawl into to hide behind. With fence style shutters the wasps would only have the sides to get into and making a nest would be a little less obvious. Of course I could be fooling myself here, after all I get wasp nests in my mailbox (bastards).

How would the shutter swing shut? They would have hooks on the ends to attach them to the siding and each other, but wouldn't a hinge be necessary to open and close them?

Reply to
Eigenvector

Well I posted I was in Seattle, although shutters seem to be a pretty universal feature across the world. I'll grant you that a 72" wide window is NOT however.

Shutters don't really serve a useful purpose that I've seen, but they keep the sun out of the room, and keep the snow from piling up against the window pane. But that's stretching it. Really I'm more interested in a exterior window dressing - but those windows are just humongous!

formatting link
guess I'm just scrounging for ideas now. I really don't like those shutters

Reply to
Eigenvector

"Eigenvector" wrote in news:4MidnT_yWJA7nWPYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Go look at French or Italian houses. The customarily have thck walls, inset windows, shutters that hinge, so 2 sets of double-hinged panels (4 panels/window) are needed to cover the window. The use? prevent the hot midday air from entering the house, or the cold middle of the night air.

Granted you house doe not look like the inner city houses in Florence, but that is a different question.

Reply to
Han

What am I missing here? Isn't that what the window glass is supposed to do?

I thought shutters allowed you to keep the windows open for ventilation and the angle of the slats kept rain out and sunshine and breezes too.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

Around here they are called properly "storm shutters", the operative word being obvious.

Reply to
Swingman

Drop a Shell No-Pest strip in there. Problem solved.

Is a drop down shutter a possibility? (Awning most of the time ... shutter when needed.) Louvers on that style are exposed to flow-through all the time ... not really as dry as wasps would prefer.

Bill

Reply to
Bill in Detroit

Was withdrawn from the US market in 1979 I understand. Now the econuts are up in arms because the Mexicans are still making them. In any case other brands appear to be readily available, now in a plastic carrier rather than a bare strip in a box. Presumably that makes it harder for kids to eat them.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Do they still make those??? I havn't seen one in over 20 years. I use the wasp/hornet spray to hit the entrances--easy and fast. Best to treat just after sundown (bees don't fly well in the dark).

Reply to
SWDeveloper

An awning not a bad idea. It would keep out the sun in the Summer.

Reply to
Eigenvector

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.