Hartford's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 46 years, we’ve heard every question about shutters thinkable from our customers in Hartford. And we’ve put together the top ten of them here. Maybe 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 Connecticut directly. We’re here to assist you and happy to do so.

That depends on how you want 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 right for you. Or are you looking to replicate the wood in your home as closely as possible? Ovation® wood shutters are an absolute 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 breaking 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 a variety of colors, materials, and unique patterns, transforming your window into artwork. By effortlessly pulling up the fabric of the shade, your entire window is exposed and you can see out onto your Hartford neighborhood.

Draperies also come in a wide spectrum 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, it’s not necessary to clean draperies for five years.

If you are searching for a window treatment that lasts beyond 10 years, saves you money on your energy bills, and looks elegant on your windows, shutters are the choice for your home. Not only are shutters durable, but they’re also exquisite and energy efficient. Actually, 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.

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

An inappropriately installed window treatment can be a hassle to open and can get damaged easily. We have an expert installation crew that comes to your home and installs your window treatment just right, making sure that each one functions smoothly – and doesn’t get damaged in the process.

But before we begin installing your shutters, we bring shutter samples to your home so we can custom build your window treatment together. Learn more about our free in-home consultation.

Your plantation shutter slats – or louvers – can be moved simply by adjusting them up or down. Generally, a tilt rod mounted on the front of the shutters gives you control over the louvers. To move the louvers with your hand, we recommend buying shutters with hidden tilt-rods or rear-mounted tilt rods. This gives your shutters a clean, contemporary feel.

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

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

Plantation shutters are an investment that allows temperature control, energy efficiency, and privacy. They are custom designed and installed on your windows to become permanent fixtures. Not only are they elegant and energy saving, but plantation shutters also add to the value of your residence. We’ve seen it first hand in Hartford!

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 right look for a plantation shutter?

Cafe Shutters Cafe Style Shutters With Divider

What it comes down to is 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 giving you the option to close the bottom louvers for privacy while leaving the top louvers open for light. At night, you have the option of closing the top louvers as well for privacy and security. It’s also convenient during the day when the sun is stopping 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 plenty of space to look through.

Easy! Call us at 860-266-5459 or fill out the form below to schedule your free in-home consultation, and we’ll take it 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. This allows us to provide you with the appropriate shutter quote for your project. Schedule your in-home consultation today!

Absolutely! There’s rarely a need to take out or do work on your existing window trim when putting in new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and deluxe Polywood shutters can be customized with a variety of frame styles to fit seamlessly into your existing window trim. If your windows have no trim, you can choose a specific frame style to install directly onto the wall around your window to secure your beautiful new shutters to your window opening.

Your installer will measure each of your house’s windows during your complimentary design consultation to ensure that your window trim is perfectly complemented by the frame of your new window treatment.

Sunburst Shutters Connecticut is proud to offer a collection of shutters made right here in the U.S. Our popular Polywood plantation shutters are 100% American-made, from the creation of our exclusive Polywood material to the construction of the shutters themselves. Not only does that mean saving you money on unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the benefit of knowing you’ve chosen an all-American product for your Hartford home.

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

The primary difference between paints and stains for shutters is how the material of the shutter interacts with the color. 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 choices for painted shutters. With stained shutters, the color doesn’t interfere with the natural wood grain, so you can see the natural grooves and ridges of the material without a layer of paint masking it.

During your in-home shutter consultation, we’ll bring samples of our stain and paint options right to your door so you can perfectly match and complement colors with your current design.

The complete plantation shutter process, beginning with your initial consultation through installing the shutters, usually takes about four to six weeks. The reason it takes this long is because we want to build the perfect shutters for your windows. Doing that requires us to take precise measurements, use sophisticated software to design your shutters, assemble your brand-new shutters manually, and deliver them to you prior to installation. Real wood shutters typically take longer because of the added steps of staining and finishing the wood.

