Exterior Shutter Prices

You can get the best value for your money by cutting out the middle man and purchasing exterior shutters directly from the manufacturer. They can give you the best price and build shutters to your exact specifications.

Shutter manufacturers offer standard sizes, many accept orders for custom sizes and shapes and a few of the best can match existing shutters.

Manufacturers are also who would provide a warranty to protect your investment or send replacements should your shutters ever be damaged by a storm or falling tree.

If you buy from a retailer, the price has to include the cost of shipping your shutters twice (from the manufacturer to them and from the store to you). Depending on the distances involved this can greatly increase prices.

Because shipping can account for more of the final costs than the shutters themselves, you will usually get the best overall savings when buying from a manufacturer in your general geographic area.

You will also get different advice from manufacturers in different geographic areas so go with one that knows YOUR weather and environment.What works well for shutters in Utah will deteriorate quickly used for Florida exterior shutters.

It is penny wise and pound foolish to buy shutters because they're cheaper if they don't hold up and need replacing in only a few years.

Always consider how long each type of shutter will hold up in your climate when comparing prices.

Remember that the true cost of shutters should take the number of years they will protect your home into consideration.

This list ranks commonly used shutter materials by longevity.

• Vinyl shutters: while less expensive, vinyl shutters do not stay attractive as long as other options because their color fades due to damage from sunlight and weathering. Unlike wood shutters, they can not be repaired if damaged; they must be replaced.
  
• HDF: commonly used in less expensive wood shutters; can deteriorate when exposed to moisture (especially if all sides were not primed prior to assembly) and it is considered environmentally unfriendly because standard HDF emits formaldehyde into the environment.
  
• Hardwoods: wide price range depending on the type of wood selected with Spanish Cedar usually the least expensive and Mahogany one of the most expensive.
  
• TimberSIL: Considered the most environmentally friendly choice, TimberSIL is acutally less expensive and just as attractive as hardwoods. Although initial cost is higher than vinyl and HDF, TimberSIL has two unique advantages: it is highly fire resistant, making it a great choice for those in areas prone to wild fires like California, and it is so impervious to weathering that one shutter manufucturer is offering a 40 year Rot Free Warranty on TimberSIL Shutters.

Shutters come in many types:

• Bahama
• Board and Battan
• Fire Rated (fire resistant)
  
• Historic
  
• Hurricane
  
• Louvered
• Paneled
  
• Raised Panel
• TimberSIL
  
• Vertical Board / Rail and Stile
  

You can see many examples in the slideshow on the right. Because manufacturers can be very challenging to find, we share these that we were able to locate while researching this article:

• ALASKA (Wasilla) Mason's Siding and Supply
  
• CALIFORNIA (Chatsworth near Los Angeles) Shutters and More
• FLORIDA (Santa Rosa Beach) Good Millwork - Ships Nationally and Internationally
  
• HAWAII - none found so far; if you know of any please leave a comment
  
• UTAH (Salt Lake City) Stanfield Shutter

The only source for TimberSIL shutters we were able to locate anywhere (across the U.S. or Internationally) is Good Millwork in Florida. They do ship nationwide and Internationally so you could get the 40 year anti rot warranty, longevity and fire resistance of TimberSIL anywhere.

Even using Dun & Bradstreet and Local Search Directories it is really challenging to locate manufacturers of shutters. Many millwork companies don't have Web sites and most shutter companies are retailers and do not manufacture shutters themselves. Since Good Millwork ships nationally and Internationally and can fulfil the needs of most readers of this article we decided to stop searching at least for now.