Philadelphia's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 28 years, we’ve been asked every question about shutters thinkable from our customers in Philadelphia. And we’ve put together 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 be reluctant to contact Sunburst Shutters Philadelphia directly. We’re here to help you and happy to do so.

That hinges on how you would like the shutters to mesh 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 replicate the wood in your home as closely as possible? Ovation® wood shutters are the ultimate fit for you.

Plantation shutters are celebrated for being energy efficient. And to get maximum 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 giving way and the loops that hold the slats in place falling apart. Additionally, 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 an assortment of colors, materials, and unique patterns, transforming your window into artwork. Just by pulling up the fabric of the shade, your entire window is exposed and you can see out onto your Philadelphia neighborhood.

Draperies also come in a wide spectrum of color, fabric, and patterns. They are a traditional option for a window treatment. Placing thick panels between the drapes and the window gives you light and temperature block-out capabilities. And unlike other window treatments, you won’t have to clean draperies for five years.

If you want a window treatment that lasts more than 10 years, saves you actual bucks 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 beautiful and energy efficient. In fact, Polywood shutters insulate up to 70% better than an equivalent wood shutter. That's energy savings you won't find 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 room a clean modern feel whether they’re closed or open.

An inappropriately installed window treatment can be tough to open and can get damaged easily. We have a professional installation crew that comes to your home and installs your window treatment exactly, ensuring that each one moves smoothly – and doesn’t get damaged throughout.

But before we get to 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 simply by pushing them up or down. Generally, a tilt rod mounted on the front of the shutters allows you to adjust the louvers. If you want to move the louvers with your hand, we suggest 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 around. 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. Simply tilt them open and dust them like furniture – or wipe smudges with a damp cloth.

Plantation shutters are custom made to fit your windows just right. They become a permanent fixture of your home, adding to its resale value. These shutters cannot be moved from one house to another.

Plantation shutters are an investment that provides you with temperature control, energy efficiency, and privacy. They are custom fashioned 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 Philadelphia!

A half shutter gives 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 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 losing 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.

Piece of cake! Call us at 215-874-4897 or fill out the form below to schedule your free in-home consultation, and we’ll guide you 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 appropriate shutter quote for your project. Schedule your in-home consultation today!

Absolutely! There’s almost never a need to get rid of or make alterations to your existing window trim when you buy new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and deluxe Polywood shutters are offered in an array of frame styles to fit seamlessly into your existing window trim. If your windows have no trim, we also have frame styles available to install directly onto the drywall around your window to fix your beautiful new shutters to your window opening.

Your shutter installation team will measure each of your house’s windows during your free design consultation to make sure that your window trim is beautifully complemented by the frame of your new window treatment.

Sunburst Shutters Philadelphia is happy to provide a collection of window coverings made right here in the U.S. Our top-selling Polywood plantation shutters are 100% American-made, from the manufacturing of our exclusive Polywood material to the construction of the shutters themselves. Not only does that result in saving you money on unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the perk of knowing you’ve chosen an all-American shutter for your Philadelphia home.

And it’s not just Polywood that’s from the U.S. Our stunning Reclaimed Wood shutters are built using lumber gathered from places across the country, from homespun Southern barn doors to beautiful New England fences and more.

The primary difference between a shutter that’s stained or painted is how the color interacts with the shutter material. Paint lays on the top layer of the shutter, just coating the surface. Stains on the other hand seep into the shutter, becoming a part of the natural wood or Polywood material.

The two color options have their own unique benefits. There are often more color options for paints. With stained shutters, the color won’t obscure the natural wood grain, so you can see the random grooves and bumps of the material without a layer of paint hiding it.

When it comes time for your in-home shutter consultation, we’ll bring paint and stain samples right to your door so you can perfectly color match with your existing interior design.

The complete plantation shutter process, from your starting consultation to finishing your shutter installation, usually takes about four to six weeks. The process takes this long because we want to build 100% custom shutters for your windows. Doing that requires us to take precise measurements, use advanced software to design them, assemble your custom shutters by hand, and deliver them to your home for installation. Real wood shutters will usually take longer than faux wood due to the extra steps needed to stain and treat the wood.

It will take some time, but it’s absolutely worth the wait.

