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What Makes Up a Faux Wood Shutter?

December 18, 2017

“Faux wood” is a term that gets thrown around when talking about home design, from furniture to floors to window treatments. Technically, all faux wood means is “not wood, but looks like it.” Other than that, you don’t really have any idea what you’re dealing with. So if you’re on the hunt for faux wood shutters, faux wood blinds, or any other sort of faux wood window treatment in Philadelphia, what are you really buying for your home?

Philadelphia faux wood shutters

Sunburst Shutters Philadelphia can help you separate the quality faux wood shutters from the less great ones. This is what you should know.

Faux Wood Quality Ranges From Excellent To Shoddy

Faux wood is almost always advertised as a more affordable version of hardwood, but a good amount of faux wood products would be better described as a “cheap” version of hardwood. Most faux wood on the market is really just engineered particle board, which is a combination of wood chips, plastic, and adhesive, sometimes coated in vinyl. Almost all of these types of composite materials aren’t resilient, can’t really block sound or heat loss, and will most likely fade and yellow after prolonged exposure to UV rays.

What’s worse, many faux wood shutters are made from, making them weaker, prone to chips and cracks, and less effective at blocking heat loss through your windows.

Though you might think you’re helping your wallet by picking faux wood window treatments, are you really getting much benefit from shutters you’ll likely need to replace after just two years? Do you benefit much from a window treatment that doesn’t help keep your home more comfortable or your energy bills lower?

Lucky for homeowners, not every faux wood shutter is made the same.

tv room Philadelphia faux wood shutters 

What To Look For In a Great Faux Wood Shutter

There are 3 things you should be on the look for in a faux wood shutter:

  • Solid, moisture-proof material

  • No vinyl material around a wood pulp base

  • An extended or lifetime warranty

Sunburst’s Polywood® plantation shutters were designed to succeed where traditional faux wood fails. Unlike cheaply made shutters made of wood pulp and glue, Polywood shutters are built from our patented Polywood extruded material, built to withstand the harshest elements and take punishment that most shutters can’t.

Polywood shutters are also totally solid, so they’re not only more durable and immune to chips or cracks, but also offer more energy efficiency keep your home at a comfortable temperature.

Interior shutters in Philadelphia bedroom.

And unlike many faux wood shutter products, Polywood shutters come with an extensive Lifetime Warranty.

Some salespeople may try to market their faux wood shutters as some sort of “poly” material, but know that there’s only one Polywood®.

Get Philadelphia’s Best Faux Wood Shutters

If you’re ready to move on from low-quality faux wood shutters that don’t deliver, send a line to Sunburst Philadelphia today. Get a design consultation by filling out the form below or call us at 215-874-4897.