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

Sunburst Shutters Connecticut offers a total in-home shopping experience. So we send shutter expert to your home to take precise measurements of your windows, show you your options, and provide an accurate quote. The shutter consultation is totally free. That’s the best way to start a shutter project. If you only want a quick estimate, you can give us the measurements of your windows 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 complement your current trim. If you like our shutter frames better, then removing trim is fine—but it is not a requirement for shutters. If you want to go without trim or replace your trim, we’ll help you find the best shutter to match what you have in mind for your space.

If you’re an experienced DIYer, you might be familiar with some of the process involved in installing shutters. However, DIY shutters can be a little complicated for most Hartford homeowners. We recommend leaving the installation to our certified and insured professionals, that way you won’t risk damage to your shutters, your windows, or injuring yourself.

By far our most popular shutter products are our classic white Polywood® faux wood plantation shutters, and Ovation® hardwood shutters.

As far as shutter options, the most common shutter configuration we sell is a 3 ½” louver, non-textured finish, with a Z-frame. If none of that makes any sense, that’s ok. We’ll be happy to demonstrate what all those things mean in person. Set up a complimentary home consultation and we’ll show you what would work best in your house.

Shutters with a smooth finish tend to look more fashionable and sleek, whereas shutters with a textured finish look more natural and historic. However the benefits to both types of plantation shutter finish are a little deeper, and in the end it comes down to your own style.

Benefits of shutters with a smooth finish – A smooth finish to your shutters give you a clean, sleek, sophisticated look. If your home doesn’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, in comparison with a wood grain finish. We usually recommend a smooth finish for faux wood shutters like Polywood.

Benefits of shutters with a textured or wood grain finish – Shutters with a textured finish offer a more natural look to your windows. That’s ideal if you want to bring the beauty of nature inside, especially if you want to match the look of your hardwood floors. A textured finish on your shutter louvers may also make dust harder to see, which means you can wait a little longer between regular cleanings. A textured finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in Hartford.

For the most part, the larger the surface area of your window, the more shutter panels you’ll need. 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 panels. Often, wider panels can’t fit flush against the wall due to their width. Multiple small panels don’t have that problem.

For any windows that you might open or shut often, you’ll be better off with multi-panel shutters, since they’re easier to open and get more support from the shutter frame when you do open and close them.

With Sunburst Shutters Connecticut, any and all measurements for shutters will be done for free by one of our installers as part of your in-home consultation. Even if your window is in a hard to reach place in your home or has a distinct shape, our shutter pros can get you a precise measurement so that your shutters will perfectly match up with your windows.

During your complimentary shutter consultation, your Sunburst Shutters installer can help you narrow down your options from our wide array of Hartford plantation shutters, featuring options for louver size, stain colors, and custom framing options.

So schedule your shutter consultation now by calling 860-266-5459 today.

Sunburst can help you find the best shutter for your home, no matter how thin your frame. We will utilize an outside mount installation that connects to the trim or wall outside the window pane . Your shutters will still have equivalent capabilities and energy efficiency, and will blend perfectly with other window treatments.

If the louver is detached and hanging from the frame, you could have a damaged 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 damaged pin is extracted, insert the replacement pin base into the old hole in the shutter stile, then direct the louver onto the pin. To acquire replacement louver pins for free, just call us at 860-266-5459.

The cost of plantation shutters hinges on the desired product line and window measurements. While we can give you a projection over the phone, detailed quotes are offered after our free in-person consultation. Call 860-266-5459 to schedule an appointment today.

First, pull out the broken staple from the louver with a tool like of needle-nose pliers. Then apply some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to spread all over the legs of a replacement staple. Thread the staple into the loop on the louver and guide its legs into the previous staple holes on the tilt rod. For new shutter staples, call us at 860-266-5459.

Polywood shutters are some of the safest window coverings in Hartford. The durable, cord-free design is perfect for children and pets. The toxin-free and hypoallergenic materials and paint will never chip, splinter, or peel. And since Polywood is moisture and pest resistant, you will not have to wonder about termites, mold or wood rot.