Fort Myers's Frequently Asked Questions About Shutters

For more than 25 years, we’ve heard every question about shutters imaginable from our customers in Fort Myers. And we’ve gathered 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 hesitate to contact Sunburst Shutters Fort Myers directly. We’re here to aid you and happy to do so.

That is based 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 ideal for you. Or are you looking to duplicate the wood in your home as closely as possible? Ovation® wood shutters are a better fit for you.

Plantation shutters are celebrated for being energy efficient. And to get the greatest 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 snapping and the loops that hold the slats in place falling apart. Not to mention, 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 array of colors, materials, and unique patterns, transforming 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 Fort Myers neighborhood.

Draperies also come in a wide collection of color, fabric, and patterns. They are a traditional alternative for a window treatment. Adding thick panels between the drapes and the window allows for light and temperature block-out capabilities. And unlike other window treatments, there’s no need to clean draperies for five years.

If you are searching for a window treatment that lasts over 10 years, saves you actual bucks on your energy bills, and looks charming on your windows, shutters are the choice for your home. Not only are shutters durable, but they’re also beautiful and energy efficient. Actually, Polywood shutters insulate up to 70% better than a similar 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.

An improperly installed window treatment can be difficult to open and can get damaged easily. We have a skilled installation crew that comes to your home and installs your window treatment precisely, double checking that each one moves seamlessly – and doesn’t get damaged when opened and closed.

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

Your plantation shutter slats – or louvers – can be moved easily by pushing them up or down. Most commonly, a tilt rod mounted on the front of the shutters allows you to adjust the louvers. 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 over 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 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 damp cloth.

Plantation shutters are custom designed to fit your windows perfectly. They become a permanent fixture of your home, adding to its resale value. It’s not possible to move these shutters 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 magnificent and energy saving, but plantation shutters also increase the value of your home. We’ve seen it first hand in Fort Myers!

A half shutter lets you have 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

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 polished 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. That’s also helpful during the day when the sun is stopping you from watching TV. And don’t worry about forgoing 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.

Simple! Call us at 239-208-6577 or fill out the form below to schedule your free in-home consultation, and we’ll handle it 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 way we can provide you with the appropriate shutter quote for your project. Schedule your in-home consultation today!

Absolutely! There’s seldom a need to remove or do work on your current window trim when installing new plantation shutters. Natural Ovation wood shutters and patented Polywood shutters are available in an array of frame styles to fit naturally into your current window trim. If your windows have no trim, we offer frame styles to install right onto the drywall around your window to secure your beautiful new shutters to your window opening.

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

Sunburst Shutters Fort Myers is happy to provide a collection of shutters made right here in America. Our marquee Polywood plantation shutters are 100% made in America, from the creation of our patented Polywood material to the building of the shutters themselves. Not only does that result in a lower final price without unnecessary shipping and handling costs, it also gives you the benefit of knowing you’ve chosen an all-American window treatment for your Fort Myers house.

And it’s not just Polywood that’s from America. Our stunning Reclaimed Wood shutters are constructed using lumber gathered from sources across the country, from rustic Midwest barn doors to sturdy Texas ranch fences and more.

The main divide between paints and stains for shutters is how the color interacts with the shutter material. Paint sits atop the material it’s coloring, covering the surface. Stains on the other hand seep into the shutter, becoming a part of the natural wood or faux wood material.

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

During your in-home shutter consultation, our team will bring samples of all our color options right to your door so you can perfectly match and complement colors with your current design.

The whole plantation shutter process, from your initial consultation to installing the shutters, will take around four to six weeks. The process takes this long because we strive to build shutters that are perfectly customized to every facet of your windows. Doing that requires us to take exact measurements, make use of advanced software to design your shutters, assemble your custom shutters manually, and get them to you prior to installation. Wood shutters tend to take longer because of the added steps of staining and finishing the wood.

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

Yes, we do have a showroom. We’d love to walk you through our showroom to see our entire collection of shutters and window treatments. We’re located at 608 Danley Drive, so feel free to stop in anytime during our standard business hours to take a look for yourself.

