What wood for exterior shutters?

[Kevin Bourque]

I'm building 20 pairs of raised panel shutters for a 250 year old house I'm helping renovate.
There was only 1 pair of shutters remaining on the house and they were trashed so badly it's hard to determine what they were made of or if they were even original to the house.
I'm leaning towards clear western red cedar. They will be painted. Anybody have any suggestions?

Also, and recommendations for shutter hardware sources?

[Tom M King]

If there are any of the original hinges left, it shouldn't be too hard to find some like it. I have a long list in my favorites folder, but just google "hand forged shutter hardware" and they will all pop up. If you can't find what you're looking for, send me an email or pm, and I'll try to help.

I'd probably use Cypress, but it's not hard to get good clear wood here. If it's in the budget, I'd prime with Multi Wood Prime-same stuff that used to be called CPES. I'd coat all surfaces before assembly.

You might also like looking at my website: HistoricHousePreservation.com

[Mel Fulks]

I've always been impressed by the way WRC holds up. Haven't ordered any in years but it used to be sold in a number of
grades ,air dried , and kiln dried; so shop carefully. I'm not impressed by the cypress usually available ...but if Tom has a source for the old heart stuff ...that is a different deal.

[Jim Falsetti]

For reference, check out timberlane shutters. They recommend cedar, but have other options.

[Tom M King]

The only thing I have against WRC is that here, Flickers and Flying Squirrels are so attracted to the stuff that they will have holes in it the first year, whether it's painted or not. I doubt Flying Squirrels would mess with shutters, but they love siding. Maybe we have an overabundance of Flickers here, but if it's a house out in a big open area, they're going to try it out, and evidently one peck on WRC signals that they have found the perfect dead tree for a nest. Otherwise, I'm sure it's a fine choice if that's not a worry.

Funny, I'm going to look at some raised panel shutters tomorrow that "need a lot of work".

[Peter Quinn]

WRC is a good choice for decorative shutters, yellow or white cedar would work, Spanish cedar works well, African mahogany is a contender, if they are painted......Azec might be a consideration. What they were made of originally is nearly irrelevant IMO, because if it's lasted this long it's probably gone. Pine of old had considerable durability, that's pretty much gone, today's stuff is mush. Plastic is painful to work with but it holds paint and lasts longer than anything. What would the colonials have used? The best technology they had.

[Kevin Bourque]

Thanks for all the replies. I was also thinking about using white oak. I don't think the added weight will be a problem.

[lowell holmes]

Thanks for all the replies. I was also thinking about using white oak. I don't think the added weight will be a problem.

My sentiments exactly!

[Frank Drew]

I replaced some rotted-out white pine (!) exterior shutters with redwood, around 1982 or so, and whenever I drive by that neighbor's house I see they're still in good condition (painted, of course). If I had to make some more I'd consider anything with good water resistance and reasonable workability, so redwood, cedar, cypress, etc. Genuine Mahogany would be perfect but it's much less available and much more expensive than it used to be.

[Steve Grimes]

This Old House replaced shutters on the current project with shutters made of marine grade fiberglass. I don't know if you can work fiberglass with woodworking tools.

[jack forsberg]

for shutter that are panels the joinery is as imports as the wood chose. And if the house is 250 years old by God use wood please! The joint that served well in pine on shutters up north here were through mortise and tenons pigged with no glue with weeps /Relisher cuts in the bottom rail. Its not uncommon to see pine ones with no paint on them sound and weather beaten in the 100 year range.

[Kevin Bourque]

for shutter that are panels the joinery is as imports the wood chose. And if the house is 250 years old by God use wood please! The joint that served well in pine on shutters up north here were through mortise and tenons pigged with no glue with weeps /Relisher cuts in the bottom rail. It no uncommon to see pine ones will no paint on them sound and weather beaten in the 100 year range.

Thats exactly what I was planning to do. The through mortise with the pegs really make the difference.

[Tom M King]

Don't get greedy on drawboring. I've seen more joint failures from too aggressive drawboring, than rot, on old ones.

[Tom M King]

The ones I looked at today were made in 1980. They were made from Cypress, with cope and stick glued joints. I guess they used resorcinol glue. Out of 30some shutters, only 5 ended up in the intensive care pile with open joints, maybe 12 in the need some help pile with open checks on end grain here and there-not really that much, and the rest just need caulking and painting. There was no rot anywhere, but penetrating epoxy is needed here and there on a lot of them.

