Orlando's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 34 years, we’ve heard every question about shutters you can think of from our customers in Orlando. And we’ve put together the top ten of them here. There’s a good chance that 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 Orlando directly. We’re here to help you and happy to do so.

That hinges on how you want the shutters to interact 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 match the wood in your home as closely as possible? Ovation® wood shutters are an absolute fit for you.

Plantation shutters are known for being energy efficient. And to get the most 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 are difficult 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 array 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 Orlando neighborhood.

Draperies also come in a wide variety of color, fabric, and patterns. They are a traditional option for a window treatment. Installing thick panels between the drapes and the window gives you light and temperature block-out capabilities. And unlike other window treatments, it’s not necessary to clean draperies for five years.

If you’re looking for a window treatment that lasts beyond 10 years, saves you money on your energy bills, and looks lovely 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 will miss out on 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 space a clean contemporary feel whether they’re closed or open.

A poorly installed window treatment can be challenging to open and can get damaged easily. We have a skilled installation crew that comes to your home and installs your window treatment exactly, double checking that each one moves seamlessly – and doesn’t get damaged throughout.

But before we begin 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 tilting them up or down. Usually, a tilt rod mounted on the front of the shutters allows you to adjust the louvers. To move the louvers with your hand, we advise 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 you can find. 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 a breeze to clean because they have large louvers and their tilt bars are either hidden or mounted on the rear. Just tilt them open and dust them like furniture – or wipe smudges with a moist cloth.

Plantation shutters are custom fashioned to fit your windows just right. They become a permanent fixture of your home, increasing 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 exquisite and energy saving, but plantation shutters also boost the value of your house. We’ve seen it first hand in Orlando!

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 appropriate 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 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. This also comes in handy 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 more than enough room to look through.

Easy! Call us at 407-630-7011 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 way we can provide you with the most accurate shutter estimate for your project. Schedule your in-home consultation today!

Yes! There’s almost never a reason to get rid of or do work on your current window trim when you buy new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and premier Polywood shutters can be customized with an array of frame styles to fit easily into your existing window trim. If your windows have no trim, you can choose a specific frame style to install directly onto the drywall around your window to secure your beautiful new shutters to your window opening.

Your shutter installation team will measure each of your home’s windows during your complimentary design consultation to ensure that your new shutters will fit seamlessly with your window trim.

Sunburst Shutters Orlando is happy to provide a collection of window treatments made right here in the U.S. Our top-selling Polywood plantation shutters are 100% made in America, from the creation of our exclusive Polywood material to the construction of the shutters themselves. Not only does that result in savings passed on to you from cutting unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the benefit of knowing you’ve chosen an all-American product for your Orlando home.

And Polywood isn’t alone in hailing from America. Our stunning Reclaimed Wood shutters are built using lumber gathered from sources across the country, from rustic Midwest barn doors to beautiful New England fences and more.

The main difference between painted and stained shutters is the way the shutter material interacts with the color. Paint sits atop the shutter, just coating the surface. Stains on the other hand penetrate the shutter, bonding to the natural wood or Polywood material.

The two color options have their own unique benefits. There are often more color options for painted shutters. With stained shutters, the color doesn’t obscure the natural wood grain, so you can see the random knots and ridges of the material without a layer of paint masking it.

For your in-home window design consultation, our team will bring samples of all our color options straight to you so you can perfectly match and complement colors with your existing interior design.

The entire plantation shutter process, beginning with your initial consultation through installation, usually takes approximately four to six weeks. The process takes this long because our goal is to build 100% custom shutters for your windows. Doing that requires us to take precise measurements, use advanced software to design your shutters, assemble your brand-new shutters by hand, and deliver them to your home for installation. Wood shutters will usually take longer than Polywood because of the added steps of staining and finishing the wood.

It does take a little time, but it’s definitely worth the wait.

We sure do! We’d be delighted to walk you through our showroom to see our entire collection of shutters and window treatments. We’re located at 6524 All American Blvd, so feel free to stop in anytime during our standard business hours to take a look for yourself.