Sunburst Shutters Fort Myers offers a complete shop-at-home experience. We typically send shutter expert to your door to get window measurements, discuss your options, and provide an accurate quote. The design consultation is absolutely free. That’s the easiest way to start your window treatment project. If you only want a simple estimate, you can give us the measurements of your windows through our contact form, or give us a call at 239-208-6577.

Whether or not to remove the trim depends on your personal taste. If you want to keep your trim in place, we can build your shutters to complement your current trim. If you prefer our shutter frames, then removing trim is fine—but it’s not a requirement. If you want to go without trim or replace your trim, we can help you find the right shutter to fit your perfect vision.

If you’re an experienced handyman, you might be familiar with what goes into installing shutters. However, installing shutters yourself may be a tad tricky for most Fort Myers homeowners. We recommend leaving the installation to our certified and insured professionals, so you won’t be at risk of damaging your shutters, windows, or injuring yourself.

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

To get more specific, the most popular shutter configuration we sell is a 3.5” louver, smooth finish, with an interior-mount Z-frame. If those words don’t mean anything to you, that’s ok. We’d be happy to demonstrate what all those things mean in person. Schedule a free in-home consultation and we’ll help you find what would look best in your home.

Shutters with a smooth finish have a more chic look, while shutters with a textured finish look more natural and historic. However the benefits to both types of plantation shutter finish go a little bit farther, and in the end come down to your own personal preference.

Perks of a smooth finish for shutters – A smooth finish to your shutters give you a solid, sleek, sophisticated look. If your home doesn’t have many other wood accessories like hardwood floors or furniture, you may 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.

Perks of shutters with a textured finish – A wood grain finish on your shutters offers a more natural, rustic look to your shutters. That’s perfect if you want to bring the look of nature inside, especially if you want to match the look of your hardwood furniture. A wood grain on your shutters will also make dust more difficult to see, which means you won’t have to dust them as frequently as you would if they had a smooth finish. A textured finish looks especially great on real wood shutters in Fort Myers.

Usually, the bigger your window is, the more shutter panels you’ll want on it. Our recommendation 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 are not as room-friendly as multiple panels. Often, wide panel shutters won’t fit flush against the wall due to their width. Multiple smaller panels fix that.

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

With Sunburst Shutters Fort Myers, any and all measurements for shutters will be done for free by our team as part of your in-home consultation. Even if your window is in a difficult to reach area of your home or has a distinct shape, our shutter pros can get you an exact measurement so that the shutters you get will line up just right with the windows.

At your complimentary in-home consultation, your Sunburst Shutters rep can help you pick from our extensive variety of Fort Myers plantation shutters, such as choices for finish, stain colors, and custom mounts and frames.

So set up your shutter consultation today by calling 239-208-6577 today.

Sunburst can help you find the ideal shutter for your rooms, despite how thin your frame. We will work with an outside mount installation that affixes to the trim or wall outside the window opening . Your window treatments will still have equivalent functionality and energy efficiency, and will integrate superbly into your design scheme.

If the louver is separated and hanging from the frame, you could have a broken louver pin. To fix this you should 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 extracted, insert the undamaged pin base into the old hole in the shutter stile, then direct the louver onto the pin. To receive replacement louver pins for free, just call us at 239-208-6577.

Pricing on plantation shutters depends on the selected product line and window dimensions. While we can give you an estimate over the phone, exact prices are offered after our no cost in-person consultation. Call 239-208-6577 to ask for an appointment today.

Locate and pull out the damaged staple from the louver with some of needle-nose pliers. Then apply some adhesive (like wood glue or epoxy) to cover 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 replacement shutter staples, call us at 239-208-6577.

Polywood shutters are known as some of the safest window coverings in Fort Myers. The durable, cordless construction is perfect for kids and pets. The non-toxic and hypoallergenic materials and paint will never peel or chip. And because Polywood is pest and moisture resistant, you’ll never have to check for termites, mold or wood rot.