Best material for decorative exterior shutters?

12 years ago

Hi, we live in South Florida one mile from the beach (humid, salty, sunny and windy). We need to replace some old decorative shutters and I'd like professional or experienced opinions about the pros/cons of vinyl vs composite wood vs "straight grain premium cedar". This is a budget project too... Thank you

Featured Answer

loves2read

12 years ago

Vinyl can discolor from UV if you don't get good quality
Cedar is weather resistant/insect resistant but if you don' the gray/weathered tone over time then you need to seal it and stain or paint which means maintenance to keep it looking nice ever couple of years...
I would not go with any composite for an outside shutter

we bought vinyl for interior shutters for our FL house because of humidity factor...vs wood...

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Comments (7)

Dina
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you. We will paint the shutters to match our new front door, so if the paint is good quality exterior grade shouldn't that prevent fading? Any recommendations for quality vinyl? I am looking at some made by Perfect Shutters, Inc.
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schifferli
11 years ago
dinichillibeanie, did you ever decide what to do on the shutters? I am in the exact same position--in S FL, need to add shutters for a remodel but the vinyl ones seem flimsy/cheap, and the composite and aluminum are much much more expensive. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Dina
Original Author
11 years ago
I ordered decorative vinyl shutters from Exterior Solutions. They are pretty flimsy, but suitable for our house. Once painted, they look cute.
gtcircus
11 years ago
I live in a high humidity area and my house faces west. In the winter we then get bitter cold.

I put up mahogany shutters which i stained and sealed but you could paint. Absolutely no problems and they have been up 10 years. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, the mahogany grows in the tropics and loves the humidity but can tolerate swings.
gtcircus
11 years ago
I know you wanted "budget" but I don't remember them being terribly expensive. As the old saying goes, it is cheaper to do it right the first time than to pay to do it over.
schifferli
11 years ago
Thanks for the responses! These are for a guest house, and decorative only, so the vinyl should work fine. They are About 1/3 the price of others, and now I've seen some on my neighbors' houses that I never noticed were vinyl!