Sunburst Shutters Orlando offers a complete shop-at-home experience. We typically send a representative to your home to measure all your windows, show you your options, and give you an accurate quote. The shutter consultation is 100% free. That’s the best way to start a shutter project. If you only need a simple estimate, you can send us the measurements of your windows either by phone or through our contact form.

Whether or not to remove the trim depends on your own taste. If you want to keep the trim you already have, we’re able to build your shutters to match your current trim. If you like our shutter frames better, then removing trim is fine—but it’s not a requirement. If you’re trying to go trimless or replace your trim, we’ll help you find the best option to match the vision you have in mind for your windows.

If you’re a seasoned handyman, you’re probably familiar with what goes into installing shutters. However, installing shutters yourself may be a bit complex for most Orlando residents. We would suggest leaving the installation to professionals that are certified and insured, that way you won’t risk damage to your shutters, 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.

To get more specific, the most common shutter configuration features includes a 3 ½” louver, non-textured finish, with an interior-mount Z-frame. If none of that makes any sense, that’s ok. We’d be happy to show you what all those things mean in person. Schedule your free in-home consultation and we’ll help you figure out what will look best on your windows.

Smooth finish shutters tend to look more fashionable and sleek, while shutters with a textured finish look more natural and historic. But the benefits to each style of plantation shutter finish go a little bit farther, and in the end it comes down to your own taste.

Benefits of a smooth finish for shutters – A smooth finish to your shutters offer a solid, chic, fashion-forward look. A smooth finish might be perfect for you if your home doesn’t have much in the way of wood grain accessories or furniture. A smooth finish makes dust easier to see, compared to a wood grain finish. We usually recommend a smooth finish for faux wood shutters like Polywood.

Benefits of a wood grain finish for shutters – A wood grain finish on your shutters offers a more natural, rustic look to your shutters. That’s great if your goal is to bring the beauty of nature indoors, particularly if you want to accentuate the look of your hardwood furniture. A textured finish on your shutters may also make it more difficult to see dust, which means you can wait a little longer between regular cleanings. A wood-grain finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in Orlando.

For the most part, the larger the surface area of your window, the more shutter panels you’ll need. Our recommendation is to use one 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 two separate panels. Sometimes, wide panel shutters can’t fit flush against the wall because of their width. Multiple small panels solve that issue.

For those windows that you’ll open or shut regularly, you’ll be better suited with multiple panels, since they’re easier to open and have more support from the shutter frame when you do operate them.

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

During your complimentary shutter consultation, your Sunburst Shutters rep will help you choose from our extensive array of Orlando plantation shutters, including options for louver size, stains, and custom framing options.

So set up your in-home consultation today by calling 407-630-7011 today.

Sunburst can help you find the perfect shutter for your rooms, no matter how narrow your frame. We will utilize an outside mount installation that attaches to the trim or wall outside the window cavity . Your shutters will still have equivalent functionality and energy efficiency, and will tie in seamlessly with other window treatments.

If the louver is disconnected and hanging from the frame, you could have a damaged louver pin. To repair this you will want to take out the pin from both the louver and the stile with a set of needle-nose pliers or a utility knife. Once the pin is taken out, insert the undamaged pin base into the old hole in the shutter stile, then slide the louver onto the pin. To get replacement complementary louver pins, just call us at 407-630-7011.

Pricing on plantation shutters depends on the selected product line and window dimensions. While we can give you a basic quote over the phone, detailed quotes are computed after our complimentary in-person consultation. Call 407-630-7011 to make an appointment today.

Locate and clear away the damaged staple away from the louver with some of needle-nose pliers. Then use some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to coat the legs of a new staple. Thread the staple through the loop on the louver and direct its legs into the same staple holes on the tilt rod. For extra shutter staples, call us at 407-630-7011.

Polywood shutters are seen as some of the safest window treatments in Orlando. The durable, cord-free design is safe for children and pets. The non-toxic and hypoallergenic paint, polymers, and materials will never chip or peel. And since Polywood is pest and moisture resistant, you won’t have to wonder about mold, termites, or wood rot.