Sunburst Shutters Philadelphia offers a start to finish shop-at-home experience. So we send a representative to you to take precise measurements of your windows, show you your options, and give you a quote. The design consultation is absolutely free. That’s the most effective way to start your shutter project. If you’re only looking for a rough estimate, you can give us your window measurements either by phone or through our contact form.

That’s up to your personal taste. 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 you can take out the existing trim—but it’s not a requirement. If you’re trying to go trimless or replace your trim, we can help you pick the right option to fit the vision you have in mind for your windows.

If you’re an experienced handyman, you’re probably familiar with what goes into installing shutters. However, DIY shutters may be a little tricky for most Philadelphia residents. We would suggest leaving the installation to professionals that are certified and insured, so you won’t risk damage to your shutters, windows, or injuring yourself.

By far our most in-demand shutter options are our classic white Polywood® plantation shutters, and Ovation® wood shutters.

Beyond that, the most common shutter configuration features includes a 3 ½” louver, smooth finish, and a Z-frame. If those words don’t mean anything to you, that’s ok. We’d be delighted to demonstrate what all that means in person. Set up a free home consultation and we’ll help you figure out what would look best on your windows.

Shutters with a smooth finish tend to look more fashionable and sophisticated, while textured finish shutters look more natural and historic. But the benefits to each style of plantation shutter finish are a little deeper, and ultimately it comes down to your own taste.

Benefits of shutters with a smooth finish – A smooth finish to your shutters give you a clean, chic, sophisticated look. A smooth finish might be what you want if your home has few other wood textured surfaces or furniture. A smooth finish makes dust easier to see, in comparison with a wood grain finish. We usually recommend a smooth finish for faux wood shutters like Polywood.

Benefits of a textured or wood grain finish for shutters – A textured finish on your shutters offers a more natural, wood-like look to your shutters. That’s awesome if your goal is to bring the look of nature inside, particularly if you want to complement the look of your hardwood floors. A textured finish on your shutter louvers may also make it more difficult to see dust, meaning you can wait a little longer between regular cleanings. A wood-grain finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in Philadelphia.

Typically, the larger the window, 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. Oftentime, wider panels can’t fit flush against the wall because of their size. Two smaller panels don’t have that same issue.

For windows that you’ll want to open or shut regularly, you’re usually better off with multi-panel shutters, since it’s easier to open them and they have better support from the shutter frame when you do operate them.

With Sunburst Shutters Philadelphia, all of your measurements for shutters will be done by one of our installers for free as part of your in-home consultation. If you happen to have windows in a difficult to reach area of your home or you have windows with a unique shape, our installers can get you an accurate measurement so that the shutters you get will perfectly match up with your windows.

At your complimentary in-home consultation, your Sunburst Shutters pro will help you pick from our extensive array of Philadelphia plantation shutters, including choices for finish, stains, and custom mounts and frames.

So set up your shutter consultation now by calling 215-874-4897 today.

Sunburst can assist you in picking the perfect shutter for your rooms, no matter how small your frame. We will utilize an outside mount installation that attaches to the trim or wall outside the window pane . Your window treatments will still have the same capabilities and energy efficiency, and will tie in perfectly with your established decor.

If the louver is detached and drooping from the frame, you could have a busted louver pin. To repair 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 pin is extracted, insert the replacement pin base into the same hole in the shutter stile, then guide the louver onto the pin. To get additional louver pins at no cost, just call us at 215-874-4897.

Actual prices of plantation shutters depends on the chosen product line and window dimensions. While we can give you a basic quote over the phone, complete costs are computed after our no cost in-person consultation. Call 215-874-4897 to schedule an appointment today.

To start, pull out the damaged staple from the louver with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Then dab on some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to spread all over the legs of a replacement staple. weave the staple into the loop on the louver and direct its legs into the previous staple holes on the tilt rod. For new shutter staples, call us at 215-874-4897.

Polywood shutters are some of the safest window treatments in Philadelphia. The durable, cordless design is perfect for kids and pets. The non-toxic and hypoallergenic paint and materials will never chip, splinter, or peel. And since Polywood is moisture and pest resistant, you won’t have to check for mold, termites, or wood rot.