Best material for interior shutters

[Daniel Bejarano]

Hi everyone,

It’s that time of the year, or let’s say that time in my career that I have to build interior shutters. They will be hung at the living room so, of course, there’s the heat of summer and the cold winter here in New York City that could affect, I like to think, their functionality (expansion and contraction.

These shutters are more like regular frame and panel doors. They won’t have any louvres, and instead I will be putting a recessed panel.

My opening is 36” wide by 72” height. The person I’m building them for wants 4 panels per opening. That makes up 8 panels total that will bifold by pairs.
That means each panel will be about 7-7/8” wide by 72” tall more or less.

Someone suggested to use pine, cedar, sapele, or even Medex, which is waterproof MDF. They will be painted white as well.

As I said they will be built more or less in the Shaker style.

I would love to hear what others here think

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Pine, Popular, Soft Maple. What do you local vendors have to offer?

[Kris Cook]

I built shutters for the 5' by 8' living room window in our previous home. The window was pretty low as you can imagine and we didn't have a lot of privacy as this window faced the street. We lived in a subdivision and one of our dogs (RIP) would go absolutely mad when someone walked by with a dog. I built the shutters in 4 sections with a double piano hinge and bullet catches on the top and bottom (I think. I would have to dig up pictures). Solved the dog issue and gave us a lot more privacy. I used a kit from Rockler using Basswood. I would highly recommend the Basswood for ease of workability and stability.

[Greg Quenneville]

I used 3/4” finger jointed pine, laminated to 6/4 then planed to just under for the rails and stiles with double sided 1 1/4” mdf panels. The panels were two sheets of 5/8” laminated with contact cement. They have seen daily open/close cycles for two years against some pretty fierce western sun. No problems at all. Mine are 18” x 72”

[William Hodge]

I like Poplar or Basswood for interior painted shutters. Through mortise and tenon joints.

Weight is a consideration. Plastic (MDF, MDO, Whatever New Fancy Solve It All) shutters can weigh more and, well, look like plastic.

Using wood, you can make some nice beaded rabbets where on the meeting stiles. Wood will also look less than perfect, which feels right. Wooden shutters are also repairable.
Finally, at the end of their life, wooden shutters will rot into dirt. Plastic will always be there.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I did about 20 windows, about 3 years ago. I started with rough sawn Basswood.

Most of the hardware came from Rockler and I used their free plans, although your plans sound a little different.

Basswood is nice as it is a very lightweight wood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w5ededWDHI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w5ededWDHI

[John Kananis]

ChrisA, thanks for sharing that. I like the little planer sled.

[John TenEyck]

I would use some type of sheet good for the panels because they can (and should) be glued into the frames which will make the assembly very strong; they will never rack. !/2" Pluma Ply would work great. It's dead flat and paints great. MDO is not bad, too, but not as smooth.

John

[Daniel Bejarano]

Thank you Kris

[Daniel Bejarano]

Gluing the panels to the styles won't interfere with their movement down the road? I would put tiny beads of glue perhaps, which I have done before. with cabinet doors. Maybe use those rubber balls I have seen in pictures (which I haven't used) to the date?

[John TenEyck]

Gluing the panels to the styles won't interfere with their movement down the road? I would put tiny beads of glue perhaps, which I have done before. with cabinet doors. Maybe use those rubber balls I have seen in pictures (which I haven't used) to the date?

No, not at all. The stiles will expand outward, without issue. Gluing in panels made of sheet goods is SOP in many shops. It adds huge strength and rigidity to the door, etc. Racking will never be a concern.

John

[John Kananis]

Spaceballs. I use them on real wood panels and they're great but you need to let them sit in a bag with some sawdust overnight prior to using them or they can stain the panel as they apparently seap out some type of oil.


Gluing the panels to the styles won't interfere with their movement down the road? I would put tiny beads of glue perhaps, which I have done before. with cabinet doors. Maybe use those rubber balls I have seen in pictures (which I haven't used) to the date?

[Tom Bender]

Sometimes I go to the big box stores for Poplar or Aspen 4S4. It's pricy but very clear and stable. It works like butter and the weight is appropriate for indoor panels. It finishes beautifully too.

[Mel Fulks]

The real green poplar has a good exterior rating . I don’t see much green in the big-box stores. For interior work the white is fine.

[Jim Becker]

The real green poplar has a good exterior rating . I don’t see much green in the big-box stores. For interior work the white is fine.
The "Green" is just the heartwood...and it turns brown with exposure to UV in a day or three.

[Richard Coers]

I built interior shutters with frame and panel construction for 2 different homes. The goal with both of them was energy efficiency. The panels were raised with a very shallow cutter and the poplar was 5/8" thick. To be unique, there was a sheet of 1/4" fanfold insulation in the middle with panels on both sides. The shutters were held in a separate frame that was screwed to the casing. Between the shutters and frame was a bulb strip of weatherstripping. They loved them and made remote bedrooms much warmer.

[John Goodin]

I have repaired a couple interior shutters with hardware issues. They were all made of beech.