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New Brunswick's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 27 years, we’ve heard every question about shutters thinkable from our customers in New Brunswick. 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 New Brunswick directly. We’re here to help you and happy to do so.

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That hinges on how you would like the shutters to relate to your home’s décor. Do you want a shutter that contrasts your wall paint color and has clean lines? Polywood® plantation shutters are ideal for you. Or are you looking to copy 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. And 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 a variety of colors, materials, and unique patterns, turning your window into artwork. Just by pulling up the fabric of the shade, your full window is exposed and you can see out onto your New Brunswick neighborhood.

Draperies also are available in a wide collection of color, fabric, and patterns. They are a traditional choice for a window treatment. Adding thick panels between the drapes and the window provides you with light and temperature block-out capabilities. And unlike other window treatments, there’s no need 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 magnificent on your windows, shutters are the choice for your home. Not only are shutters durable, but they’re also charming and energy efficient. As a matter of fact, Polywood shutters insulate up to 70% better than a comparable wood shutter. That's energy savings you won't find with any other window treatment.

Plantation shutters are unparalleled when it comes to control over privacy and light. And with their large louvers, Polywood plantation shutters give your house a clean in vogue feel whether they’re closed or open.

A poorly installed window treatment can be tough to open and can get damaged easily. We have an expert installation crew that comes to your home and installs your window treatment precisely, double checking that each one functions smoothly – and doesn’t get damaged when opened and closed.

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 without difficulty by adjusting them up or down. Most commonly, 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 propose buying shutters with hidden tilt-rods or rear-mounted tilt rods. This gives your shutters a clean, contemporary look.

Our Polywood shutters last over 50 years – more than any other shutter around. That’s why these plantation shutters are a permanent fixture that increases your home’s resale value. Learn more about the durability of our shutters.

Plantation shutters are a breeze 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 moist cloth.

Plantation shutters are custom crafted to fit your windows down to the last one eighth of an inch. They become a permanent fixture of your home, adding to its resale value. This means they can’t be moved from one house to another.

Plantation shutters are an investment that gives you 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 home. We’ve seen it first hand in New Brunswick!

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 ideal look for a plantation shutter?

Cafe Shutters Cafe Style Shutters With Divider

Ultimately, 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 well-rounded look – and allowing you to close the bottom louvers for privacy while leaving the top louvers open for light. At night, you are able to close the top louvers as well for privacy and security. It’s also convenient during the day when the sun is preventing you from watching TV. And don’t worry about forfeiting any of your view. A 3.5" or 4.5" louver will almost disappear when opened flat and gives you abundant of a view to look through.

Easy! Call us at 732-301-6168 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 add shutters to and bring samples of all of our shutter products and their available options. Once you’ve selected a shutter that matches your style, we can provide you with the appropriate shutter estimate 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 old window trim when installing new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and patented Polywood shutters are offered in an array of frame styles to fit seamlessly into your current window trim. If your windows have no trim, we also have frame styles available to install right onto the wall around your window to secure your stunning new shutters to your window opening.

Your shutter installation team will measure each of your house’s windows during your free in-home consultation to ensure that your window trim is beautifully complemented by the frame of your new shutters.

Sunburst Shutters New Brunswick is committed to offering a range of window coverings made right here in the U.S. Polywood plantation shutters are not only America’s #1-selling shutter, but they’re 100% made in America. Not only does that result in saving you money on unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the bonus of knowing you’ve chosen an all-American shutter for your New Brunswick house.

And it’s not just Polywood that’s from America. Our naturally beautiful Reclaimed Wood shutters are constructed using lumber harvested from places across the country, from homespun Southern barn doors to sturdy Texas ranch fences and more.

The primary difference between a shutter that’s stained or painted is how the color interacts with the shutter material. Paint sits on top of the material it’s coloring, covering the surface. Stains conversely, seep into the shutter, bonding to the natural wood or faux wood material.

The two color options have their own unique benefits. There are typically a larger number of color choices for painted shutters. With stained shutters, the color doesn’t obscure the natural wood grain, so you can see the random grooves and bumps of the material without it being masked by a layer of paint.

When it comes time for your in-home window design consultation, we’ll bring samples of our stain and paint options straight to you so you can easily match and complement colors with your current design.