The only other people who had looked at them wanted to toss them, and nail plastic ones on the side of the house. These were hung correctly on nice hand forged hardware. It was a really nice house on the waterfront, with some of the nicest antique furniture I've ever seen in a home. All the doors had brass surface locks. The owners were extremely relieved to find someone who understood the difference. They're going to wait for us to get to them on our list.

[jack forsberg]

Don't get greedy on drawboring. I've seen more joint failures from too aggressive drawboring, than rot, on old ones.

This is a good point Tom. its most likely not necessary to draw bore if the wood is KD and in a sash cramp when the pegs are drilled. Pegs should not go through and be drilled from the face that is seen when closed so they don't work there way out in the winter.this is based on the fact that no one users the shutter in any fashion

[Brian W Smith]

Try talking customer into some copper/sheet metal caps.

Good luck,even though we've built a slew of these on some pretty big,high $$ historic pres. in the past....I am reluctant to advise on particular species.Between wood NOT being as good as it was(our pres. work was 30 years ago),there's also local climatic and availability issues.With a minor in tooling resources.

Shutter hdwre can usually be sourced through some local Blacksmiths......do a search in your area.If that dosen't pan out,go visit a brick & mortar, pro welding joint.Ask them for some names of local blacksmith artisans.This would be for real,extremely authentic repros.IF...for whatever reason this doesn't suit,the welding joint can easily give you a short list of whom to contact using more modern fabrication approaches.

If that dosen't work,drop me a pm,I'll hook you up with a blacksmith here.....and NO,I'M NOT LOOKING FOR BIZ(moderators).I have a dear friend that spends his time in front of a forge.

[Mel Fulks]

I've used draw boring at times when specified, but prefer glueing ,wedging, and pegging. I made a couple pairs for a cape
cod house I owned in mid 70s and I actually closed them every evening and opened them mornings. On a busy street it
quieted the house, stopped some air leakage. They were made of quarter sawn heart redwood ,the company had bought it so long ago it was black from coal smoke. It's strange to use heavy redwood. They are ,of course, still in excellent shape.
I had the hinges made by a local metal talent for 5 dollars each. They had some bend in them planned out with cardboard
so that when open the shutters did not cover the wide brick mould.

[jack forsberg]

I've used draw boring at times when specified, but prefer glueing ,wedging, and pegging. I made a couple pairs for a cape
cod house I owned in mid 70s and I actually closed them every evening and opened them mornings. On a busy street it
quieted the house, stopped some air leakage. They were made of quarter sawn heart redwood ,the company had bought it so long ago it was black from coal smoke. It's strange to use heavy redwood. They are ,of course, still in excellent shape.
I had the hinges made by a local metal talent for 5 dollars each. They had some bend in them planned out with cardboard
so that when open the shutters did not cover the wide brick mould.


Mel i like the cast iron locking hinges and that's what we see up here on the single style/wood houses.

http://www.historichouseparts.com/pdshop/images/8837-.jpg

we see the off set strap hing on the brick houses like you described. both are made by a number of makers like Tom said and no need to go to a black smith tho that would be nice if you have one local.



http://www.diyshutters.com/images/Exterior-Shutter-Hardware-Offset-Rule-01.jpg

[Mel Fulks]

Thanks,Jack. Didn't know anyone was making those now , interesting. At the time I needed them couple places said they
might have some old stock but did not turn up any.

[Lee Schierer]

Why not make the shutters out of pvc. It should last a lifetime or two.

[Tom M King]

http://www.houseofantiquehardware.com/shutter-hardware-3-3-4-inch-acme-mortise-hinges There are many types already in stock somewhere.

[jack forsberg]

Why not make the shutters out of pvc. It should last a lifetime or two.

Its like a law. If the house was built before oil was discovered don't use plastic as a building material:D.

[Tom M King]

I like that Jack. I already lived by it, but didn't realize it was a law....... I have no doubt that plastic won't last as long as some wooden ones I've seen anyway. I know a lot of horse farm owners who bought into the plastic fencing when it came out, and I've seen a lot of it that didn't last as long as wood.

You can find the hinges in all sorts of offsets: http://www.charlestonhardwareco.com/cgi-bin/agoracart55/agora.cgi?cart_id=28054122.14033&next=0&product=Reproduction&user4=Shutter