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| MADE IN AMERICA The sadness of poor quality shutters will remain with you long after the low price is gone. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Kelley Plantation Shutters, LLC. takes great pride in making our custom wood plantation shutters, by not taking any short cuts in the process. Our skilled woodworkers have years of experience. They want it done right; not slammed together and rushed out the door. We work with our clients so they get exactly what they are looking for. We do not just offer a small group of items. Why buy wooden shutters instead of plastic shutters (most made with blown PVC)? The choice is very simple. You would not build your home with these materials, so why have your shutters built with them? If your home were built with these materials (PVC) you would have major settling problems. Heat is a major factor in the deterioration of window treatments. Temperatures can range from 30 degrees to a 120 degrees in a window. (Based on the various seasons in a year.) The quality american hardwood components we use provide the best results to hold up under these conditions. Wood is a natural insulator keeping the cost of your heating and cooling bill lower. Plastic shutters (most made with blown PVC) are made with heat. Therefore, looses its rigidity in heat and can cause shutters or louvers to sag. This is why most plastic shutters have limits on the width and height in which they can be built. In additon, you are limited to the amount of colors to chose from with plastic shutters. You take pride in your home and the way you decorate it. So why limit yourself to a few sizes and colors? We will custom match any color or stain you want. We even have glazed, distressed, crackled and many more choices. Many companies use all pre-primed components to get their orders out the door quicker. This in our opinion compromises not only the finish of the product, but its durability.We use unfinished parts to ensure a furniture-like finish. If the stiles and rails are not properly sanded prior to the primer being applied, the joints (in finger jointed stiles) will show through the paint. The finish could be (as known in the industry) orange peeled or flake off as in pictures A, B, C, D and E below. In the photos below, we were asked by clients to repaint the shutters you see. The panels were originally painted with lacquer paint. So, with this information, ask yourself before buying; Am I really getting a quality product or just a cheap price??? Picture A Picture B Picture C  Picture D  Picture E  Using all pre-primed components hinders the top rail and side stile to stay glued together. Wood glue WILL NOT stick to primer. We use fluted dowels that allows the glue to spread through out the whole dowel. We don't stop there, we also glue the whole raw surface (not primed yet) between the rails and stiles. Also, if they are double hung shutters (shutters cut in the middle of divider rail) we don't use dowels, we use 3" screws to ensure a perfect bond. We had a client tell us a shutter fell out the back of his truck while going down the highway, it flipped end over end at 55 mph and never came apart. We asked our client if we could keep the shutter and just make him a new one so we could show our clients how well they are built. We were called upon to fix some shutters that were falling apart, our client told us the company that built them would not respond to their phone calls. After taking a close look at the shutters we found that all components were pre-primed and this was the cause of the shutters falling apart. The next time you go by your shutter suppliers facility ( if not using Kelley Plantaion Shutters, LLC.) check to see if they are manufacturing their panels with pre-primed components. If so, you could run into these type of situations. Pictures A, B, C, and D are the panels in which we repaired. Picture A Picture B Picture C Wood glue will not stick to primer, hence falling apart Picture D After we tailor our panels, we use Porter brand primer to seal the wood. All sides of the panel are sprayed, as well as the ends of the louvers, and behind the tilt bar. We have a staff of very well trained employees that hand sand the panels, ensuring that the primer is smooth, and check over the panels for any flaws. Many companies use lacquer based paint, claiming it has a furniture like finish. True, a lot of furniture is finished with lacquer based paint or stain, but how many pieces of furniture do you see in someones' window?! For those who own a Grand Piano, one thing you know NOT to do is put your Piano in direct sunlight. The finish, even though beautiful is not durable enough to withstand direct sunlight. What does all of this information have to do with shutters? Wood shutters will contract and expand with the various temperatures, and will be in direct sunlight. Lacquer paint is a fast drying, hard curing paint (like fingernail polish) which means, as the wood shutters contract and expand, the lacquer paint will not give, or flex with the wood. Small cracks in the paint will form, and over time, the paint will peel off of the panel. We have repaired panels that were only two years old sprayed in lacquer that had what we call in the industry spider cracks. This happens when the wood contracts and expands. We were asked to repaint these shutters (manufacturer unknown) Pictures A, B, C, and D will show the spider cracks. Lacquer paint does have a place in this world, just not on plantation shutters. Picture A Picture B Picture C Picture D  At Kelley Plantation Shutters, LLC. we use the same paint used nine out of ten times on your window trim. (enamel) Other companies will argue that enamels will yellow quickly. No. We proudly offer Porter paints with Glyptex, a non-yellowing oil based paint that provides long-lasting beauty and maximum color retention. It is very durable, and easy to clean. Even if you have a different brand of paint, or don't know the color, we can have the color custom matched at no additional charge. Granted enamel paint will not dry as quickly as lacquer, but the durability of enamel paint far out weighs lacquer paints. Enamel paints also have a low VOC, which means you will be able to enjoy your shutters, without having to smell them! (And it meets E.P.A. standards.)  Notice how our frames have a decorative route Some companies take a cheap way out when it comes to their frames. They will use a 1 3/8 profile stick that cost the same as sticks but charge you for frame shutters. 1 3/8 profile sticks DO NOT BLOCK ANY LIGHT and you will notice bad light gaps. 1 3/8 profile sticks were made for cafe shutters, we use a two sided z-frame for our cafe shutters cause it has a light block. Below are pictures showing this type of frame vs ours. Our frame is on the left, notice the light block. Same frames as above. When using a 1 3/8 profile stick as the frame around shutters you will notice bad light gaps showing when shutters are installed. Below is a picture showing these bad light gaps in the 1 3/8 sticks used as frames.  Below is a picture of our frame that has light block, notice how well it blocks out light.  Other companies also take short cuts by not mortising their shutters. This can make bigger gaps in the frames. They just mount the hinge on the side of shutter, great for getting it out the door quick but its not custom! You get a lot better look by mortising the shutters. Below are pictures showing the difference between non-mortise and our mortised shutters. See how much cleaner and less gap on our mortised shutters Non-mortised Mortised Non-mortised Non-mortised Our Mortised Our Mortised More short cuts other companies take is not to route the shutters where they come together, they just put a piece or strip glued to one shutter. This adds bulk and can come unglued. It also does not look as clean as shutters with routes that are made to fit together. We route all of our shutters to give it a clean look. Below are some pictures of this. See how clean the ones on the right look Non-routed stiles Our routed stiles A non-routed glued piece of wood that might come free as shown Routed shutters We hope that the information we had provided will help you understand what truly defines a custom plantation shutter. We realize that you, the homeowner are making an investment, and we feel that you deserve only the best. Contact or email us for more info. | |
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