The whole plantation shutter process, from your starting consultation to putting your shutters in, will take around four to six weeks on average. The process takes this long because we want to build shutters that are perfectly customized to every facet of your windows. Doing that requires us to take exact measurements, utilize sophisticated software to design your shutters, assemble your brand-new shutters manually, and get them to your home for installation. Real wood shutters typically take longer because of the extra steps needed to stain and treat the wood.

It will take a little time, but it’s an investment that’s definitely worth it.

Sunburst Shutters New Brunswick offers a total in-home shopping experience. We typically send one of our reps to you to measure all your windows, show you your options, and provide a quote. The design consultation is absolutely free. That’s the simplest way to start your shutter project. If you’re only looking for a ballpark estimate, you can submit the measurements of your windows through our contact form, or give us a call at 732-301-6168.
The answer will depend on your personal taste. If you want to keep the trim you already have, we’re able to build your shutters to complement your current trim. If you prefer our shutter frames, then you can remove the trim—but it’s not a requirement. If you want to go without trim or replace your trim, your Sunburst installer can help you find the right option to match what you have in mind for your space.

If you’re an experienced DIYer, you might be familiar with what goes into installing shutters. However, taking on DIY shutters may be a tad tricky for most New Brunswick homeowners. Our recommendation is to leave the installation to professionals that are certified and insured, that way you won’t risk damage to your shutters, your windows, or injuring yourself.

Far and away our most in-demand shutter options are our classic white Polywood® plantation shutters, and Ovation® natural wood shutters.

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

Smooth finish shutters have a more modern look, whereas shutters with a textured finish look a little more natural. However the benefits to each style of plantation shutter finish are a little deeper, and ultimately come down to your own style.

Smooth shutter finishTextured shutter finish

Perks of shutters with a smooth finish – A smooth finish to your shutters offer a clean, chic, fashion-forward look. If you don’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 textured finish. We typically recommend a smooth finish for faux wood shutters like Polywood.

Perks of a textured or wood grain finish for shutters – Shutters with a wood grain finish offer a more natural look in your home. That’s fantastic if you’re trying to bring the beauty of nature indoors, especially if you want to match the look of your hardwood furniture. A textured finish on your shutter louvers can also make dust more difficult to see, meaning you don’t need to dust them as frequently as you would if they had a smooth finish. A wood-grain finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in New Brunswick.

For the most part, the larger the window, the more shutter panels you’ll need. The optimal design is to use a single panel for windows up to 26” wide, two panels for windows up to 50” wide, and four for windows up to 98” wide.

Single wide panels aren’t as room-friendly as multiple panels. Often, wide panel shutters won’t fit flush against the wall due to their width. Multiple smaller panels solve that issue.

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

With Sunburst Shutters New Brunswick, all of your measurements for shutters will be done for free by our team 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 distinct shape, our shutter pros can get you an accurate measurement so that the shutters you get will fit your windows seamlessly.

During your complimentary in-home consultation, your Sunburst Shutters rep will help you choose from our wide variety of New Brunswick plantation shutters, featuring choices for finish, stains, and custom framing options.

So schedule your in-home consultation today by calling 732-301-6168 today.

Sunburst can help you find the best shutter for your windows, no matter how small your frame. We will utilize an outside mount installation that attaches to the trim or wall outside the window opening . Your window treatments will still have the same performance and energy efficiency, and will integrate superbly with your established decor.
If the louver is detached and jutting from the frame, you could have a busted louver pin. To mend this you should take out the pin from both the louver and the stile with some needle-nose pliers or a utility knife. Once the pin is extracted, stick the replacement pin base into the same hole in the shutter stile, then direct the louver onto the pin. To acquire additional louver pins at no cost, just call us at 732-301-6168.
The cost of plantation shutters depends on the selected product line and window measurements. While we can offer you an estimate over the phone, complete prices are determined after our free in-person consultation. Call 732-301-6168 to ask for an appointment today.
First, clear away the damaged staple away from the louver with a tool like of needle-nose pliers. Then use some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to coat the legs of a replacement staple. Thread the staple into the loop on the louver and guide its legs into the existing staple holes on the tilt rod. For extra shutter staples, call us at 732-301-6168.
Polywood shutters are some of the safest window coverings in New Brunswick.  The durable, cord-free craftsmanship is perfect for children and pets.  The non-toxic and hypoallergenic paint and materials will never chip or peel.  And because Polywood is water and pest resistant, you’ll never have to worry about bugs, mold, or wood rot.